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WCQ Honduras - Canada 2 Sept Pre-game


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1 hour ago, Ansem said:

3pm...I wonder why? :rolleyes:

Surely the heat and humidity has nothing to do with it...

It's no secret why.

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56 minutes ago, Oranje said:

I originally was a fan of putting the match in Nordic conditions, but if we do make the WC, those matches are going to be played in near-ideal conditions.

If we actually make it to a world cup, I think we can all agree that we would be extreme underdogs and we should just enjoy actually being there for once in how long.

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6 minutes ago, canta15 said:

If we actually make it to a world cup, I think we can all agree that we would be extreme underdogs and we should just enjoy actually being there for once in how long.

exactly and learn from playing the best on the planet

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It was just fluke that a storm passed over a few hours before the match. It was the 3rd day of spring, so it was not planning on US soccer to play the game in the snow.

US soccer picks sites based on neutralizing away support. But they make puzzling decisions at times such as playing Colombia in Olympic qualifying last month in Dallas where the Colombians were easily in the majority. 

One thing Vancouver achieved that US hasn't ex Columbus is outdraw Mexican supporters. 

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2 hours ago, Ansem said:

At the end of the day, what do you want to achieve? World Cup or good attendances

What would grow the game in Canada? Status Quo or making it to the World Cup?

I can live with bad attendances during bad weather if we get to the world cup. Making it to the World Cup would get this country on fire regarding soccer...Exactly what you need to achieve the following

  • Success of the CPL
  • More kids choosing soccer
  • D3 getting in order faster
  • More Canadians players choosing to play for Canada
  • More foreign players playing in Canada wanting the Canadian citizenship

In the end...what do we ultimately want to achieve? Make no mistake about it...

Canada qualifying for the World Cup is WAY MORE important than selling out losing qualifiers if we're talking about bidding for a World Cup

 

No shit...

But if we can't beat El Salvador in Vancouver/Toronto/Montreal at 20C we don't deserve to make the Hex let alone the WC. Also, there is the assertion that cold temperatures/snow will automatically make the Canadian players better and the CA opponent worse. My money would be on Canada playing better in front of 20K in 20C weather than in front of 5K in -10 and snow.

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Hmmm, fluke to get snow on March 23?  Where do you live?  Out here on the praires snow doesn't dissapear until mid march and we ALWAYS get 2-3 more snowfalls into April.  With colorado being in Mts, I would bet they have snow storms into april as well.  No one can guarentee bad weather, but to say its a fluke is nonsense.  You pick Colorado, Winnipeg, regina etc for games in March and there is a good chance you'll get shitty weather.  

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7 minutes ago, Oranje said:

No shit...

But if we can't beat El Salvador in Vancouver/Toronto/Montreal at 20C we don't deserve to make the Hex let alone the WC. Also, there is the assertion that cold temperatures/snow will automatically make the Canadian players better and the CA opponent worse. My money would be on Canada playing better in front of 20K in 20C weather than in front of 5K in -10 and snow.

Canada might not play better but you'll notice a drop of quality in Central American teams...just like they do to us when they make us play in altitude or humid tropical climate at noon or 3pm

Our response?

"You're in our house...to beat us at home, you'll have to WORK for it. Meet our Canadian weather"

The truth is...we're so easy to play against, there's no such thing as home field advantage in regards to Canada. This must change

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4 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Canada might not play better but you'll notice a drop of quality in Central American teams...just like they do to us when they make us play in altitude or humid tropical climate at noon or 3pm

Our response?

"You're in our house...to beat us at home, you'll have to WORK for it. Meet our Canadian weather"

The truth is...we're so easy to play against, there's no such thing as home field advantage in regards to Canada. This must change

The game against Mexico seemed like a pretty good home field advantage.

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Our guys might not play better, but at least they have seen snow, worked out in it ran in it etc.  I'm sure alot of the Central American teams crap their pants at the thought of 3 inches of snow and -10 degrees.  Just like our guys are intimidated by 100% humidity and elevation etc in mexico/central america etc.  They always make sure we play under conditions their players are used to and ours are not.  Why not give them a taste...and who's to say a nasty weather city in canada cant draw 15-20000 screaming fans??  

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11 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Canada might not play better but you'll notice a drop of quality in Central American teams...just like they do to us when they make us play in altitude or humid tropical climate at noon or 3pm

Our response?

"You're in our house...to beat us at home, you'll have to WORK for it. Meet our Canadian weather"

The truth is...we're so easy to play against, there's no such thing as home field advantage in regards to Canada. This must change

I don't think a short corner in the snow is that much different from a short corner in a tropical climate

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7 minutes ago, canta15 said:

The game against Mexico seemed like a pretty good home field advantage.

I don't want to start this debate again, but I was there and it seemed pretty close to 50/50. Either way, as a Canadian fan I was totally psyched to be in that atmosphere, I doubt the Canadian players were any different.

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To those advocating games in cold weather climates has it occurred to you that maybe our players don't want to play in those conditions? Many of the guys have talked about how great it was to play in Vancouver and how it was extra motivation so I would stick to that.

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4 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

To those advocating games in cold weather climates has it occurred to you that maybe our players don't want to play in those conditions? Many of the guys have talked about how great it was to play in Vancouver and how it was extra motivation so I would stick to that.

DO they want to play there again? I thought they still hated the fact they are playing on turf.

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Those were the rumours the last cycle but I havem't heard anything about this group and their field preferance. I would guess yes considering the turnout we got. There's no way ES will draw a big number and if Vancouver can replicate half of what it's done in the first couple games it should be a loud, raucous, pro-Canada crowd.

