Bahrain | vs | New Zealand |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 10, 2009 - 9:30pm(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
 Videos |  Fox Soccer Channel |
Bolivia | vs | Brazil |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 12, 2009 - 2:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
 | Videos |  OmniSportTV* |  Sky Sports 1 |
Having already qualified and comfortably sitting at the top of the table, any result for Brazil will not affect their chances at reaching South Africa 2010.
Bolivia, on the other hand, look for a moral victory at home despite having already been knocked out of the 2010 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Problems for Bolivia
Coming off important big wins (away in Argentina, and at home to Chile), Brazil will not be the easiest opponent for Bolivia´s last home fixture for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Besides having to face the current 2009 Confederation Cup champions, Bolivia was close to canceling the upcoming matches with Brazil and Peru due to a players’ union strike having problems with the domestic game in Bolivia.
After no Bolivian players showed up to the first practice on Thursday, the demands of the union were addressed, and the team began practicing Saturday.
Coach Erwin Sanchez will have his work cut out for him if he is to do anything close to resembling the surprising 6-1 victory he had against Argentina 6 months ago.
Brazil playing with confidence
Having won their last five games in World Cup qualifying, Brazil will try not to stumble in Bolivia knowing that the altitude of La Paz is an extremely tough environment to play in.
Coach Dunga seemingly has the answer for this.
"We called more players for that reason. We have two games ahead and the first one is very wearing, but we'll try to do our best in Bolivia," he said. "We will make a decision following the condition the players have at that point.
"Despite we have already qualified, we're Brazil and we have to win always. We try to keep the group and give chances to some new players."
Argentina | vs | Peru |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 4:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| Dish Network | Videos | OmniSportTV* |  Bet365 | Sky Sports 1 |
Importance of the game
The last time these two teams met in World Cup Qualifying was on September 10, 2008, where they drew 1-1 in Lima.
Unfortunately for Peru, no result from this game will increase their chances for a ticket to South Africa, as they were the first team to be eliminated from South America World Cup Qualifying. Currently they sit at the bottom of the table with just 2 wins, 4 ties, and 10 losses.
Argentina is in a much more interesting situation, to say the least. Currently sitting in 5th place of the 10 COMNEBOL teams, they no longer hold their fate concerning automatic qualifying to South Africa.
Not only does coach Diego Maradona and his currently struggling team need a win here, but they also need a few other games to go their way in order to secure that all too important 4th spot. Otherwise, they will go to a home-and-away playoff with a CONCACAF team or worse, go nowhere at all.
With the results Argentina has had recently (namely a 2-0 loss in Ecuador, 1-3 loss at home in Rosario, and 1-0 loss in Paraguay), it is not surprising that the pressure is on Diego Maradona to put the best team out that he possibly can.
Some early surprises came when Diego left out recent starters and former captain Javier Zanetti, Fernando Gago, and Jesús Dátolo, who was the lone goal scorer against Brazil last month.
Additions were also made, however, as standout forward Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) was finally called after what many claim was too long. This 22-year old is confident of Argentina’s chances as he stated “We're going to make it to the World Cup, of that I have no doubt,” in a FIFA.com interview.
Other big additions made for the team include two Benfica midfield standouts, Angel Di Maria and Pablo Aimar, as well as Liverpool defender Emiliano Insua.
The Argentines have everything to play for. At a time where Argentina desperately needs a hero, expect to see one, if not more.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) will most likely start up front where Diego likes to play him. He may be paired with newcomer Higuain or with veteran Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), who recently scored two goals in a friendly against Ghana.
Venezuela | vs | Paraguay |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 4:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| Videos | OmniSportTV* | Bet365 |  ESPN Deportes |
Ecuador | vs | Uruguay |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 4:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| Videos | OmniSportTV* | Bet365 | |
However, like Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and even Chile in third, nothing is assured yet for both Ecuador and Uruguay.
These two teams will affront each other on Saturday and anything else than a draw will definitely put more fire in the already-hot race.
The Ecuadorians have well responded to the troubles that they faced in the first half of the qualifying campaign.
Ecuador started the road on a very bad note, losing the opening game at home to Venezuela. This defeat followed with two other losses away to Brazil and Paraguay respectively. In each of these games, Ecuador conceded five goals.
But they ameliorated defensively and in the fourth game of their South American qualifying campaign, they drew 1-1 against Argentina.
Ecuador managed a run of five games unbeaten. Among those encounters, there was a goalless draw against Uruguay in Montevideo.
Since losing 5-1 to Paraguay in November 2007, Ecuador remain unbeaten by teams that are currently above them in the CONMEBOL group standings.
Indeed, Ecuador recorded a stunning 2-0 victory at home to Diego Maradona’s Argentina only to emphasize their recent strength against South America's top teams.
Ecuador have played sixteen games like any other country in the ten-team group and like Argentina who seat behind them, they’ve recorded six victories.
However, Ecuador have lost five times compared to Argentina’s six defeats. Consequently, the Ecuadorians find themselves seating fourth in the table with twenty-three points, just one point above the struggling Argentines.
Uruguay kicked off their World Cup qualifying in style with a heavy 5-0 victory over Bolivia. But quickly, the Uruguayans fell into inconsistency. In the four games that followed their opening fixture, the Uruguayans failed to find a win.
Then they bounced back with a trouncing 6-0 victory at home to Peru but their relief was soon to fade away.
In the two qualifiers that came up in September last year, Uruguay lost control as they lost away to Colombia and only drew at home to the Ecuadorians.
