WCQ Honduras - Canada 2 Sept Pre-game

[dyslexic nam]

On 6/19/2016 at 0:38 AM, king1010 said:

Mexico getting slaughtered tonight can only be a good thing for us. 

Their next competitive games will be against honduras and el salvador. The fans and directors will expect a strong rebound. 

From a Canadian Nat perspective, that result was perfect.  Yes, it will hit their confidence a bit, but the knock-on effect should be that they go for the throat in their upcoming matches against beatable opponents. 

[Floortom]

48 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

From a Canadian Nat perspective, that result was perfect.  Yes, it will hit their confidence a bit, but the knock-on effect should be that they go for the throat in their upcoming matches against beatable opponents. 

Those games likely don't impact us though. If we don't get a result in Honduras we're done. I don't see it being very likely that Mexico wins help us get through.

[shorty]

If Mexico thumps Honduras, we could lose to Honduras by 1, beat ES and then we might make up the GD tiebreak which Honduras now holds by 3, if I'm not mistaken.  Head to head would be even.

Also, if we do manage a draw or even a slim win in Honduras (because let's face it, it would be a 1-0 win, probably off a short corner just to prove all of us wrong  ), the last thing we want is Honduras stealing three points and some goal difference in Mexico.

I think Mexico not coasting through the last two games and having a point to prove helps us in almost every scenario, to be honest.  This isn't to say that we should rely on that happening -- we need to focus on getting results from both games, not just Honduras.  Two wins is the only way to guarantee that we don't have to watch the scoreboard from the other matches.

[Blackdude]

12 minutes ago, shorty said:

Two wins is the only way to guarantee that we don't have to watch the scoreboard from the other matches.

There's another scenario: beating Honduras and drawing El Salvador.

[shorty]

I stand corrected.  Let me re-phrase it:  Two wins is the BEST way to guarantee that we don't have to watch the scoreboard.

 

[Blackdude]

53 minutes ago, shorty said:

I stand corrected.  Let me re-phrase it:  Two wins is the BEST way to guarantee that we don't have to watch the scoreboard.

 

Is it? Ask Gerry Dobson about Canada losing 2-0 to Ecuardor when he thought job was done.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Venue and kickoff time are official:

San Pedro Sula (not Tegucigalpa @Robert ! ) and 3pm kickoff. FENAFUTH president tweeted it.

So 2:06pm Pacific / 5:06pm Eastern.

[JamboAl]

9 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Venue and kickoff time are official:

San Pedro Sula (not Tegucigalpa @Robert ! ) and 3pm kickoff. FENAFUTH president tweeted it.

So 2:06pm Pacific / 5:06pm Eastern.

Why play it anywhere other than the place they beat us that infamous day in 2012.  

[aloyol]

Hope Will Johnson (TFC announced he's going to miss 6 weeks) is fully fit for this game.

[Keegan]

How is a 3 pm game allowed?  It's just ridiculous... I mean there is talk of the feasibility of a World Cup in Qatar due to heat and somehow it's okay to play a qualifier in planned extreme heat?  It's a farce and it ruins the sport. 

What if we chose to play a game at 4 am? 

You'd think FIFA would regulate it and say between 5 pm and 9 pm for kick off.  

[JamboAl]

1 hour ago, Keegan said:

How is a 3 pm game allowed?  It's just ridiculous... I mean there is talk of the feasibility of a World Cup in Qatar due to heat and somehow it's okay to play a qualifier in planned extreme heat?  It's a farce and it ruins the sport. 

What if we chose to play a game at 4 am? 

You'd think FIFA would regulate it and say between 5 pm and 9 pm for kick off.  

If we chose a game to start at 4 am, that's our choice.  Do we like it that the game is at 3 pm? No.  But i would hate FIFA to mandate kick off times to every association, except for extreme health conditions. 

[Obinna]

If we can't beat Honduras or at least get a draw (in any circumstance), we must question whether or not we deserve a spot in Russia 2018.

[MtlMario]

43 minutes ago, Obinna said:

If we can't beat Honduras or at least get a draw (in any circumstance), we must question whether or not we deserve a spot in Russia 2018.

