Jump to content

Canada - Mexico game thread


jpg75

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 283
  • Created
  • Last Reply
quote:Originally posted by Soro17

The Mexicans on bigsoccer are worried we will roll over for Jamaica. For some reason they have us confused with Guatemala.

Seriously though, I hope we call a young squad with an eye for the future in the next match.

If Honduras beat Mexico by one goal. How many goals do Jamaica need to get in 2nd place???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by Soro17

The Mexicans on bigsoccer are worried we will roll over for Jamaica. For some reason they have us confused with Guatemala.

Seriously though, I hope we call a young squad with an eye for the future in the next match.

I read recently where Dale said he was sort of obliged to field a competitive side in the last two matches, in fairness to the other countries, so I'm not sure we'll see that many youngsters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by Whither Canada

I read recently where Dale said he was sort of obliged to field a competitive side in the last two matches, in fairness to the other countries, so I'm not sure we'll see that many youngsters.

He's running short on players.

De Guzman might not leave his club for a meaningless match

Hutch and Friend going home before this one leads me to believe they'd say no for Jamaica

Klukowski (I think) is suspended.

Radzinski has said he's played his last match

De Ro and Mitchell clearly aren't on the same page

Hume and Mitchell don't get along either

I don't know if we'll see loads of youngsters, but there will be plenty of players we haven't seen a lot of before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ali Gerba

On the Concacaf Website Canada-Mexico Match Report it says

Gerba is only the 2nd Canadian player to score 6 goals in one Calender year. It is also the first time we have scored in 7 consecutive WC qualifying games.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB

It just doesn't make any sense, how does Canada play like this with Pozaniak and Harmse in the line-up, and look so disjointed with Tiba and JDG???

I would suggest that we saw a team tonight with some of the troublemakers and loafers removed. Everyone on the pitch gave 100% and we seen time and time again that a team of decent players that have a good attitude and work hard can usually defeat a team of more skilled players with bad attitudes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are the opinions of some of the players who do take responsibility for how they play in a Canada shirt.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2008/10/15/7091586-sun.html

Players want changes

By DEREK VAN DIEST, SUN MEDIA

Winter of discontent

Old hat for Eriksson

The look on their faces said it all.

Well, at least on the faces of two of the three Team Canada players at Foote Field yesterday.

One of them was just happy to be here.

"The results speak for themselves," said Canadian midfielder Ali Gerba, one of three Canadian players made available yesterday.

"I don't think we've won a game in our last 10, so they speak for themselves. I don't have much to say on the subject; I think people can make their own conclusions from here."

Canada was supposed to have one of the nation's best teams ever heading into the World Cup qualifying tournament.

Four games later, their hopes of playing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are gone.

"We came here believing we could get to the World Cup," said Gerba. "We didn't want to be just one of those Canadian teams that are just going to do whatever. We came with high expectations of ourselves. But instead of that, there has been a lot of frustration and dissension."

Canada has already lost three games and considering they're playing a desperate Mexican team tonight (7 p.m.) at Commonwealth Stadium and Jamaica on the road, could end up losing five of their six qualifying matches.

"I think everybody that's involved in the Canadian Soccer Association has to look at themselves - players, staff, everybody," said defender Kevin McKenna.

"Canadian soccer in general has to have a look at itself. All the provinces have to have a look at themselves and say how can we boost Canadian soccer and get it to maybe where the U.S. is in soccer. A lot of things need to change."

A lot of frustration has been vented towards head coach Dale Mitchell. Some players have questioned his tactics while others expressed concern over his hiring considering the disastrous Under-20 campaign he was in charge of last summer.

Canada draws Mexico 2-2 in World Cup qualifying match

By Dean Bennett, THE CANADIAN PRESS

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2008/10/15/7100291-cp.html

EDMONTON - Wounded by controversy and playing only for pride, Canada's men's soccer team fought front-running Mexico to a spirited 2-2 draw in World Cup qualifying Wednesday.

Ali Gerba and Tomasz Radzinski scored for Canada while Matias Vuoso and Carlos Salcido replied for Mexico on a chilly 8 C night at Commonwealth Stadium.

"The guys came out today to show we have pride in the Canadian jersey," said Gerba. "It's just unfortunate we couldn't make it to the next round of qualifying."

Canada (0-3-2) was mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after losing to Honduras on the weekend.

Wednesday's draw, however, clouds the future for the Mexicans, who is fighting with Jamaica and Honduras to be one of the two teams in the Group 2 bracket of the CONCACAF region to advance to next year's final round of qualifying.

Mexico dominated play early - recording its first shot on net 17 seconds into the game.

