Canada v Spain Predictions

[imported_n/a1394647443]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Like many here, if we get a good start and can control a bit the key moments of the game (end and starts of halfs, period just after goals), which are quite poor at lately, we might find ourselves close at the half. Maybe 1-1.

I would expect the sheer speed of Spain's attack will eventually take it's toll, so 3-1 would be good and 4-1 or worse (5-1, 4-0) a bit disappointing.

Pretty much agree with that, gotta stop giving up the 85+ minute goals to flatter the opposition. If it wasn't for the unfamiliarity of the goalkeeping/defenders I think we could/could have put up a pretty good fight (as per Portugal)

Now that we have finally achieved some relative depth and most of these guys have seen a fair amount of action together it will build on the Portugal result and we'll see some discipline with no cards or late goals. Kenny really has to step up to the plate though.

3-1 McKenna header or Rad tap in.

Thud. The sound of me jumping on the Lars bandwagon again. Has taken the team from last to fourth last since his arrival.

[Soccer_Josh]

Spain 7-1 Canada

[Joe Keeper]

Somthing has got to give somtime for this team... They are coming off the cuba win (however ugly that was, scoring 2 not since Finland). The lads may fancy Spain for a real proving ground, Radz expecially.

If they play well defensivly and hit on the counter alla GC 2000, I say they get a good result. Im usually an optimist with the team, so I say:

Spain 2-2 Canada

however if the D flops, 4-1 Spain. Braz worries me at RB.

We have alot of Black players on this team. Many of Spains fans are notedly racist, just ask Samuel Eto'o. That might be another factor if they start with their crap. Hopfully tempers wont boil here.

[Paddy]

quote:Originally posted by Joe Keeper

We have alot of Black players on this team. Many of Spains fans are notedly racist, just ask Samuel Eto'o. That might be another factor if they start with their crap. Hopfully tempers wont boil here.

I have a feeling that if you had used "players of African decent" you would have been spared the coming 'PC' onslaught (I could be wrong though). I was once chastised for using the term "Afro-Canadian or African Canadian". I am not sure what the correct term is, but I have a feeling you are about to find out.

Anyway, unless we are winning I doubt the fans will care too much about the ethnicity of our team.

[DarnCherry]

quote:Originally posted by Paddy

I have a feeling that if you had used "players of African decent" you would have been spared the coming 'PC' onslaught (I could be wrong though). I was once chastised for using the term "Afro-Canadian or African Canadian". I am not sure what the correct term is, but I have a feeling you are about to find out.

Anyway, unless we are winning I doubt the fans will care too much about the ethnicity of our team.

Screw the PCers. If a white player is called "white" then there's nothing worng with calling a black player "black".

[Daniel]

Yeah, you won't hear anything from me. I think Paddy's the one overacting . White is white, black is black, asian is asian, etc. It's a descriptive word without negative connotation. Ask Atiba or OO or Peters if they're black; do you think they'll be offended by that?

I do agree that we could see some unsavory stuff from the Spanish crowd, however.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by Daniel

Yeah, you won't hear anything from me. I think Paddy's the one overacting . White is white, black is black, asian is asian, etc. It's a descriptive word without negative connotation. Ask Atiba or OO or Peters if they're black; do you think they'll be offended by that?

I do agree that we could see some unsavory stuff from the Spanish crowd, however.

I seriously doubt we will see anything off tone from the Spain crowd, as it is only done in this country to intimidate opponents. And Canada is not an opponent that most Spaniards feel they have to intimidate.

Having said that, if any of the players is involved in a tussle with a Spain player or enters hard on Raul or someone, they may get jeered on their next touches of the ball. And if it happens to be a black player involved some of that jeering may be racist in tone. Depends on how the game is going though, if Spain is winning clearly it would not happen.

I would prefer for something of the sort to happen -in a perverse way- as it would mean we were in the midst of a competitive match with Spain and not being rolled over.

[Andrew W]

With mercy, 3-0.

With no mercy, 7-0.

[SeanKeay]

5-1

[Free kick]

I don't think that you will see anything too lop-sided. The Spaniards know what at stake in this game. Namely to prepare for the upcomming WCQ. A successfull game fro them might mean showing that they are ready from the offensive and also defensive standpoint. Therefore, once they are up by two goals they might just focus on shutting things down and waiting for the counter opportunities.

So I don't believe in the 7-0 and 5-1 type scorelines. Yes, something like the result versus portugal would be realistic IMO. I'll say either 3-0 or 4-1.

[MikeD]

4-0 Spain.

[redhat]

To make your predictions more realistic, here are past scores against

"big" teams for our review:

Canada 1, Germany 4

Canada 1, Portugal 4

Canada 0, Ireland 3

Canada 1, Czech Rep 5

Canada 0, Wales 1

Canada 0, USA 2

Canada 0, Brazil 0

Canada 3, Switzerland 1

Canada 0, Cameroon 2

Canada 0, Japan 3

So really the last time we got beaten VERY BADLY was 8-0 against Mexico in Azteca

also 4-0 against Mexico (and T&T) in their own backyards ...