EXACTLY. Like I said in an earlier post,these are the types of games we need to win if we are to get anywhere

[jpg75]

In this article Lozano is asked his opinion about the late start to the Honduran league season. Apparently Pinto wants time to train with the team and the Olympic team will be competing in August so the league start will be pushed back. That means half their players won't have played in atleast 3 months by game day.

http://www.laprensa.hn/deportes/975655-410/choco-lozano-quiero-estar-en-el-tenerife-otro-torneo-más

[Yohan]

Jordan Hamilton absolutely on fire last months or so. Pots another goal for TFC.

He's got to be under consideration for Sept games

[Floortom]

27 minutes ago, Yohan said:

Jordan Hamilton absolutely on fire last months or so. Pots another goal for TFC.

He's got to be under consideration for Sept games

Well I definetely think Larin is a lock so that would leave that Haber and Hamilton in competition for the other striker spot. IMO, Floro will go with the familiar / safe picks for these two hugely important games. I don't see Hamilton getting a call.

[Guest]

Not that it matters but in the newest FIFA rankings we moved down 7 spots to 100th and Honduras moved up 4 to spots to 82th.

 

Edit: St. Kitts and Nevis is 80th and Antigua and Barbuda is 83rd

[A_Gagne]

7 hours ago, canta15 said:

Not that it matters but in the newest FIFA rankings we moved down 7 spots to 100th and Honduras moved up 4 to spots to 82th.

 

Edit: St. Kitts and Nevis is 80th and Antigua and Barbuda is 83rd

Yeah, exactly why I give zero F@#&$

[BrennanFan]

http://www.diez.hn/legionarios/legionarioseuropa/979937-99/a-tres-meses-de-la-operación-el-hondureño-andy-najar-ya-entrena

Three months after the operation, the Honduran Andy Najar and trains with ball.  

The Honduran midfielder injured ligaments in April and will be back before the time set.

Andy will not be with the national team of Honduras for qualifying matches against Canada and Mexico.

[jpg75]

55 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

http://www.diez.hn/legionarios/legionarioseuropa/979937-99/a-tres-meses-de-la-operación-el-hondureño-andy-najar-ya-entrena

Three months after the operation, the Honduran Andy Najar and trains with ball.  

The Honduran midfielder injured ligaments in April and will be back before the time set.

Andy will not be with the national team of Honduras for qualifying matches against Canada and Mexico.

Andy no estará con la Selección de Honduras para los partidos eliminatorios frente a Canadá y México, además de perderse los Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro, los segundos en su carrera, pues con solo 18 años, estuvo en los de Londres 2012.

"Andy won't be with the Honduran NT for qualifying matches against Canada and Mexico...."

[Guest]

Is it safe to say he is their best player? Is there hope?

[jpg75]

15 minutes ago, canta15 said:

Is it safe to say he is their best player? Is there hope?

At the very least he is their best attacking player.

[apbsmith]

REWIND;

We got spanked last time in Honduras and the future was looking very bleak. Many called for a massive youth movement and focus on 2022 and beyond.

When this group came out.  Some people on here said we would get 0-3 points & be eliminated after the 1st round of matches.

We are within 2 months of the final round of matches and

1) We control our own faith with results in the final 2 matches. Just win baby.

2) Pinto is banned form the sidelines

3) One of Hondurans top attacking players is sidelined.

You can't dwell on the past, only embrace the future.  Seriously, if you told me we could be in this spot 2 years ago...... wow ..... I dunno what my answer would be, but likely negative.

I am enjoying supporting the boys, I know they will put everything on the line come September. I can't wait!

Larin will finally pot one for us, I just know it, and it wont be off his back/a$$.  

[Floortom]

17 hours ago, canta15 said:

Is it safe to say he is their best player? Is there hope?

Probably. One of the reasons their attack looked so terrible against us in the first match against us in Sept-15 was due to Najar not playing. Look at how effective he was against SLV - their attack looks totally different when he's playing.

quite frankly, we're super lucky that he will miss both of our matches. Hopefully we take advantage

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

40 minutes ago, Floortom said:

quite frankly, we're super lucky that he will miss both of our matches. Hopefully we take advantage

We were super unlucky that Simpson and Dero were out injured last time. Now that we have Arfield, if nobody on our side is injured or sick, I agree with Floro that our offense and midfield are up to the task. It's our defense that looks shaky right now. Those guys are not getting enough playing time or are not playing at a high enough level.