World Cup Betting - United States at Costa Rica Qualifier

The top two teams in Group A of the round-robin CONCACAF finals meet on Wednesday night at 10:00pm EST on ESPN as Costa Rica hosts the United States in a World Cup betting qualifying match. The top three teams in the group will qualify for the World Cup in 2010 and so far both the United States and Costa Rica are in good shape. Wednesday’s game should be an interesting one considering the U.S. leads the group with seven points, one point better than Costa Rica but has yet to win a qualifying match in the country.

The United States has never had any success at Costa Rica so the match promises to be difficult. The news that defender Frankie Hejduk is questionable and midfielder Maurice Edu is out definitely doesn’t help the United States. American coach Bob Bradley said that Hejduk may not be fit enough for Wednesday’s match in San Jose. One player that could be back in the lineup though is forward Jozy Altidore who had three goals in the qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago. "Jozy has been in training over these last few days," Bradley said. "Obviously, he has not played a competitive game in a while, but I think he's done a good job."

The United States will be playing two matches within four days as after Wednesday’s qualifier at Costa Rica they play Honduras in another qualifier on Saturday in Chicago. The United States is also preparing for the eight-team Confederations Cup in South Africa. That should be a great competition considering the United States is in a group with defending world champion Italy, five-time world champion Brazil and Egypt. In the last seven qualifiers at Costa Rica the United States has not won a match going 0-6-1. That could mean that the United States plays it very close to the vest on Wednesday, trying for a draw.

The match on Saturday against Honduras could be where the United States focuses their attention. The United States also has five players that are carrying yellow cards in Altidore, Michael Bradley, Hejduk, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu. Costa Rica is 18-1-2 in World Cup betting qualifying matches at Saprissa stadium since 2000. They are led by playmaker Walter Centeno who can still pressure a defense. "I've been impressed with the way he's played in recent qualifiers," said U.S. assistant John Hackworth, "I don't think he's come down [in form] at all. He's still someone who can play at this level, and he's certainly an important player for them."