GDT: Canadian Soccer | Final Pre-WC Friendlies - Sept 23 @ 11 AM vs. Qatar

[oilers'72]

I forget how many teams advance. Sorry for the questions but is there one more round of qualifying after this one. I forget how it goes. Still worried about getting a draw against Honduras and them scoring on us on the road. Canada needs to establish in their home dates. Concacaf road games are tough. Many of the players on this squad haven't had a full dose of playing games in Central America due to being young, and the pandemic.

No, this is the final round. The top 3 teams go through to the WC. The 4th place team has to play in a inter-conference playoff, with the winner going through to the WC. Just as long as Canada wins a good amount of games and others contenders draw or lose, they'll make it in.

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) - Wikipedia

 

[McJadeddog]

So how badly do we get destroyed tonight? I'm thinking we lose by 3.

 

[Cloned]

So how badly do we get destroyed tonight? I'm thinking we lose by 3.

It was a huge blowout.

 

[lopper]

Anytime Canada can get points in games against the US or Mexico is a big deal. Going to have to turn those other games into some W’s and these boys may just grab a World Cup spot

 

[Zenos]

Walking out of an away game in the States with a draw and feeling like an opportunity was lost?
I'd consider that a good sign for this group and for the rest of the octagon. Now it's time to start collecting some 3pt games.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Walking out of an away game in the States with a draw and feeling like an opportunity was lost?
I'd consider that a good sign for this group and for the rest of the octagon. Now it's time to start collecting some 3pt games.

Nah, I'm gonna agree with @lopper. We seemed to catch the US on an off night. They just weren't sharp . Some of their defending was shambolic. Worse than the Canadian defending in this match. We had Davies and others beat their men and walk right into the box open, several times. Davies executed two passes in the box that both should have been in the back of the net. This was weak from the US. I mean credit to Canada for exploiting but finish could have been better. US was rattled, you could see that at times in the match and Herdman spotted it too. There was blood in the water for some reason and the Canadian attack was worrying the US. Would have been nice to get the W, but for sure I'll take the 1pt. The trouble with how Soccer standings are though is you get 1 pt for the tie and 3 for a Win. Trouble for Canada is if they tie or lose games they should win, like Honduras, then it puts pressure on them. You don't establish ground in the standings with a lot of ties.

But great performance by Canada. Top notch. Canadian players outworked the US and seemed more invested in the match. That was interesting to see. That said the ball off the upright, if that goes in it might have been a different match.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Davies is great, I get that, and a handful upfront. Still, and I don't know if this is still part of instruction but we were told to never pass ball back to a defender that was facing any type of coverage. No reason to do that, when in doubt, pass ball forward or get rid of it forward. Disagree with the telecast that blamed the defender. When Davies on a throw in went back to the defender he wasn't expecting it. Davies had first motioned throwing forward, then threw back. Second later the defender was stripped, Davies in effect had thrown both himself, the defender, and several team mates on the wrong side of the ball and it was in the back of our net 10 secs later.

Theres still these errant moments in Davies game where I think he should be less impulsive. He had a roll in goals at both ends. I think he knew it. Don't throw back to pressure. Nothing good happens doing that.

 

[Zenos]

Nah, I'm gonna agree with @lopper. We seemed to catch the US on an off night.

... That was essentially my point. Any time you take points from USA at home, is a victory. But this time, we also caught them on an off-night and had a legitimate chance to walk away with victory.
Can't we all agree that that's a good sign?

 

[Cloned]

Nah, I'm gonna agree with @lopper. We seemed to catch the US on an off night. They just weren't sharp . Some of their defending was shambolic. Worse than the Canadian defending in this match. We had Davies and others beat their men and walk right into the box open, several times. Davies executed two passes in the box that both should have been in the back of the net. This was weak from the US. I mean credit to Canada for exploiting but finish could have been better. US was rattled, you could see that at times in the match and Herdman spotted it too. There was blood in the water for some reason and the Canadian attack was worrying the US. Would have been nice to get the W, but for sure I'll take the 1pt. The trouble with how Soccer standings are though is you get 1 pt for the tie and 3 for a Win. Trouble for Canada is if they tie or lose games they should win, like Honduras, then it puts pressure on them. You don't establish ground in the standings with a lot of ties.

But great performance by Canada. Top notch. Canadian players outworked the US and seemed more invested in the match. That was interesting to see. That said the ball off the upright, if that goes in it might have been a different match.

You could argue Honduras caught us on an off night, relatively speaking.

Perspective is important.

 

[Drivesaitl]

... That was essentially my point. Any time you take points from USA at home, is a victory. But this time, we also caught them on an off-night and had a legitimate chance to walk away with victory.
Can't we all agree that that's a good sign?

Nothing to the contrary. Canada played well as I stated and I quite enjoyed it. I can see now that I'm given a chance to watch the full games why people are liking the club. They're deserving of coverage. Games should have been televised before this. Team is very creative and their service forward is interesting. A lot of stretching the US around the park. Splendid match.

Still. it seems like US is generally on a lower ebb with their national side and not even qualifying for last WC. Its legit for the Canadian team to start thinking they could be on par with them. This is not one of the better US sides I've seen although I quite liked Pulisic, Desi, Aaronson.

