体坛英语新闻：Nicaragua rival in World Cup qualifier to be picked by lottery

MANAGUA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Nicaragua's rival in an upcoming qualification round for the 2018 Russia World Cup will be chosen by lottery on Jan. 15, a sports official said Friday.

The director of development at the Nicaraguan Football Federation (Fenifut), Mauricio Cruz, said the lottery will be organized by the regional soccer body, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), and held in the United States.

Nicaragua's rival in this first phase of qualifiers, to be held from March 23 to 31, could be Belize or a Caribbean team, Cruz said in a statement.

Fenifut has already hired Costa Rican coach Henry Duarte to lead the team through the initial elimination tournament.

"We hope that with the new coach the national team will be able to make it to the next round, and that the rival, no matter who it is, will be within Nicaragua's reach," said Cruz.

The first part of the tournament will see Caribbean teams from Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Montserrat, Dominica, Barbados, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Curacao, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla compete for positions 22 to 35 within the Concacaf.

"Any of these football teams could be Nicaragua's rival in the Concacaf elimination tournament," said Cruz.

Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2018.