In both of these games, Uruguay couldn’t find the back of the net; they were left with only one point from a possible six.
A 2-0 victory over Paraguay in March 2009 was more than significant for them but in June, it was time for more troubles.
Uruguay fell heavily at home to Brazil for the first time in their history of football and could only draw 2-2 away to Venezuela in the following fixture.
Fortunately for the Uruguayans, they managed to clinch an important win against Colombia in their last qualifying match in September.
In general, Uruguay have struggled a lot to find their rhythm and their inconsistency is the cause of their status in the group standings.
They are currently out of the automatic qualification zone as well as the play-off zone.
Uruguay have twenty-one points from sixteen games but their goal-scoring ability has given them the best goal difference in the table after Brazil and Paraguay.
Ecuador are expected to make the most of the high altitude factor that they possess at home. The only time that they lost on home soil in the World Cup qualifiers was back in October 2007, on the opening day of their campaign.
Meanwhile, Uruguay have won only once in eight attempts away from home in the qualifiers; their latest trips away from the Centenario ended in disappointment.
In the 2-2 draw against Venezuela, Diego Forlan’s strike on 71 minutes wasn’t the winner as Jose Manuel Rey got off the mark three minutes later to level the game all square.
Against Peru in September, the result was even less convincing as they went down to Rengifo’s late goal four minutes from normal time.
With two games left in the campaign, Uruguay need to find the right approach and the perfect touch to grab enough points for qualification.
As for Ecuador, a bit of endurance will see them enter the promise land in 2010.
Colombia | vs | Chile |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 4:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| Videos | OmniSportTV* | Bet365 | Dish Network |
Colombia’s task is to stay in contention for qualification whereas Chile’s aim is to seal their place in South Africa 2010.
With two matches left to play in the qualification campaign, Colombia found themselves out of the automatic and play-off zones.
The Coffee Growers are three places and two points behind Argentina who are fifth. Colombia’s little number of points come from the fact that they’ve picked up more losses than they’ve clinched either victories or draws.
After Peru, the Colombians are those who have scored the least goals throughout the qualifiers so far. They’ve scored ten goals, conceded fourteen and therefore their goal difference remains negative.
But despite these statistics, Colombia’s hopes of reaching the finals of the World Cup in South Africa are well alive. The middle of the table is so congested that Colombia could climb up to fifth if they beat Chile and if other results in the table go their way.
Saturday’s encounter will definitely be a tough one for the hosts and on paper, the favorites are the visitors Chile.
In the first leg of this fixture last year, Colombia suffered a 4-0 thrashing in the hands of the Chileans. Two strikes in both halves and from different players finished off the Coffee Growers.
Avoiding such a miserable fate this time round will not only explain Colombia’s progress as a team but also boost their chances of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1998.
La Roja have surprised everyone with their astonishing form in the World Cup qualifiers.
Despite opening their account with a 2-0 loss to Argentina back in October 2007, Chile have managed to occupy the third place in the table above Ecuador and the Albiceleste.
Giant killings against Paraguay and Argentina in the second part of the campaign have helped Chile to affirm themselves as strong contenders for an automatic place in the table.
However, their recent results have tarnished their impressive form. A 2-2 draw against Venezuela and a 4-2 defeat in the hands of Brazil slowed things up for Chile.
They could have been through to the finals of the World Cup by now. Still, the race is on and almost to be won.
The Chileans first and rare overwhelming victory in the qualifiers came against Colombia. They’ll be keen to repeat their triumph over Los Cafeteros on Saturday to ultimately book their tickets for the finals of the World Cup in South Afric.
Honduras | vs | USA |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 8:00am(GMT+6:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| OmniSportTV | Videos |
HondurasTwo defeats in September obviously didn’t help Honduras in their campaign. They now seat third behind the leaders USA and Mexico.
As things stand, Honduras are just inside the automatic qualification zone above fourth-placed Costa Rica.
According to Wigan Athletic’s Figueroa, his country’s hopes of reaching its first World Cup finals in over twenty-four years are well alive.
"We have a big chance,” the defender stated.
"I believe the reason that we're in a position today to qualify for the World Cup is by taking advantage of the atmosphere of the stadium,” he explained before continuing:
“And we hope against the United States that things will also turn out well for us."
Thanks to FIFA’s decision late last month, the Hondurans will be able to stage this titanic clash on home soil despite political issues distracting the country.
If Honduras bounce back from their two consecutive defeats with a victory on Saturday, then they’ll close the gap on the current leaders USA to zero point.
Due to goal difference reason, Honduras will edge the United States should things happen this way. At the end of the day, there could even be new group leaders in the name of Mexico. That is if El Tri beat El Salvador in Saturday’s other fixture.
Captain London Donovan is already thinking about how freak it will be to play at the Francisco Morazan. The difficulty for Bob Bradley’s youngsters will definitely come because of Honduras’ fans attitude and the humid and hot atmosphere.
Assessing those things, Donovan said:
"It probably won't look much like a typical soccer game,
"It will probably be pretty scrappy."
Adding to the USA’s huge challenge against Honduras is the absence of defender Demerit. The Watford captain might go under surgery for his eye after sustaining a bizarre eye injury some few weeks ago.
Still, the USA are confident of making it through to South Africa in 2010 and a win on Saturday will do just that.
Costa Rica | vs | Trinidad And Tobago |
| Date / Time: | Competition: | Live / Repeat: |
| October 11, 2009 - 8:00am(GMT+8:00) | World Cup Qualifying | Live |
| Videos | OmniSportTV* |  Gol TV |