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7 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Those were the rumours the last cycle but I havem't heard anything about this group and their field preferance. I would guess yes considering the turnout we got. There's no way ES will draw a big number and if Vancouver can replicate half of what it's done in the first couple games it should be a loud, raucous, pro-Canada crowd.

You just wanna go back to Vancouver!  :-)

I'm starting to believe the turf thing is a red herring.  Is it preferable to grass?  Maybe not but these guys may not care as long as they get a loud, partisan home crowd.  

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1 minute ago, JamboAl said:

You just wanna go back to Vancouver!  :-)

I'm starting to believe the turf thing is a red herring.  Is it preferable to grass?  Maybe not but these guys may not care as long as they get a loud, partisan home crowd.  

I do and I don't!

I saw Peter Montopoli on the flight back from Van in March and I asked him if we were coming back to BC in September and he said "Let's get through Tuesday first."

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43 minutes ago, Oranje said:

I don't want to start this debate again, but I was there and it seemed pretty close to 50/50. Either way, as a Canadian fan I was totally psyched to be in that atmosphere, I doubt the Canadian players were any different.

Are you talking about the Mar 25th match vs Mexico? Every assessment I've heard or seen has said 40,000+ Canadian fans. By my own observations I thought 45,000 but I couldn't see the upper deck that well. I don't want to start up the debate either and am only commenting because I think saying the split was 50-50 is a clear error. 

I also don't want to start the Toronto vs Vancouver debate again as all it did was set people against one another when they should be bigger than that and willing to work with other Vs in other regions. There are clearly benefits to playing the games in both places. However what's pretty clear from player, coach and media comments over the last two games, and other stuff I've heard from behind the scenes, is that the players feel very positive about playing in Vancouver right now, and that might be a game factor that the CSA shouldn't ignore when deciding when the game will be. 

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26 minutes ago, canta15 said:

DO they want to play there again? I thought they still hated the fact they are playing on turf.

I've heard the players think very strongly that artificial turf gives them an advantage ... not that they prefer it but that other teams, especially Central American teams, hate it, and thereby it tips the scales in their favour. 

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I'm with Rob on his observations regarding Vancouver.  As much as I would love to have the game in Toronto in September (closer to home and much cheaper), the atmosphere in BC Place was quite something and I would go back out in a heartbeat. 

Regardless, we now have at least two locations where we can feel like Canada is the home team.   

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6 minutes ago, rob.notenboom said:

Are you talking about the Mar 25th match vs Mexico? Every assessment I've heard or seen has said 40,000+ Canadian fans. By my own observations I thought 45,000 but I couldn't see the upper deck that well. I don't want to start up the debate either and am only commenting because I think saying the split was 50-50 is a clear error.

I also don't want to start the Toronto vs Vancouver debate again as all it did was set people against one another when they should be bigger than that and willing to work with other Vs in other regions. There are clearly benefits to playing the games in both places. However what's pretty clear from player, coach and media comments over the last two games, and other stuff I've heard from behind the scenes, is that the players feel very positive about playing in Vancouver right now, and that might be a game factor that the CSA shouldn't ignore when deciding when the game will be.

Less than 10K Mexican fans?! It looked like a large majority of the opposing curve was green. but since I'm not up for sparking this debate, I'll chalk it up to my burred vision due to too many pints!

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I do think there is a difference between playing at BC place, regardless of how packed and how pro-Canadian, and playing on a small frozen pitch, on a chilly September day in the northern reaches of the country.

I was watching the old 1985 CBC video of Canada vs. Honduras in St. John's, and it occurred to me that the crowd there was practically right on the pitch. Even if it's just 10,000 fans, in an environment like that, I think it would definitely throw the visitors off their game. Remember, these guys are used to playing in front of big crowds, but they're used to those big crowds being behind fences.

I have a friend who used to play for the Rock (Canadian Rugby Championship) team, and he would say that even with about a thousand fans there it was a big factor. They're very partisan, very loud and it wouldn't be uncommon to see things like hot dogs get thrown at the opposing bench and things like that.

I think we should play the game in either Newfoundland or Fort Mac. I think if you're from El Salvador, 10,000 newfies or 10,000 rig-pigs yelling at you from 2 meters away, with nothing but a piece of rope between them and you would be far more intimidating than any crowd in a regular stadium, no matter how large.  I think that could be a bigger factor than we realize.

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21 minutes ago, Oranje said:

Less than 10K Mexican fans?! It looked like a large majority of the opposing curve was green. but since I'm not up for sparking this debate, I'll chalk it up to my burred vision due to too many pints!

Chuckle. Well that made two of us. In my estimation I thought the same ... most of one half of the curve opposite, a generous number of fans flanking them, and then a general scattering throughout the rest of the stadium. Even if those sections from the middle of the net to the half line on one side was 100% Mexican fans on both the upper and lower decks, you would only be looking at 1/4 of the fans being Mexican fans or 13,750 fans. It wasn't solidly Mexican, as the concentrated Mexican support was in a smaller number of sections, but there were a number of fans scattered throughout the stadium that may have made up for that number or even exceeded it a bit.

Regardless, I agree that this isn't something worth getting too exercised about. The reason I'm hyper-sensitive to it is that I'm wary that the dialogue will regress to the "Our home games are never home games" narrative trajectory, and I thought it was fantastic that we clearly had a home game against a team with great travelling support.

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