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World Cup Draw


nolando

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If we get drawn in the same group as the US, we should hope to also get drawn with Cuba. Then we can all write mass, inflamatory emails to all them redneck, Republican Senators to get them to deny a few Cuban players visas for their game in the US, clearing our path even further. LOL

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Maybe I am completely missing something, but they are not announcing the groups of four for CONCACAF, are they?

"All Concacaf's 35 members have entered four stages of qualifying, the first two of which will be played on a knockout basis."

Doesnt this lead anyone else to believe that Canada will have one or maybe two (home and away?)knockout matchups, similar to the Belize situation four years ago? Why is everyone talking like we will know who we are playing in the first group of four? Is that a prediction based on probable winners of possible knockout matchups? I am seriously confused at this point!?!?

They draw all the home and away matchups but set them up like a bracket, so yes there is prediction involved but generally there are not many upsets.

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quote:Originally posted by Alex

They draw all the home and away matchups but set them up like a bracket, so yes there is prediction involved but generally there are not many upsets.

ooooooohhhhhh..ok now i may finally have it - brain not working at full capacity apparently

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Maybe I am completely missing something, but they are not announcing the groups of four for CONCACAF, are they?

"All Concacaf's 35 members have entered four stages of qualifying, the first two of which will be played on a knockout basis."

Doesnt this lead anyone else to believe that Canada will have one or maybe two (home and away?)knockout matchups, similar to the Belize situation four years ago? Why is everyone talking like we will know who we are playing in the first group of four? Is that a prediction based on probable winners of possible knockout matchups? I am seriously confused at this point!?!?

The placement of the 35 teams into specific slots for Rd 1 and Rd 2 knockout stages will pre-determine who goes into which SemiFinal group. Upsets are possible, but these are unlikely, and would generally tend to improve Canada's chances. Bottom line is that, based on today's draw, we will know the most likely Semifinal group for Canada. Any upsets would be a bonus, but don't count on it.

The two main thing to watch for are:

1. Avoid Honduras. We have a 2/3 chance of this. If this goes our way, we should be in good shape to finish at least 2nd in our group.

2. Avoid El Salvador. Obviously we don't want them in the knockout stage, as I could easily see them stealing a win down in Central America, and then playing 10 men back and resorting to time wasting tactics to get a scoreless draw in Canada.

However, no one is talking about the importance of not getting El Salvador in our SemiFinal group. They are the most likely of the bottom-ranked 12 sides to win a place in the Semis (depending who they are drawn against). Assuming they win their knockout match, they could then pose problems and complicate the situation in their semifinal group. If we drew them in the semifinals, it would create a situation similar to Guatemala in our "Group of Death" from 2004, where everything is unpredictable. And we all remember what Guat did to us in our first game last time out.

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Also, we probably want to hope for Guyana in our group, or else get one of (Cuba or Haiti). Best to steer clear of Jamaica or Guatemala, as while we should be favoured against either of these sides, they are dangerous.

One more thought: The "El Salvador factor" could actually work in our favour. For instance, let's say we get drawn into a group with Costa Rica as the #1 seed. Then CR gets paired with El Salvador in the knockout stage, and El Salvador eliminates CR. While unlikely, this is certainly a plausible scenario. Then we end up in a group with El Salvador as the #1 seed. So we would essentially have become the favourites to win our group.

Imagine a group like this:

El Salvador

Trinidad

Canada

Guyana

It's possible...

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quote:Originally posted by Dave

Imagine a group like this:

El Salvador

Trinidad

Canada

Guyana

It's possible...

If I am reading this correctly (and this is past 11PM on a Sunday, i may not be) this isnt a possibility at all since each of the three groups must have one of the giants, meaning Costa Rica, the US and Mexico

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

gotcha... ;> Well, I do agree that CR is the most likely of the three to go doen - wouldnt that be just beautiful? maybe this could be the cycle of the upset - Canada could use the help

Yep. Someone should try to reach Jack Warner on his cell phone and explain how such a possibility would potentially benefit Trinidad as well. Not that this would have any impact on the outcome of the draw, of course....

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OK got an error message on video feed at CBC.ca, saying they can't confirm I am in a territory that is permitted to watch. Presumably this is from FIFA.com, and cbc.ca screwed up somehow. Anyone have any suggestions? Would a proxy server to one of the designated territories help?

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Helpful tips for dealing with draw:

1 - hard liquor

2 - lock self in dark room

3 - send kids to gramma's

4 - more hard liquor

5 - lock pets in different room (they've done nothing to deserve potential abuse)

6 - There is no shame in psychotherapy

7 - learn to enjoy golf

8 - pretend you are from Trinidad and Tobago

9 - get down from ledge

10 - Repeat the name "Danny Dichio" 100 times

11 - Remember 2014 qualifiers are only six years away

12 - Watch tape of 2000 Gold Cup

13 - Did I mention the hard liquor?

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classic...wanna talk about soccer geeks - sitting in japan in the middle of the night watching gold cup on chinese feed with spanish announcers and now im watching the world cup prelim draw in german...ffs throw a dog a bone - havent i earned at least ONE voyageurs scarf?

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Helpful tips for dealing with draw if you are a Canadian living in Japan:

1 - sake...lots of cold hard sake

2 - bundle wife off to bed early in the tatami room (sedatives help)

3 - headphones

4 - german to english translator

5 - gag - safe to shriek in disbelief

6 - pretend it is noon on a Sunday in Vancouver and that you are sitting in front of the fireplace with friends and being slightly less of a loser

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

classic...wanna talk about soccer geeks - sitting in japan in the middle of the night watching gold cup on chinese feed with spanish announcers and now im watching the world cup prelim draw in german...ffs throw a dog a bone - havent i earned at least ONE voyageurs scarf?

At least we are watching something...remember the Iceland game (for one example).

Sitting around refreshing a discussion board desperately looking for a proxie feed that wasn't found until 70 min into the damn game (and then was choppy and unwatchable).

CBC feed is up now, BTW.

And, if you want to see a real geek thread, look-up the '06 World Cup draw thread on Big Soccer....

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