Paddy Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Yup...you heard it here first. Costa Rica does not have the divine right to qualify that some of you seem to think. Remember Jamaica? Where were they last world cup. Weren't they the flavor of the month for a while after winning their initial group over Mexico in 98. Oh no, the Jamaican's! Buy some more players you phonies. Costa Rica had their moment in the sun, and now it is back to another 10 years of oblivion. If Wanchope retires from internation soccer, which he might as he will not be at the Copa America, then expect an even weaker Costa Rica. Also, now that they are without a coach all kind of names are being tossed around as a replacment. Herman Medford, an ex-player has been mentioned, as has a former coach of the team (I think the guy Sampson replaced). I truely think that this is a great time for the Canadian team. We have our strongest team ever, and the most unified in years. Forget the loss to Cuba, as that is not the same team. Just think, we have four forwards now, FOUR! Honduras and Guatemala can also kiss my ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsity Tyler Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 quote: Honduras and Guatemala can also kiss my ass. Your quote is beautiful in its simplicity. C'mon you reds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Costa Rica is not Jamaica though. They have been a CONCACAF soccer power for some time now and have qualified for 2 of the last 4 World Cups. They have a lot of talent and depth and moreover it is talent developed in Costa Rica not players of Costa Rican origin who were born and raised in a strong soccer nation. They also performed stronger than Jamaica in both of their World Cup appearances. This is not to ignore their present problems nor to say we can not beat them. However, Costa Rica has been a strong team for some time and will probably remain so and thus should not be underestimated. They won't go back to oblivion because they were not there in the first place nor are they a flavour of the month. Wanchope may be their best player but they have other strong players as well and don't rely only on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly Costa Rica is not Jamaica though. They have been a CONCACAF soccer power for some time now and have qualified for 2 of the last 4 World Cups. They have a lot of talent and depth and moreover it is talent developed in Costa Rica not players of Costa Rican origin who were born and raised in a strong soccer nation. They also performed stronger than Jamaica in both of their World Cup appearances. This is not to ignore their present problems nor to say we can not beat them. However, Costa Rica has been a strong team for some time and will probably remain so and thus should not be underestimated. They won't go back to oblivion because they were not there in the first place nor are they a flavour of the month. Wanchope may be their best player but they have other strong players as well and don't rely only on him. Yes, in 1990 they did well. They got past Scotland, but who hasn't, and were lucky agaisnt Sweden. In the second round they were duely exposed. In the last world cup they only finished one point better than Jamaica. Both though finished 3rd in thier groups and failed to qualify for the second round, so did Costa Rica do better? Diffetent world cups, different groups. I guess overall I'd give it the the Ticos over Jamaica as they actaully develope their players. My real point is about the blind reverence suddenly bestowed upon teams that come up with a good run such as the Ticos did in the last World Cup qualifying. Sure, Costa Rica qualified for 2 of the last four world cups, but we are talking of a gap of 12 years. This hardly makes them a CONCACAF power. They are a central American power as they have the most stable government and live in a democracy. They still have a long way to go to become a CONCACAF power. Only two teams have both qualified for the last 4 World Cups (yes I know, the states held it). In 94 qualifying we did better than the Ticos, so a good performance in a previous World Cup doesn't mean much. Just ask Honduras after their heroic performance in 82. Anyway, I don't care who it is we play as they will get no respect from me and no halftime show celebrating their culture. They will get nothing but vitriol. Time to get on the bandwagon and stop be Canadian doormats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Not really a morning person, eh Paddy? Motion 2nded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Paddy Yup...you heard it here first. Costa Rica does not have the divine right to qualify that some of you seem to think. Remember Jamaica? Where were they last world cup. Weren't they the flavor of the month for a while after winning their initial group over Mexico in 98. Oh no, the Jamaican's! Buy some more players you phonies. Costa Rica had their moment in the sun, and now it is back to another 10 years of oblivion. If Wanchope retires from internation soccer, which he might as he will not be at the Copa America, then expect an even weaker Costa Rica. Also, now that they are without a coach all kind of names are being tossed around as a replacment. Herman Medford, an ex-player has been mentioned, as has a former coach of the team (I think the guy Sampson replaced). Sampson was replaced a few days ago by Pinto, a Colombian who coached Ajaluense to two league titles in CR a few years ago. Also won the Peru league and has coached in Colombia. Sounds solid. One of their problems in fact is the Olympics. And the Copa. And their league starting up in August. I think they are going to be stretched. They