World Cup Qualifying: Bermuda out after 2-0 loss

Khano Smith's Bermuda got the job done on the road with a 2-1 win against Trinidad and Tobago last weekend, but couldn't complete the upset at home, falling 2-0 tonight to loss the series 3-2 and fall out of contention for a place in the 2010 World. Smith started the match and was subbed out in the 78th minute with Bermuda already down 2-0.

Trinidad & Tobago will join the United States, Cuba and Guatemala in Group A of CONCACAF's semifinal round of World Cup Qualifying.

Weekend World Cup Qualifiers - Revolution player involvement

Sunday:
Trinidad & Tobago 1 - 2 Bermuda: The Revs' Khano Smith started and went the full 90 minutes for Bermuda, tallying an assist on John Barry Nusum's first goal with a nice cross. Trinidad & Tobago were heavy favorites in the match, especially since they were playing at home.

USA 8 - 0 Barbados: Matt Reis was on the bench, but saw no time after his surprise call-up due to Tim Howard's injury.

Saturday:
Gambia 1 - 0 Algeria: Kenny Mansally entered the match in the 73rd minute for his Gambian National Team debut. The win pushes Gambia from 3rd into a tie for first with Senegal in group 6.

Grenada 2 - 2 Costa Rica: Shalrie Joseph played the full 90 minutes in Grenada's shock tie with Costa Rica. Grenada at one point led 2-0, but a 49th minute red card to Ricky Charles dashed their hopes of a stunning victory.

Gambians Come Through for Revs

Nineteen-year-old Gambians Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally each scored in the first half to lead the Revolution to a 3-1 victory on the road in Kansas City on Wednesday night.

The Wizards’ Jack Jewsbury recorded an early own goal and then scored the equalizer on a penalty kick before the Gambians put the Revs back in the lead for good.

New England took the lead in the 12th minute when Tyson Wahl’s attempt to clear a Mauricio Castro free kick was sent back across the box. The ball deflected off Jewsbury and went into the net past KC goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for an own goal and a 1-0 Revs’ lead.

But for the second consecutive game the Revs had a penalty kick called against them when Nyassi tackled Kurt Morsink late at the top of the box in the 27th minute. Referee Terry Vaughn immediately pointed to the spot and Jewsbury took the kick and buried it past Matt Reis to tie the match at 1-1....

Read the rest at Soccer New England

Twellman and Ralston Injury Updates

It appears the injury that scratched Taylor Twellman from the Revolution starting line-up 15 minutes before the game on Saturday was actually pretty serious. According to a press release today, Twellman apparently suffered a tear of his medial meniscus in training and will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday. His recovery time is expected to be at least 6 weeks, but will be better known after the surgery.

What training session this injury occurred in is unclear. On Saturday, Adam Cristman, who filled in for Twellman against Houston, stated he had been playing with the first team at the Revs final training session on the Friday before the match because of Twellman’s injury. The extent of the injury at the time must have been unclear if the team had still thought he’d be ready to go up until near kick off.

Ralston, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder in the match, will undergo tests on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury. He had said on Saturday that he hoped to be back in 3 weeks.

With both out at least for the near future, Steve Nicol will have some more line-up changes to make. Khano Smith should return to the Revs after helping Bermuda on Sunday successfully make it to stage 2 of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying. He may return to his spot on the left wing with Honduran Mauricio Castro slotting into the middle. If the Revs stick with a 3-5-2 this is probably the most likely scenario, though a 4-4-2 on the road is a possibility, if unlikely due to the Revs success against Houston.

As for Twellman’s spot, Cristman and Kenny Mansally filled in very well on Saturday and will likely retain their places in the line-up on Thursday. However, with Costa Rican Argenis Fernandez arriving, and Zimbabwean Kheli Dube making his debut last weekend, if either starter fails to produce, there will certainly be some competition for their spots.

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe had more on the possible line-up changes, including this quote from Nicol:

"There is no point in making major changes," Nicol said. "We'll take our time in making a decision.

"We want to make as few changes as we can. Going 4-4-2 means a lot of changes, so it depends if we want to make a lot of changes or a few. I've never seen Castro play [in central midfield], but the Honduras manager says he can play there, so it's an option."

For the full story from the Globe, click here.