While Spain can really destroy our young team, I think it'll be more like the

Portugal game.

edited for correct scores. thanks everybody.[:I]

[Alex]

I hate to make it any worse but I believe we lost 4-1 go Germany and 5-1 to the Czech Republic

[Gian-Luca]

It was also 3-0 against Japan. In much of those games we lost we were outmatched but the scoreline has flattered the opposition. Will the trend continue?

[Gian-Luca]

It was also 3-0 against Japan. In much of those games we lost we were outmatched but the scoreline has flattered the opposition. Will the trend continue?

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

It was also 3-0 against Japan. In much of those games we lost we were outmatched but the scoreline has flattered the opposition. Will the trend continue?

The weird part of the Japan game was that it was a game of 2 halves,

where the first one we dominated. After the score off the free kick

we were demoralized.

As for the Germany game, the scoreline did flatter us, but I still

to this day cannot figure out why Holger didn't put any subs in ...

The Czech game apparently was also a game of 2 halves, where it was 1-0 after 45 mins, but then again nobody saw the game on this side of

the pond and I'm only going on CSA reports.

[Gian-Luca]

I was thinking primarily of the Japan, Ireland, recent US, Cameroon and Portugal matches where we flattered the opposition in defeat. Against Germany we just got tired in the 2nd half when they brought on a new team and we refused to change any of our starters.

Though to be fair, I think the 3-1 win over the Swiss may have flattered us a little.

[MikeD]

All these scorlines that flatter the opposition are, to me, indicative of a more worrying trend: Canada's inability to put together a solid 90+ minutes.

Against stronger opponents, the results is that we hang in with them most of the way but let a few in during a breakdown. More worrying is when we squander a match that we should have won, such as the late goal we conceded against Honduras (in Honduras) to turn a potential road win into a 1-1 draw in WCQ. Drives me f---ing nuts.

[Free kick]

I am not convinced that breakdowns here and there are at the root of problem. Sure we can sit there and analyse left and right what so and so should have done on a particular play. But when all is said and done and you review the game stats page, you often note that in many of these games that you are alluding to, we are often seriously outchanced. You see stats like 13:4 and 6:1 and severe gaps in times of possession percenatges. Therefore, to me, that is not indicative of breakdowns being the main issue. Though I am not necessarily disagreeing that there are many breakdown. Thats kind of why I was never in favour of playing a side like Spain in the first place.

[aussoccerfan]

Canada 2 Spain 0

[Gian-Luca]

I'm always wary of "stats" such as chances to score, particularly as you don't know the particular bias (or stupidity) of the person that counts them. In the recent Gold Cup the game against the US is a good example, as they counted only two shots for Canada mid-way through the 2nd half, which was ridiculously inaccurate. I also saw US reports that had us with just one chances to score the entire game. Difficult to take that seriously.

I would agree though there usually where there is true disparity in chances to score the lopsided scorelines are accurate. In the games I listed previously though I wouldn't say that was the case. And I would rather rely on my own stats re: chances than somebody else's, especially as that person keeping them could be a maniac for all I know.

[canadiankick97]

Well, with possession stats I remember Canada was quite close to 50% against Portugal. I think that indicates a bit of a flattering scoreline for Portugal.

[cfof]

Canada, 10-0.

[Joe Keeper]

quote:Originally posted by Paddy

I have a feeling that if you had used "players of African decent" you would have been spared the coming 'PC' onslaught (I could be wrong though). I was once chastised for using the term "Afro-Canadian or African Canadian". I am not sure what the correct term is, but I have a feeling you are about to find out.

Anyway, unless we are winning I doubt the fans will care too much about the ethnicity of our team.

I didnt mean anything derogatory by it at all. I dont care who plays for us, we're all red and white in the end.

[Juby]

I'm not sor sure it's a full game fitness issue as said up above, I think that it really comes down to that we don't have a full A team like many nations, and by full A team I mean strong players on the bench, in the gold cup you could clearly see a wide difference in player quality, Peters, Simpson, Mckenna, Serioux (serioux wasn't as consistent but did really shine at certian points) and Hutch were playing great, and you could see a clear disparity between them and the USL players, not to bash USL (gerba, grande and sutton were good) but we just don't have the player depth in almost any circumstances, crackes always appear. If in the next 3 years leading up to Fifa qualifacation we can pull together a 20 man roster of decent players, like they don't have to be robinho's or nothing, but if we can get the depth of a complete team I think we'll be competitve with mexico and the US, probably still in third but ahead of CR and Guatamala to qualify comfertably.