either send their u-20s to the Games and forget about the option for over 23 senior internationals, or risk weaker squads for the Semis. Which I doubt they will do. I imagine they will still be strong as they got a lot of flack after drawing Cuba and going through on away goals; their standard it high and they will be under pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrek Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 1. Canada 2. Honduras 3. Costa Rica 4. Guatemala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Historically, it's been tough for teams from our region to qualify for the WC two times in a row. El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, and yes, even us could not do it. The only exceptions are Mexico and the US in the early days and very recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Are you saying Costa Rica had as good of a World Cup 02 as Jamaica did in 98? Sorry, Costa Rica finished level on points with one of the semi-finalists and were the only team to score twice on the champions. In fact they should have knocked Turkey out of the tournament. Jamaica were well beaten by strong Argentine and Croat sides, but were nowhere near the threat Costa Rica was. What was lucky about their win over Sweden? Not that anything that happened in 1990 is relevant now. Our group is wide open. I think it's possible any combination of the two teams could get through, but realistically Costa Rica are the favourites and Hondruas is second. Costa Rica has had a team good enough to get through the hex for years and they continually fall, partly due to their penchant for firing managers. Here they fired the manager early enough it might not hurt them. I'm behind Canada all the way, but I'm not going to turn into one of the supporters who blindly believe we're the best team around and completely discount everyone else. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Yes, they had lost 5-2 to Brazil and as result their goal diff slipped below that of Turkey, who went on to the semis. The ticos blew because of nothing more than stubborness and stupidity from that final game versus Brazil. They thought it was more important to play offensive against Brazil, entertain and up hold some principle rather than to play it conservative an advance to the next phase. Very noble but history will only show that you failed to advance rather than than that you played an honnest game based on your beliefs. I thought the point was to advance out of the group and continue playing. can't recall their coach at the time, but IMO, he deserved to be fired. What bugs me about it is that there would have ( should have) been three teams from Concacaf in the round of 16 rather than two. here is how it stood after two games ...........P W D L GF GA Pts Brazil.... 2 2 0 0 6 1 6 CRC....... 2 1 1 0 3 1 4 Turkey.... 2 0 1 1 2 3 1 All CRC had to do was not allow 3 or more goals in their final game versus Brazil who was already through. They could have played for a draw. This was how it ended Team Rank P W D L GF GA Pts Brazil 1 3 3 0 0 11 3 9 Turkey 2 3 1 1 1 5 3 4 Costa Rica 3 3 1 1 1 5 6 4 Results from final two games 13-JUN-02 SEOUL Turkey:China PR 3:0 (2:0) Seoul World Cup Stadium 13-JUN-02 SUWON Costa Rica:Brazil 2:5 (1:3) Suwon World Cup Stadium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 You know what? I should have added this earlier but I don't think either Hondorus or Costa Rica are taking anything in this group for granted. As disappointing as our Gold Cup loss was to Cuba (I'll add at this point I still consider the loss a complete fluke, and a loss weighing upon a weakened Canadian side we would never send to a serious competition), can you just imagine how things looked back in Costa Rica after their Gold Cup loss to an understrength Canadian side? There's no room for error in this round. By Halloween somebody in this group who should be in the hex isn't going to be. They'll just be crying in their jack-o-lanterns wondering how they missed out. Whoever's in form right out of the gate is going through. I for one think we're going to rock. I think we're going to see some rough, rough, desperate football and the crap ref'ing that goes along with it. But I also think we're got the fellows who can get their teeth into that sort of football and still keep their quality (Diesel, JDV, Big Kev, Pesh, The Guz. And now add Bircham I guess). Sharpen your teeth lads and get at it. There's no time to prick about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 i think it'll be one of those groups where first place gets 3 wins and 2 draws and second gets 3 wins and 1 draw...maybe 3 wins and 3 draws or 2 wins 3 draws. it's going to very close. goal differential could be massive. i like to think we have the edge in attacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Turkey beat China 3-0, to put them at +2 differential. Assuming Costa Rica were going to lose to Brazil (the only scenario by which goal differential would matter), that would put them out anyway. A one-goal loss dropped them down to +1 differential and out. They lost their chance at the second round when Parks missed the empty net in injury time against Turkey. They gained my eternal respect (and as someone who likes to cheer for Scotland, Costa Rica will never be one of my favourite CONCACAF nations) for going out and trying to out-gun Brazil rather than try to cling desperately to a 0-0 draw. They went out with their heads held high and produced a game that was a lot of fun. And despite the score they had Brazil on the ropes for a spell and should have tied it at 3-3 before Brazil added some more. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.