But it was Canada that scored first, in the 13th minute, when Radzinski chested a pass up the middle to Gerba. The 26-year-old from Montreal lofted the bouncing ball 30 yards over the outstretched hands of Mexican goalie Oswaldo Sanchez and into the net before 14,105 fans in attendance.

Fortunes changed for Canada in the 35th minute, when defender Marcel de Jong and Mexican midfielder Gerardo Torrado leapt up with the ball just outside Canada's penalty area. Torrado's elbow seemed to catch de Jong in the face and the defender had to be hauled off on a stretcher.

Canada, however, was called for the foul and Mexico capitalized on the free kick. Midfielder Andres Guardado provided a diversion, pretending to kick the ball but running through it instead, leaving it free for defender Salcindo to rocket the ball low off the leg of a Canadian defender in the wall and past the right hand of diving Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld.

"I don't know if it was a free kick for us or for Canada," said Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson of the de Jong-Torrado collision. "To be honest I thought it was against us. But I will not protest."

In the second half, Canada regained the lead in the 50th minute when Gerba crossed the ball over to a streaking Radzinski.

Sanchez moved to intercept the ball but misplayed it. Instead, he tapped it right onto the foot of Radzinski, who simply redirected the ball into the yawning net as the fans roared. Radzinski leapt for joy and pulled off his jersey.

"It's been a long time since my last goal for Canada that I was absolutely overwhelmed," said a smiling Radzinski after the match.

"I didn't really think about the dance. It just came out naturally."

Mexico tied it again at the 63rd minute, when midfielder Giovani dos Santos crossed the ball over to forward Vuoso, who leapt between two defenders in the crease to head the ball over Hirschfeld.

There were strong scoring chances on both sides, with Mexico holding the edge in play. They outshot the Canadians 13-10.

The fans seemed evenly split among Canadian supporters and those clad in the red, white and Green of Mexico. Mexican flags outnumbered Canadian ones about 5-to-1.

Canada, which wraps up its schedule Nov. 19 against Jamaica, hasn't been to the World Cup since 1986.

There were high expectations heading into this second round of qualifying in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

But after a disappointing 1-1 tie at home against low-ranked Jamaica in August, Canada slid to three consecutive losses.

Then came the dissension.

In the last week, players Jim Brennan and Dwayne De Rosario sniped publicly at head coach Dale Mitchell and the governing body, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA).

Brennan has said he won't play for Mitchell and De Rosario was quoted wondering why Mitchell would get the senior team job after leading Canada's U-20 squad to a winless performance at last year's world championship.

Brennan is off the team and De Rosario didn't dress Wednesday.

After the game, Mitchell said that given the controversy, "The guys showed they're still together, there's still quality within the group."

The draw keeps the heat on Eriksson and for Mexico, a regional powerhouse that suffered a shocking 1-0 loss to Jamaica on Saturday.

Mexico (3-1-1) still leads the group with 10 points, followed by Honduras (3-2-0) at nine and Jamaica (2-1-1) at seven. A win is worth three points.

Honduras lost 1-0 to Jamaica Wednesday.

A win by Honduras over Mexico Nov. 19 coupled with a Jamaican victory over Canada would mean Mexico would have to beat Jamaica on total goal differential to move on.

"We've made life a little bit difficult for ourselves, but we are first in the group," said Eriksson. "So it depends on us if we want to go through to the next round of qualification."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

I would suggest that we saw a team tonight with some of the troublemakers and loafers removed. Everyone on the pitch gave 100% and we seen time and time again that a team of decent players that have a good attitude and work hard can usually defeat a team of more skilled players with bad attitudes.

You may have something there........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The next coach needs to have some education on sports psychology. If that is how our second string plays without pressure, than I would suggest that the first string has lost the game even before they play. I think Forest said ‘these guys may have been playing with the idea that JDG and DDR will carry the team, since they are not there they know they have to carry the team.’ After last nights performance I would have to agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ If you are relying on two players to carry the team you're in real trouble! If each and every player could have just played near to their potential, I think we could have done alot better! The next coach will have to identify this problem and deal with it from the get go! I would rather see a player like Posniak or Harmse playing up to their potential than one of our so called stars woefully under achieving!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although he didn't get off the bench, De Ro suited up for Houston yesterday, something that none of these reporters seem aware of. De Ro could have been quoted as saying Mitchell was the greatest coach of all time & I still don't think he'd have been playing for Canada yesterday after we got eliminated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Best game I've seen Canada play in a while, pressure was off and it was all about pride and guts! Great goals by Ali G and T-Rad, great team effort all around, guys playing for each other instead of trying to do it all themslves (not your fault DeRo but you're just not as good as you've been told you are) and Harmse might have been man of the match! Played that holding role very well, marked the runners, didn't dive in, made the simple pass when he got the ball and if someone looked like getting by him...YOU SHALL NOT PASS:(

Had a lot of fun watching the team for a change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by gator

^ If you are relying on two players to carry the team you're in real trouble! If each and every player could have just played near to their potential, I think we could have done alot better! The next coach will have to identify this problem and deal with it from the get go! I would rather see a player like Posniak or Harmse playing up to their potential than one of our so called stars woefully under achieving!

