Ferdi Kadioglu

[baulderdash77]

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup from UEFA.  Poland, Austria, Ukraine- these teams would easily qualify if they were in CONCACAF and they will have very tough roads to qualify from UEFA.

[TOCanada115]

2 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup from UEFA.  Poland, Austria, Ukraine- these teams would easily qualify if they were in CONCACAF and they will have very tough roads to qualify from UEFA.

Easily? I don’t know about that anymore. Imagine them going down to some of these places and playing road games? 😂😂

[Kent]

12 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup from UEFA.  Poland, Austria, Ukraine- these teams would easily qualify if they were in CONCACAF and they will have very tough roads to qualify from UEFA.

I was just reminiscing about the 2018 World Cup. Costa Rica (who is 5th in the Oct) tied Switzerland (who won their WCQ group) and lost only 1-0 to Serbia (who won their WCQ group, ahead of Portugal). Mexico (who is tied in 3rd in the Oct) beat Germany (who stomped over their WCQ group). Maybe it wouldn't be as straight forward for those European teams as people might think. To be fair though, the 3 results I didn't mention above were Sweden smashing Mexico, and Belgium and England smashing Panama.

For argument sake, if Poland, Austria, or Ukraine would easily qualify in CONCACAF, who are the other 2 teams with them? Canada and USA with Mexico out? Mexico and USA with Canada out? Canada and Mexico with USA out? Mexico and USA routinely get out of the group in the World Cup (although USA didn't even make it in 2018), including finishing ahead of European teams. I am not so sure it's easy for any of those 3 UEFA teams, but they would have a shot to qualify for sure.

[boris4c]

I don't think it's fair to compare results from 2021 to 2018. Yes, Costa Rica is 5th in the Ocho as we speak, but in 2018 they were 2nd behind Mexico and their team was much better than it is today. At the same time, the Serbian team who just beat Portugal is miles better than the one who qualified for the WC in 2018. Germany stomped over the WCQ group, but lost to South Korea in 2018. I bet if they played today, Germany would stomp them, or at least be the heavy favourites according to bookies (upsets can always happen).

That being said, I agree that these teams would not "easily" qualify from CONCACAF. Poland perhaps but I don't see a team like Austria being head and shoulders above Mexico, USA and Canada.

[Bertuzzi44]

On 11/18/2021 at 5:51 AM, baulderdash77 said:

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup from UEFA.  Poland, Austria, Ukraine- these teams would easily qualify if they were in CONCACAF and they will have very tough roads to qualify from UEFA.

Not sure those teams would "easily" qualify. CONCACAF only has 3 guaranteed spots. Assuming Mexico and the United States take 2 of the 3 spots, are Poland or Ukraine so much better than Canada/Jamaica/Costa Rica/Panama etc? I'm not so sure. I could be wrong, but I am not sure they "easily" walk over a team like Canada or Costa Rica or Panama, etc.

[Kent]

11 hours ago, boris4c said:

I don't think it's fair to compare results from 2021 to 2018. Yes, Costa Rica is 5th in the Ocho as we speak, but in 2018 they were 2nd behind Mexico and their team was much better than it is today. At the same time, the Serbian team who just beat Portugal is miles better than the one who qualified for the WC in 2018. Germany stomped over the WCQ group, but lost to South Korea in 2018. I bet if they played today, Germany would stomp them, or at least be the heavy favourites according to bookies (upsets can always happen).

That being said, I agree that these teams would not "easily" qualify from CONCACAF. Poland perhaps but I don't see a team like Austria being head and shoulders above Mexico, USA and Canada.

The teams are different, sure, but comments like the one I was responding to are usually going off gut reaction name recognition. Obviously Europe has better teams at the top end than CONCACAF does, and isn't as thin at the top as CONCACAF, but that doesn't mean that a bunch of teams that couldn't qualify directly would be able to walk through CONCACAF qualifying and finish top 3. CONCACAF teams do get results against UEFA teams in World Cups, and that's without those UEFA teams having to deal with all the wonderfulness we know about away games in CONCACAF.

Mexico always gets out of the group, but in 2014 couldn't finish top 3 in qualifying and had to through the inter continental playoff. USA made it out of the group in 2 straight World Cups, then failed to qualify the next World Cup. It's not a cake walk, even for the virtually automatic teams.

[TGAA_Star]

Canada should we qualify for Qatar, could you see us getting out of the group stage and into the Round of 16 or more? I mean it is only possible if we get drawn into a pretty favorable group but if we end up in a Group of Death in Qatar, then our chances of getting out don't look good. But even if we crash out at the group stage, it gives us experience especially when we head into 2026 as one of the host nations.

[Sal333]

37 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

Canada should we qualify for Qatar, could you see us getting out of the group stage and into the Round of 16 or more? I mean it is only possible if we get drawn into a pretty favorable group but if we end up in a Group of Death in Qatar, then our chances of getting out don't look good. But even if we crash out at the group stage, it gives us experience especially when we head into 2026 as one of the host nations.

