Sports Mole previews Thursday’s World Cup Qualifying – North Central America clash between Suriname and El Salvador, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
On Thursday, Suriname will welcome El Salvador to Paramaribo for a crucial World Cup qualifying fixture in the CONCACAF region.
The hosts are sitting top of Group A in the third stage of qualifying, while El Salvador are three points adrift at the bottom of the standings.
Match preview
Suriname are dreaming of reaching their first World Cup after giving a strong account of themselves on the road to the USA, Mexico and Canada.
They took 10 points from a possible 12 to finish top of their group in the second round of qualifying, advancing to the next stage with Thursday’s opponents, El Salvador.
Stanley Menzo‘s side have found wins hard to come by in the third qualification stage, although they have at least proven to be a tough team to beat, having drawn three of their four matches in Group A.
After playing out a goalless draw with Panama, Suriname went on to claim a 2-1 win over El Salvador and rescue a point with a late equaliser in their home clash with Guatemala.
Suriname then missed a golden opportunity to claim all three points in their most recent outing against Panama, conceding a late goal in a 1-1 draw to leave the group leaders level on points with their matchday four points and just one point clear of Guatemala.
With the margins so fine, Suriname will feel they need to win to keep them in a strong position ahead of their final qualifier against Guatemala, especially as their game on matchday six will be a tricky away assignment.
El Salvador, meanwhile, are bidding to make their third World Cup finals appearance and their first since featuring at the 1982 tournament in Spain.
La Selecta collected eight points from four matches in the second round of qualifying to advance to the next stage alongside Suriname.
Unfortunately for El Salvador, they have found life much tougher in the third round of qualifying, having lost three of their four matches.
The stage actually started with a narrow 1-0 win over Guatemala, only for the positivity built from that result to be quashed by three consecutive defeats.
They lost all three of those matches by a one-goal margin, including a 1-0 home loss in their most recent outing against Guatemala on matchday four, leaving them bottom of the standings and three points adrift of the top two.
El Salvador will be holding out hope of securing automatic qualifying, or at the very least, clinching one of the two best second-placed spots to advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.
A defeat on Thursday would end their hopes of a top-two finish, while a draw would also result in elimination unless the other match in the group finishes all square.
Suriname World Cup Qualifying – North Central America form:
D W D D
Suriname form (all competitions):
L D D W D D
El Salvador World Cup Qualifying – North Central America form:
W L L L L
El Salvador form (all competitions):
L L W L L L
Team News
Groningen goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen is expected to line up between the posts for Suriname, having played in the opening four matches of the third stage of qualifying.
The 30-year-old could be shielded by a back four made up of Djavan Anderson, Stefano Denswil, Shaquille Pinas and Ridgeciano Haps.
Suriname’s all-time top scorer, Gleofilo Vlijter, could be given the nod over Jay-Roy Grot up front, having scored 15 goals in 33 appearances for his country.
Meanwhile, Hernan Gomez could opt to go with a back four for Thursday’s contest, especially as his team cannot afford to be too conservative due to their current situation in the group.
With that in mind, the El Salvador boss may select Julio Sibrian and Ronald Rodriguez as his two centre-backs, while Jefferson Valladares and Adan Climaco could operate as the two full-backs.
In the final third, Brayan Gil is set to lead the line in Suriname, with the striker looking to add to his five-goal international tally.
Suriname possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Anderson, Denswil, Pinas, Haps; Paal, Lonwijk; Margaret, Chery, Becker; Vlijter
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Valladares, Sibran, Rodriguez, Climaco; Ceren, Cerritos, Landaverde; Ordaz, Henriquez, Gil
We say: Suriname 2-1 El Salvador
With so much on the line, we believe Thursday’s contest will be a close-fought affair that will be decided by fine margins.
Suriname should take confidence from the fact that they beat El Salvador in September, and with home advantage in their favour, we think they will do enough to claim a narrow win.
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