Prepping 2014

UPDATE: Belize took this one 5-2. That means Montserrat (an island nation lacking sufficient coastline to even run a marathon) will have to win their away leg by 4 goals or score at least 6 goals but win by a margin of 3.

Can you believe this? The first qualifier for Brazil 2014 is being played as I write. Yes, the next World Cup tournament is still 3 years away, but that's how long it takes to weed out the insignificant national sides like Montserrat and Belize, (ranked 202 and 172 in the world, respectively) who are playing each other in the first leg of a two match playoff that will see one of them as the very first team eliminated from the next World Cup (not counting Brunei, Bhutan, Guam and Mauritania, who have not entered the competition). The second leg will be played in Belize on 19 June.

By the way, this is the first of 832 qualifying matches that will be played over the course of the next 2 1/2 years.