Whatever group Canada gets selected into will become the group of death. Hear me out.

FIFA's rankings, although revised are still weighted to the past strength or weakness of all the teams. When Canada met Mexico we were 48 I think and Mexico 14. Do you really think those rankings are a true picture of the strengths of those two teams? I don't.

Most likely we'll end up in pot 4 because the FIFA rankings are not  truly indicative of the strength of this team today. We'll get a better idea of how strong we are when we meet the USA. If we beat them then the argument can be made that Canada is somewhere pretty close to Mexico and the USA. Those two teams are 14 & 12 respectively.

That means Canada realistically is a pot 2 team. The rankings won't reflect that. So there'll be a pot 1 team,  2 pot 2 teams and a pot 3 team in our group. That's a group of death.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Sal333

[VinceA]

I would kill for a Group A spot. That immediately gets us Qatar who we could absolutely beat.

[Senorpopps]

5 hours ago, VinceA said:

I would kill for a Group A spot. That immediately gets us Qatar who we could absolutely beat.

This raises a question my friend and I discussed - what would be the easiest and hardest potential groups Canada could find themselves in at the WC given who has already and who can still qualify?

[Macksam]

3 hours ago, Senorpopps said:

This raises a question my friend and I discussed - what would be the easiest and hardest potential groups Canada could find themselves in at the WC given who has already and who can still qualify?

Canada being drawn against a more skilled, higher class opponent would be to our advantage. They will play a more open style that would suit us. Should we get opponents like Russia, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, our opponents would stifle us and potentially grind out ugly 1-0 wins.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

Boy did this thread get off track. 

Saw Fenerbace was playing Olympiakos away, saw Ferdi had not started and put it on anyways. So he came on for the last 15 or so, wearing #16, but hardly touched the ball. Maybe, literally 2, touches. Was 0-0 until a late Greek goal.

Ferdi is a short, quick-legged right side attacking mid, dynamic, lively.

Valbuena, the one of the Benzema sex extortion case the latter was sentenced for today, was on the rival team.

The Turks are so chaotic, they are so careless and make very poor decisions on the ball, also press very haphazardly, no team coordination. The coaching is clearly a problem, they should be able to harness this talent much better. Saying this as Besiktas is no better, from what I have seen, similar sloppy football. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Unnamed Trialist

[PiedPilko]

4 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Boy did this thread get off track. 

Saw Fenerbace was playing Olympiakos away, saw Ferdi had not started and put it on anyways. So he came on for the last 15 or so, wearing #16, but hardly touched the ball. Maybe, literally 2, touches. Was 0-0 until a late Greek goal.

Ferdi is a short, quick-legged right side attacking mid, dynamic, lively.

Valbuena, the one of the Benzema sex extortion case the latter was sentenced for today, was on the rival team.

The Turks are so chaotic, they are so careless and make very poor decisions on the ball, also press very haphazardly, no team coordination. The coaching is clearly a problem, they should be able to harness this talent much better. Saying this as Besiktas is no better, from what I have seen, similar sloppy football. 

Think that's a bit oversimplified lol Hatayspor are a very well-coached team, for example. They've done a great job at finding diamonds in the rough like Adekugbe. I think the big 3 teams in particular are going through a bit of a rough patch. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

23 minutes ago, PiedPilko said:

Think that's a bit oversimplified lol Hatayspor are a very well-coached team, for example. They've done a great job at finding diamonds in the rough like Adekugbe. I think the big 3 teams in particular are going through a bit of a rough patch. 

Fair enough, but from what I've seen from Besiktas and Fenerbace....do they even care if a player makes constant dumb passes to nowhere? This is supposed to be a high pro level. 

I'm not surprised by what you say about Hatayspor, as they are playing over their head. And against these "top" sides who have too many holes, getting exposed this way in Europe. 

Even the Greek teams, suffering more economically over the past decade, have the traditional defensive discipline and positional rigour; same as the Portuguese sides. I'm frankly having serious doubts about what playing in Turkey is supposed to give our players. 

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Fair enough, but from what I've seen from Besiktas and Fenerbace....do they even care if a player makes constant dumb passes to nowhere? This is supposed to be a high pro level. 

I'm not surprised by what you say about Hatayspor, as they are playing over their head. And against these "top" sides who have too many holes, getting exposed this way in Europe. 

Even the Greek teams, suffering more economically over the past decade, have the traditional defensive discipline and positional rigour; same as the Portuguese sides. I'm frankly having serious doubts about what playing in Turkey is supposed to give our players. 

I sort of agree with you.

Weren't Galatasaray an occasional giant beater? 

That being said, Larin just scored 2 against Mexico. So maybe it's mission accomplished?

[Unnamed Trialist]

11 hours ago, narduch said:

I sort of agree with you.

Weren't Galatasaray an occasional giant beater? 

That being said, Larin just scored 2 against Mexico. So maybe it's mission accomplished?

The three Greek giants, the Turks, the big clubs with massive fan bases. And arguably the hardest places to play in Europe, so went the refrain (Belgrade too).