I'm asleep on current Concacaf. I used to follow qualifying Soccer more, I'm not as in tune with the current players. My Era was probably the 80's-90's clubs.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You could argue Honduras caught us on an off night, relatively speaking.

Perspective is important.

The measure of the team will be claiming the games they should be winning. Not what they do against just the US and Mexico. Its where these Concacaf tournies get tricky is none of your opponents think they are road bumps and none of them end up laying down.

The US mens team seem to be trapped in the same mire as the Womens team. You hate to see it. Where they're being outworked and for some reason having trouble being up for games and playing as a team.

Looks like I'm wrong on Herdman so far. He played some interesting tactics in this match which threw the US off it seems. You could just see that Canada alternately laying back and at other times pressuring aggressively forward gave the US some puzzless. That Canada has the skill on the pitch to parlay to dangerous chances was causing nervousness.

 

[Cloned]

The measure of the team will be claiming the games they should be winning. Not what they do against just the US and Mexico. Its where these Concacaf tournies get tricky is none of your opponents think they are road bumps and none of them end up laying down.

The US mens team seem to be trapped in the same mire as the Womens team. You hate to see it. Where they're being outworked and for some reason having trouble being up for games and playing as a team.

Looks like I'm wrong on Herdman so far. He played some interesting tactics in this match which threw the US off it seems. You could just see that Canada alternately laying back and at other times pressuring aggressively forward gave the US some puzzless. That Canada has the skill on the pitch to parlay to dangerous chances was causing nervousness.

That’s why I said perspective is important.

Glad to see you’re coming around on Herdman. He’s very likely the best national team manager in CONCACAF, which admittedly isn’t saying very much, but still.

 

[McJadeddog]

It was a huge blowout.

I never fail to amaze myself with my non-ability to guess at things, lol

 

[Cloned]

I never fail to amaze myself with my non-ability to guess at things, lol

Don’t worry, we’re amazed as well.

 

[McJadeddog]

Better result than I think most people were expecting. We need to start collecting some 3-point-nights though here. A win on Wednesday night at home would put us in a very good spot. But that isn't going to be an easy game. In reality, none of these games are really going to be easy. Every one of these teams in the bracket can beat us on any given night, and 2 of them (Mexico/US) likely will beat us most nights. There are no gimmies whatsoever.

 

[McJadeddog]

Don’t worry, we’re amazed as well.

As long as we're all entertained

 

[Drivesaitl]

So I heard on the telecast that the Mexico match and another in November may be in Edmonton. Too bad we don't get a good weather time frame but I love seeing Soccer at Commonwealth and I get sad that BMO is now home to the Canadian side. Nice to throw us a bone as an ode to the past and knowing this is a strong market.

 

[Cloned]

So I heard on the telecast that the Mexico match and another in November may be in Edmonton. Too bad we don't get a good weather time frame but I love seeing Soccer at Commonwealth and I get sad that BMO is now home to the Canadian side. Nice to throw us a bone as an ode to the past and knowing this is a strong market.

This only happened because of the Elks game being rescheduled in Toronto.

So the Elks are good for something after all.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

World Cup qualifiers in Edmonton = catch me there

 

[OfCorsiDid]

I was impressed by Canada this weekend.

They played extremely positively and didn't give up when the US got one in the 2nd half.

Also, seeing Davies out there being creative and using his speed is always a spectacle.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Any word on Davies' injury that caused him to leave the game against the US? I hope it was only minor and that he's good to go for tomorrow's game against El Salvador.

Canada will need to come out and have a good game to beat El Salvador, and they shouldn't be underestimated as they also managed to hold the US to a draw, in their case a scoreless one.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Any word on Davies' injury that caused him to leave the game against the US? I hope it was only minor and that he's good to go for tomorrow's game against El Salvador.

Canada will need to come out and have a good game to beat El Salvador, and they shouldn't be underestimated as they also managed to hold the US to a draw, in their case a scoreless one.

Been a few times where he's gone down to pitch. Seems a nagging injury. What a classless US audience. Booing a hurt player on the pitch, the best player in the game, and all because they figure he's killing time. The US crowd even lacked the common grace to give the player a bit of a cheer going out of the game, due to injury.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Alphonso Davies Canada CanMNT CMNT Bayern Munich World Cup qualifying CONCACAF El Salvador - TSN.ca

Ouch, not good. Davies heading back to Bayern for an MRI.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Alphonso Davies Canada CanMNT CMNT Bayern Munich World Cup qualifying CONCACAF El Salvador - TSN.ca

Ouch, not good. Davies heading back to Bayern for an MRI.

Not sure how much Bayern are going to like Davies playing in all of the dirty Concacaf qualifiers either. They've been pretty good sports about this and Davies is getting injured a lot. This is the worst news.

 

[dsi]

Been a few times where he's gone down to pitch. Seems a nagging injury. What a classless US audience. Booing a hurt player on the pitch, the best player in the game, and all because they figure he's killing time. The US crowd even lacked the common grace to give the player a bit of a cheer going out of the game, due to injury.

What I don't understand is the crowd booing at the end of the game. Were they booing the officials, the US team for not winning, the Canadians?