Bulls Abroad: Three RBNY Defenders Defend Their Countries in WCQ

Three New York Red Bulls defensemen were in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying action on Tuesday night.  And all of them held their opponents scoreless. Here is how each of them and their national teams fared:

Group A:

Canada's road to the Hexagonal got a little brighter after drawing El Salvador 0-0 in San Salvador.  They are in second place behind Mexico and put themselves in good shape for their next four games.  Historically, teams that have gathered 10 points in this round have advanced 100% of the time.  A rule of thumb is if a country wins all three of their home games and is able to manage one draw in their three away games, they will advance.  Still having two more home games puts Canada in a great spot for reaching the Hex.

Red Bulls defenseman Karl Ouimette started and played all 90 minutes once again for Canada, cashing in another clean sheet this week.  Canada will face Mexico in home and away matches in March to continue World Cup qualifying.

Group B:

Jamaica pulled a rare "lose at home, then win on the road" feat after defeating Haiti 1-0 in Port-au-Prince.  They are sitting in third place through two games with the most difficult qualifying group on paper.  When the fourth round draw was done, all four teams in Group B could conceivably reach the next round.  Jamaica fell off the map a little since their finals appearance in this summer's Gold Cup.  Reggae Boyz and RBNY defensemen Kemar Lawrence also started and played all 90 minutes for a Jamaica team that grabbed their sixth clean sheet of 2015.  Clayton Donaldson scored in the 62nd minute to take the lead for good. They defeated Haiti in the quarterfinals of this summer's Gold Cup by the same scoreline.  Jamaica will take on Costa Rica in their March home and away matches.

Group C:

Jurgen Klinsmann still seems to have a job after the United States grabbed a road point, drawing 0-0 with Trinidad & Tobago.  The US is (and should always be) in the drivers' seat for making the Hex in a year's time.  They are tied with T&T for the group lead, but hold the goal differential tie breaker (+5 to +1).  Jozy Altidore played as well as any striker could without scoring.  Jermaine Jones did a great job at keeping T&T stalled in the midfield and generated the US's best effort while snagging the crossbar in the 78th minute from long range.

RBNY defenseman, Matt Miazga did not play in the road leg after appearing in the final 26 minutes of their first game this week.  The US will face Guatemala in their home and away WCQ games in March.

Klinsmann will have a difficult decision to make.  Does he bring in his young players like Miazga for Guatemala, or does he send all capable U-23s to play Colombia those same days for the 2016 Olympics play-in games?

Decisions, decisions.  See you in 2016!