The World Cup dream ends for American Samoa and others

Attention: American Samoa fans. You can go ahead and cancel your plane tickets to South Africa in 2010. Your team will not be participating in the 2010 World Cup. To no one’s surprise, the lowest ranked team in the world was the first country in the world eliminated from World Cup qualifying. The mighty gang from the South Pacific Island finished last in their group at the South Pacific Games.

Joining American Samoa on the outside looking in are: Cook islands, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Four countries still are keeping the dream alive. The Solomon Islands will play New Caledonia in the tournament’s semifinals on Wednesday, and Fiji will take on Vanuatu. The finalists from Friday’s gold-medal match and the third-place finisher advance to a four-nation, second-round group with New Zealand.

Oceania’s champion meets Asia’s No. 5 team in a home-and-home playoff for a World Cup berth.