Alex Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Last qualifying cycle they went 1-5 vs Guatemala, t&t and USA. In the gold cup they lost 6-1 to el Salvador. Hart said they don't bring a full squad to away games I assume because of detections and $. right now they are ranked 113 between puerto Rico and st kitts so I'm asking is it a three team race or are they a decent team I just know nothing about them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 We honestly don't know how good Cuba is. According to Hart, they are a Jekyll and Hyde country, playing grossly on the road while being unusually strong at home. It's almost a shame we couldn't have started with them here instead of having to go there, but we should be able to beat them regardless. I sure hope the boys pull out some of the "ideas" Stephen has made into a mantra for them, because we are going to need it. I expect they are going to play with 10 men behind the ball and counter like crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Watch out for panama is right they convincingly trounced the u.s.in their group last round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThiKu Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Cuba will be a tough away game and they will NOT go 0-3 @ home. Canada MUST get a draw or win in Cuba to have some sort of heads-up/advantage over Honduras and Panama. Cuba like 0-3 on the road though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 To get through we can't lose in Cuba. But I think a draw away to start the group and we'd still be okay. Obviously we need to beat Cuba and Panama at home. That gives us 6 of the 9/10 points we'll need so if we beat those two teams at home that really only means 3 draws, or a win, and ideally a win coupled with a draw in the four remaining games puts us through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DontPanic Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I don't want to under estimate Cuba, but let's also not make them out to be the bogeyman. We should be able to beat them at home and anything less than a tie in Havana will be a let down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 To get through we can't lose in Cuba. But I think a draw away to start the group and we'd still be okay. Obviously we need to beat Cuba and Panama at home. That gives us 6 of the 9/10 points we'll need so if we beat those two teams at home that really only means 3 draws, or a win, and ideally a win coupled with a draw in the four remaining games puts us through! Less pressure on us if we play them away first. Playing at home and having them sneak a point would be terrible for us. Going there and sneaking a point would be much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Last qualifying cycle they went 1-5 vs Guatemala, t&t and USA. In the gold cup they lost 6-1 to el Salvador. Hart said they don't bring a full squad to away games I assume because of detections and $. right now they are ranked 113 between puerto Rico and st kitts so I'm asking is it a three team race or are they a decent team I just know nothing about them Taking off the homer glasses, although it might be a bit of a stretch, you could probably make an argument that Canada is just barely ahead of Cuba. Going 1-5 vs Guat, T&T, and USA looks eerily similar (it's actually better) to Canada going 0-2-4 vs Jamaica, Honduras, and Mex. Ranked 113 looks similar to Canada being ranked 105 just last summer. Our games against Cuba will be close, and if we are not ready, we will drop points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppy Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I'll go as far to say if they lose to Cuba in the first game, it's over. They can't come stumbling out like that .. They need momentum and build up their confidence quickly .. a loss, and they have no momentum and no confidence.. Just my opinion. Even a draw I would consider shaky for their confidence. Canada has a tendency to regard draws as some kind of win+excuses, but it's really less than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Taking off the homer glasses, although it might be a bit of a stretch, you could probably make an argument that Canada is just barely ahead of Cuba. Going 1-5 vs Guat, T&T, and USA looks eerily similar (it's actually better) to Canada going 0-2-4 vs Jamaica, Honduras, and Mex. Ranked 113 looks similar to Canada being ranked 105 just last summer. Our games against Cuba will be close, and if we are not ready, we will drop points. I agree with you about the last wcqs. I just wonder if their gold cup performance was their A team or not. Then they beat up minnows qualified for the gold cup and padded their ranking so here we are. Hopefully panama drops points to them that's the key; as well as us winning the first game. At least we can finally say the groups are tilted more in our favour since 1998. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I'll go as far to say if they lose to Cuba in the first game, it's over. They can't come stumbling out like that .. They need momentum and build up their confidence quickly .. a loss, and they have no momentum and no confidence.. Just my opinion. Even a draw I would consider shaky for their confidence. Canada has a tendency to regard draws as some kind of win+excuses, but it's really less than that. +1 They must win at Cuba. I expect Cuba to be tough at home and sit behind the ball, but hopefully we can draw from our experience of last round. Otherwise it will put everything at risk. I am worried about this game alot because there is no way Cuba drops all points at home, and between us, Panama, and Honduras, you would expect we would have the most difficulty playing visitor to a latin nation in a hot climate. That being said though, hopefully we have some good away support and this being our first game could work in our favour. It all depends on our form leading up to the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I think playing the first game away will help us this time around. Last time with the opening game at BMO against Jamaica, the place was packed and the expectations ridiculously high. I think we all get a little carried away, and there was the crazy "biggest game ever" feel before the game that I don't think helped the players. If we pick up a point or 3 in Cuba that should give the players something to go off before the Honduras game 4 days later, which will inevitably be subject to the same hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Throw out Cuba's Gold Cup results. All of their matches were investigate for match fixing. Not sure of the outcome of the investigations, but there was enough smoke to warrant an investigation in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 My expectation is that about 15 minutes into the match in Havana alot of V's who are underestimating Cuba are going to be wondering why Cuba has so much possession and thanking their lucky stars that they've missed a couple of good scoring chances. We will probably escape Havana with a 0-0 draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I'll go as far to say if they lose to Cuba in the first game, it's over. They can't come stumbling out like that .. They need momentum and build up their confidence quickly .. a loss, and they have no momentum and no confidence.. Just my opinion. Even a draw I would consider shaky for their confidence. Canada has a tendency to regard draws as some kind of win+excuses, but it's really less than that. We have a very bad habit of starting off tournaments poorly and putting ourselves behind the 8 ball from the beginning, this has happened in many of our WCQ cycles and Gold Cups! I wouldn't necessarily say we're eliminated with a loss there but we would certainly have to beat Honduras at home to stay alive! I'm thinking we need 4 points from the first 2 matches to have a realistic shot of advancing, who knows though? A win in Cuba would be huge in a round that may have many twists and turns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We have a very bad habit of starting off tournaments poorly and putting ourselves behind the 8 ball from the beginning, this has happened in many of our WCQ cycles and Gold Cups! I wouldn't necessarily say we're eliminated with a loss there but we would certainly have to beat Honduras at home to stay alive! I'm thinking we need 4 points from the first 2 matches to have a realistic shot of advancing, who knows though? A win in Cuba would be huge in a round that may have many twists and turns! 4 points from our first two matches is a lot. I agree with jpg75, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Cuba as the better team in Havana. I mean we should be favourites, but I think it will be a close match. For me more realistically 2-3 points should be alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 With Moré retired, who is/are the danger man? Cervantes? Linares? Team seems to be made up of 100% domestic players, and there isn't much info on the Cuban league, so it is hard to guage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppy Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We have a very bad habit of starting off tournaments poorly and putting ourselves behind the 8 ball from the beginning, this has happened in many of our WCQ cycles and Gold Cups! I wouldn't necessarily say we're eliminated with a loss there but we would certainly have to beat Honduras at home to stay alive! I'm thinking we need 4 points from the first 2 matches to have a realistic shot of advancing, who knows though? A win in Cuba would be huge in a round that may have many twists and turns! Ya, Canada's confidence is fragile and the game with Cuba will impact it strongly I believe. They can be excited and enthusiastic, but the doubt is there, it has to be. Stumbling out of the gate is bad, but with Canada, it's particularly serious. They're too fragile in confidence for it not to be. They have to establish a pattern of bringing it before things change. If they lost to Cuba, they would then be under a lot of pressure as well.. They react by storming out to defeat Honduras? Well that's a lot to ask... Sure they can get lucky.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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