Though the hardest away travel in Europe, to be honest, was basketball in Athens and Istanbul, that is another story I appreciate most are not interested in. 

For the Greeks surely their economic problems have dropped them down a notch over the past decade. The Turks, I don't know what it is, they have the fans, the money. You'd expect some better coaching, more rigour, it is like they are not trained right. Not in attack and not in defence either, last night the Fenerbace players were late to coverage, ran to challenge but easy passes cut through their press because it was not concerted at all. Just random.

I have not watched Galatasaray who are doing better in Europe this year.

But hey, we saw the same things with Lille and still do--perfectly good counter in numbers and passing options, and they make the dumbest move and kill their chance off. We all know that, watching Lille, there are things that happen on the field that no manager in La Liga, Bundesliga, EPL, would accept, they be berated immediately. 

I hope this happens to Tajon, in Brugge. That 2 on 1 vs Mexico he completely screwed up, with Phonsie angry and gesticulating, that cannot be. He was doing the same in Olympic qualifying, hotdogging, and Lucas Dias protested, but we did not care as there was some hierarchy there we couldn't care less about. But he still does it with Canada. I hope it gets totally stomped out of him in his first 2 weeks in Belgium. 

[Macksam]

On 11/18/2021 at 8:51 AM, baulderdash77 said:

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup from UEFA.  Poland, Austria, Ukraine- these teams would easily qualify if they were in CONCACAF and they will have very tough roads to qualify from UEFA.

Come on bro, you just need to get drawn into a good group to qualify in UEFA. CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, you need to be top three in the entire region to qualify.

On 11/20/2021 at 7:26 AM, TGAA_Star said:

Canada should we qualify for Qatar, could you see us getting out of the group stage and into the Round of 16 or more? I mean it is only possible if we get drawn into a pretty favorable group but if we end up in a Group of Death in Qatar, then our chances of getting out don't look good. But even if we crash out at the group stage, it gives us experience especially when we head into 2026 as one of the host nations.

I see us pulling a Croatia, coming out of no where to make a deep run. A small country like that did it twice! We might even win the whole thing. The whole world will fall in love with our team.

On 11/20/2021 at 8:01 AM, Sal333 said:

Whatever group Canada gets selected into will become the group of death. Hear me out.

FIFA's rankings, although revised are still weighted to the past strength or weakness of all the teams. When Canada met Mexico we were 48 I think and Mexico 14. Do you really think those rankings are a true picture of the strengths of those two teams? I don't.

Most likely we'll end up in pot 4 because the FIFA rankings are not  truly indicative of the strength of this team today. We'll get a better idea of how strong we are when we meet the USA. If we beat them then the argument can be made that Canada is somewhere pretty close to Mexico and the USA. Those two teams are 14 & 12 respectively.

That means Canada realistically is a pot 2 team. The rankings won't reflect that. So there'll be a pot 1 team,  2 pot 2 teams and a pot 3 team in our group. That's a group of death.

Good, group of death will suit us. Both teams that are favored in the group of death will flame out against Canada.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Macksam

[Sal333]

2 hours ago, Macksam said:

 

Good, group of death will suit us. Both teams that are favored in the group of death will flame out against Canada.

That's my feeling too but I didn't want to express it because you know how touchy some of the members are on this board. If we don't get any disastrous injuries, I think this team will surprise - if not shock - the soccer world. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Sal333

[Xavier.]

Turkey now has to beat BOTH Portugal and Italy (probably) to qualify for the World Cup 👀

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

22 minutes ago, jonovision said:

pictured: italy and portugal fans

Pictured, Ferdi watching the live draw and looking at his chances of playing at The World Cup in Qatar with Turkey:

Edited November 26, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[canuckgbp]

[EJsens1]

This would be a fantastic pick up.  I’ll believe it when I see it.  I’d love to be able to see the approach Herdman takes in his discussions with dual nationals.  I think a big thing for players is how discreet Herdman is.  You don’t see whispers coming from the CSA about what a player’s wishes or intentions are.  That kind of respect goes a long way with guys. 

[vancanman]

3 hours ago, Macksam said:

Come on bro, you just need to get drawn into a good group to qualify in UEFA. CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, you need to be top three in the entire region to qualify.

I see us pulling a Croatia, coming out of no where to make a deep run. A small country like that did it twice! We might even win the whole thing. The whole world will fall in love with our team.

Good, group of death will suit us. Both teams that are favored in the group of death will flame out against Canada.

It's actually the top 4.5  

CONMEBOL is the NHL of World Cup Qualifying.  Half the teams can qualify.

[youllneverwalkalone]

If we have a 90%+ chance of qualification, could Jamaica at home be a massive cap-tie fest? Ferdi, Flores, Jebbison, who else?

[CanadaFan123]

Just now, youllneverwalkalone said:

If we have a 90%+ chance of qualification, could Jamaica at home be a massive cap-tie fest? Ferdi, Flores, Jebbison, who else?

No chance until we're 100% qualified - unless they're deserving. We have Nations League to cap-tie players this summer.