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World Cup 2018


mluciani

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It has already been discussed in other topics, but there's one thing interesting for us Canadians that we didn't get in previous leaks.

 

Canada's second and potential third round match is even easier now.

Canada will face the winner of a first round match in the second round, I don't see any team menacing Canada in that list.

Assuming that Canada qualifies for the third round, they would face the winner of a second round match between the   teams in the 16-21 range from the rankings used.

16-18 are Phillips Bakery's (That's St-Vincent for those who weren't there in 08), St. Lucia and Grenada.

19-21 are  Antigua, Guyana, Puerto Rico.

 

So, if that's how it will go down there's no El Salvador or Guatemala in the third round, I think it's safe to be calling for heads if the team doesn't make it to the final 12.

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Round 2 and Round 3 should be relative cakewalks for us next year so our first challenge should be the group stage. 

 

The big question is can we beat one of Panama, Trinidad or Honduras in a group stage.  I feel really good with Trinidad, reasonably confident with Panama and pretty nervous for Honduras.

With Pinto coaching Honduras, we are kind of screwed.

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Perhaps Pinto will turn things around down there, because they have been abysmal since the World Cup. Personally, I think they are on a downturn, regardless of what coach they put in. All teams go through cycles. Right now is Costa Rica's time. Panama are stagnant but would still be very tough for us. Honduras scare me the least out of the Central American "Big Three".  

 

Aside from that, I expect us to get past Guatemala, El Salvador, or anyone else that is not named Mexico or the USA.

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Perhaps Pinto will turn things around down there, because they have been abysmal since the World Cup. Personally, I think they are on a downturn, regardless of what coach they put in. All teams go through cycles. Right now is Costa Rica's time. Panama are stagnant but would still be very tough for us. Honduras scare me the least out of the Central American "Big Three".  

 

Aside from that, I expect us to get past Guatemala, El Salvador, or anyone else that is not named Mexico or the USA.

 

Surinam can become a real force as well in this cycle if their government approves selecting players with dual-nationality.

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Surinam can become a real force as well in this cycle if their government approves selecting players with dual-nationality.

I can imagine a squad full of eredivisie players if that happens. Would definitely not want to face them if that scenaro plays out. Youre well versed in dutch football, can you tell us what players we might expect to face?

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Have they moved at all to allowing that?

 

The Surinamese government will take a decision on that next month. Surinam played an exhibition game today against Western Connection FC to gain support for the initiative. More than 6000 people turned up for the match and that was the highest attendance at a Surinamese football game in the last 40 years. 

 

I think it's highly unlikely that the bill will not pass. 

 

I can imagine a squad full of eredivisie players if that happens. Would definitely not want to face them if that scenaro plays out. Youre well versed in dutch football, can you tell us what players we might expect to face?

 

Yes, these are some of the players that have publicly stated their interest in playing for Surinam. Some of them participated in the exhibition game today as well. A lot of them wanted to play as well but didn't get the approval from their clubs. A few still travelled to watch the match anyway.

 

 
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^While I agree with you on some level, I'd much prefer if these countries worked on building their own player development structures rather than living off the crumbs that fall from their former imperial overlords. We already have to play against England 'C' whenever we get drawn against Jamaica. Now, we're also going to get Holland 'B'?

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The way I see it is that Suriname have been doing themselves a huge disservice. I don't pretend to know the politics, but the rule they've had seems silly to me. If they allow all overseas players born in there to play... Look out

 

Marc Bircham, Tony Menezes, and Milan Borjan are the only ones that I can think of off the top of my head that are/were a stretch in their Canadianess. I don't categorise overseas-born Canadians to be a problem, since we're a country of immigrants. What Jamaica and Suriname are looking to do is completely different. Most of the players on SCF08's list have never lived a day in Suriname. They are basically looking at fielding a team entirely of Owen Hargreaveses.

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No offense, but if we're worried about Suriname then we got bigger problems than we thought.  If you look at players who can potentially play for Suriname, you think they will be good enough to beat top 6 teams in CONCACAF?  Given it isn't easy to play in this region due to travelling, awful refs, lack of quality facility and off-field distraction (like fans keeping team up all night ), you think these Europeans can handle all that?   Keep in mind that Euro clubs don't approve of their CONCACAF based players playing a lot of games due to travel and potential injury.   So these potential players have to keep that in mind if they want to play for Suriname while Suriname FA needs to their domestic players to play non-FIFA date games like Gold Cup qualification games.   So it isn't home run for them as some of people here think it is.   

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Marc Bircham, Tony Menezes, and Milan Borjan are the only ones that I can think of off the top of my head that are/were a stretch in their Canadianess. I don't categorise overseas-born Canadians to be a problem, since we're a country of immigrants. What Jamaica and Suriname are looking to do is completely different. Most of the players on SCF08's list have never lived a day in Suriname. They are basically looking at fielding a team entirely of Owen Hargreaveses.

 

Milan Borjan played Youth Soccer for Mt Hamilton during his teen years. His mother works for the City of Hamilton. He moved here when he was around 10. He didn't get capped by Canada till he was 24. 

 

He may not have been born here but he's just as Canadian as Danny Heatley or Daniel Nestor or Milos Raonic. 

 

Also wow. Royston Drenthe went from playing for Real Madrid to a Championship side and is still only 27. Thought he had more than 1 cap for Netherlands. 

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Milan Borjan played Youth Soccer for Mt Hamilton during his teen years. His mother works for the City of Hamilton. He moved here when he was around 10. He didn't get capped by Canada till he was 24. 

 

He may not have been born here but he's just as Canadian as Danny Heatley or Daniel Nestor or Milos Raonic. 

 

 

Okay, I take it back with him. Although I knew his parents lived here, I thought his personal connection to Canada was much thinner.

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