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Costa Rica vs Canada - Post Match Thread


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this was probably the best match I have seen Piette play (was good against Curaçao too). Hoilett and arfield were strong too. Borja of course.

defending corners has been a real issue in the first two games. That has to change.

im hoping for a draw versus Honduras. That would be our best play into the knockout round

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I don't care if I'm biased but Costa Rica is arguably the best team in the tournament with USA and Mexico bringing their B sides. And we got a draw.

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3 minutes ago, dsqpr said:

Piette MOTM for me.

Borjan honorable mention.

I'm thrilled!!

I have them reversed.  Piette was great tonight, but Borjan prevented us from getting killed with the late pressure.

going into halftime, the 1-1 scoreline felt like we were getting screwed over.  After the full 90, I suspect CR feel the same way with all their late pressure.

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Fantastic performance. If we continue to play this way, we will continue to get goals from open play. In all those diatribes against Floro, this is the kind of performance I had envisioned. 

Not really a bad performance on the pitch. I'm not going to dig anyone out when everyone ran their arse off to exhaustion. I'll pick out some of the notable performances though.

Borjan - What can you say. Absolute stud back there. Other than a single bobble, he was commanding his box and making acrobatic saves all over the place. 

Hoillett - Ran at the defense and had some great technical moments. With more time to link up with the other attacking players, we have a very promising attack.

Arfield - He's our new Hutch. Less technical talent, but more leadership quality. Has a bit of 'leader of men' in him. Very, very impressed with everything he brought and his commitment to the national team. 

Davies - So much talent still to unlock. Always dangerous with the ball. Has that extra bit of class that we've missed in the CMNT for many years. Excited for the future.

Jak - Great distribution from the back. Didn't put a pass wrong all night. Steady.

Cavallini - Great hold up play. Has great control with his chest and should he keep showing up, I can see some great chemistry developing with our pacy wingers. He's what we've wanted Larin to be for a while. 

Piette - I know this is going to seem a bit over the top, but he was my MOTM. He was ALL OVER THE PITCH. Broke up attack after attack, showed good vision with the ball at his feet, destroyed well and has a Kante-esque agility on his feet. His acceleration and ability to shift laterally are special. Always looked powerful. If he can be our Kante (poor man's version obviously) we'll be able to stick around against quality opponents. Suffice to say, I am bullish on how great Piette was tonight.

Ultimately, I know I'm leaving some of the boys out, but I thought everyone brought something to the table. One of the better technical performances I've seen from a Canadian team in ages. We were always willing to run at people and bring FBs into the attack. Some extra quality in the final ball and we have a couple more goals.

Lastly, I want to thank OZ for playing a style of football that makes me proud to watch our boys play. While we held on at the end, this was the most positive performance against a quality opponent in a long time. I think people already forget just how anemic we were under Floro, and OZ is already proving how poorly we were coached. So props to the wizard as well!

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That was a really great effort.  And I was happy to see that we were able to kill off the game without finishing the match with four CBs on the field (and that's the last time I flog that dead horse!).  Big props to Zambrano for the match prep and the subs.  He still needs to sort out the corner kick marking, but this was a fine result.  Lots of big time efforts out there.

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Good stuff - smart tactics with the personnel by Zambrano (I mentioned in the pre-game thread that these moves were all made with legs and running in mind) although playing Ricketts on the wing and Hoilett up front when AJH went off was a bit curious. Same with using Aird on the left instead of Edwards, which almost came back to bite us in the rear end. We did die in the heat once again in Houston just like two years ago but we put ourselves in a much better position in the game and for the most part we held on to the ball so that when we went forward, Costa Rica had to respect us more than Jamaica did two years ago.

We should last longer in Dallas because we have the later game and hopefully the temperature will have dropped a few degrees by then.

As for all the US pundits who said that we had no chance to even get a draw against Costa Rica and said that we were already eliminated from the tournament because we didn't score  enough goals against FG (yes Brad Freidel, I'm talking to you and not just you) - you can now go kiss Floro's ass.  

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13 minutes ago, Floortom said:

this was probably the best match I have seen Piette play (was good against Curaçao too). Hoilett and arfield were strong too. Borja of course.

defending corners has been a real issue in the first two games. That has to change.

im hoping for a draw versus Honduras. That would be our best play into the knockout round

yeah that would best..though it likely mean Mexico in semi..

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Good game.  With this result we'll through, worst case as 3rd placed team.  Can't wait to see if we win the group now.  In order to avpid the Mexico and USA until Semi's, gotta beat Honduras. Liking this team alot now.  Floroball is dead

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All I really wanted from this game was to see our guys take a step up, to gel a bit more, to find their groove as a team etc.  I think they took a solid step forward. They are figuring out how to play together and I like what I am seeing. They've still got a long ways to go, but the fact that they are playing decently well AND still have potential is something that I'm not sure any of us would have said even two years ago.

Piette is MOTM, for sure, but we saw several excellent performances, with Borjan and Arfield rounding out the top three for me.  As somebody said earlier in this post, Arfield is bossing the midfield, which every team needs. He brings vocal leadership, and I'd make him captain if Hutch does not return. Kaye is a special physical specimen; he just needs more playing time with his club, and then better competition. His passing was wonky, but if he adds that aspect, then he is a beast in midfield.

Was concerned that Adekube has not played a whole helluva lot, but he was very steady. Petrasso has some lovely skill and composure, and if he can learn how to play RB, he will be a terrific option, especially roaring down the right side.

Hoilett is going to have a break out game yet. Mark my words. Just as soon as he, Arfield,  Cavallini and Davies figure each other out, Hoilett is going to be a menace to other teams.

We had some shaky moments tonight, but I felt we played a much tidier game that the one versus FG. That is the sort of growth we want to see. What makes me most happy: We've got guys--several of them!--who WANT to take on players. The positive play is very encouraging.

Last thing: We will likely know IF we're in the knockout stages by Thursday, which makes me wonder what sort of lineup OZ will play versus Honduras. Right now his sole concern is building this team, figuring out what he's got, teaching them how to play how he wants them to play--winning the Gold Cup is not his primary goal. We might see guys like Arfield sit out the last game.

Proud of these guys. And nice to think we've still got good guys like Tesho and Johnson and Hutch and Larin out there, and more young guys coming up. Tabla, come on! 

 

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I too thought that there were positive to take away from this game.  I am not going to get carried away though and say that this was a great result.  Thats just because we have to have the bar set a little higher and we have to show consistency into the next game. 

but i get a sence that things are starting to turn around.  And it looked like we stopped the bleeding.  

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10 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

who said that we had no chance to even get a draw against Costa Rica and said that we were already eliminated from the tournament because we didn't score  enough goals against FG (yes Brad Freidel, I'm talking to you and not just you) - you can now go kiss Floro's ass.  

What's Floro got do with it?

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2 minutes ago, The Beaver said:

But to be fair to Brad and the US pundits:

1. We have NOT been especially good for quite some time, and

2. They are US football pundits! [What the hell do they know?]

I agree.  What are they supposed to say?  

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3 minutes ago, Free kick said:

I agree.  What are they supposed to say?  

They should not say stuff that suggests that we were going to lose by 4 or 5 goals to Costa Rica, a team that has beaten us now once in 8 tries in the Gold Cup - including failing to do so in 2015 so it's not as though this is a 20 year old stat that I am relying on. It shouldn't have been that hard for them to do some basic research.

 

 

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