In any sport, to use a common analogy: A few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch.

You must trust and believe that the players you are playing with are in it for the same reasons you are: it is painfully clear, to me at least, that something needed to be said and that having certain people removed from the dressing room changed the dynamic.

Every team must work within the dynamic that is created by the players and the coach. While Mitchell is not my (nor just about anybody's) choice, I don't think he is solely the problem.

I'm quite interested to see what will happen against Jamaica.

PEACH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just a shame there won't be many chances to see the team in the future! Even though they were eliminated already, I was looking forward to watching this match! I look forward to seeing the team anytime they play! Maybe the pressure was off all us fans too! I don't know about you guys but I'm hyped up and nervous for the WCQ matches, the pressure was off us too! lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by gator

It's just a shame there won't be many chances to see the team in the future! Even though they were eliminated already, I was looking forward to watching this match! I look forward to seeing the team anytime they play! Maybe the pressure was off all us fans too! I don't know about you guys but I'm hyped up and nervous for the WCQ matches, the pressure was off us too! lol

I hope the CSA and the new coach (there better be a new one) have the foresight to realize that whoever draws a CONCACAF team in S. Africa may want to play a friendly against Canada to get them used to some of the style of play. I could be nasty and say that our boys will still have to perfect the time-wasting and rolling around the ground bit to mimic a Costa Rica/Honduras...[}:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope we never perfect that rolling around on the ground thing! You knew DeJong was hurt last night when he went off on a stretcher, unlike our diving, cheating Concacaf opponents who make a habit of play acting! The more I watch the replay of that FK against DeJong, the worse it looks, the ref really got that wrong!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A great game. Glad I went. Long drive home but how often does this come around?

Radz was great. Gerba scored and setup Radz goal, excellent work by the big guy. Mids did good moving the ball up the wings but they and the defense got back checked too often. The Mexican forwards are fast and tenacious back checkers. They don't give up.

We didn't surrender the field last night. We fought for it. The Mexicans had to play longball to get out of their end some times. They are very good at receiving and keeping posesssion on those.

Everyone worked very hard and when we play the 4-4-2 we can score more than 1 goal a game. Giving posession and half the field to the other team is not a winning game plan.

It would have been fantastic if Paul's shot had gone in. This may be the last time we see him as well. Both he and Radz have served long under very hard conditions. Thanks to both.

After the game a bunch of the players came over and some tossed their jerseys into the V's section. Someone threw Radz a "Sack the CSA" t-shirt and he put it on and laughed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

At the same time, all the teams in this region use their climate to their advantage, so fair is fair. Imagine what might have been if the qualifying ran from October to February, or if we got our home games at the end the way Jamaica is doing.

I imagine we'd still finish in fourth place. It's been a balmy October for much of Canada.

Besides 0 points on the road kills all "what-if" arguments regarding the timing of Canada's home matches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I spoke to probably a 100 Mexicans last night and all but ONE were up from Mexico. They support their team. I would say at least 5000 were up from Mexico, likely 8000.

The V's did their best with our smaller numbers. No real punch up threats, despite River City's apprehension about that. A small group of us were surrounded by a wall of Mexicans on our way into the stadium with the big Voyageurs banner and there was a bit of stick there but nothing really. And some teenage twat in green hurled a beer towards us in the 2nd half so I went over and told them to cool it.

Stalteri and Radz were most appreciative of the V's section. But it was nice to see the players come over post game and Radz get his plaque. I am not talking too well today due to my 1000 or so 'TOMASZ RADZINKI's shouted out last night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:Originally posted by jonovision

I don't know if Stalteri is done for Canada (I'm sure he'll keep coming if called -- he doesn't get to play anywhere else), but I hope he's seen the end of his RB days.

Very good point. Last night i saw Stalteri of old and was easily the best match that i have seen from him in a long time. prior to last night, I had not seen anything memorable from Stalteri since the moment he first appeared as a RB way back in 2004. Slight correction, in the last four years there have been memorable plays from him, but for the wrong reasons. Until he was moved to RB, he was easily one of our best players. It was Yallop who moved him back there and it was evidently not his wisest decision. This makes us question the theory that we should always be playing players at the postions that they play with their clubs

Not coincidently, the things that I have noted from his play over past four years remind me very much of what Spurs fans have been critical of. Namely, his marking and positional play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...