Gold Cup 2019

[king1010]

55 minutes ago, AvroArrow said:

Was just looking at the knockout bracket and it doesn't seem to make sense.  If Canada was to beat Haiti, they would then likely face Mexico in the semis.  Why are all of the A and B pool teams on the same side of the bracket?  In theory you should have these teams on opposite sides in case you somehow started with a situation where the top 2 teams were in the same pool.

I'm assuming that the answer to this is "Welcome to CONCACAF."

you answered your own question. 

set up for a Mexico USA Final $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

EDIT: I see everyone else already answered your question lol

Edited June 25, 2019 by king1010

[SkuseisLoose]

1 hour ago, BuzzAndSting said:

So @Razcal, @king1010, @SkuseisLoose, @Hawkguy did we get the easier opponent?

Last nights result was an upset according to the odds makers and in the end we get what I believe is the more difficult of the two possible scenarios. In my opinion a win against Mexico would have served us better but hindsight is 20/20!

The bottom line is anything but a win at this stage no matter who the opponent is a disappointment!

 

On paper  they’re a easier opponent. They’ve never got past the quarterfinals of the gold cup and haven’t been close to qualifying for the World Cup in forever. Their squad consists of players in Europe and North and Central America but have very few playing on first division teams. Their biggest strength is their speed and quick feet of their wingers who were able to expose Costa Rica on the counter attack. While when we play them we’ll likely keep possession when they get the bell they’ll try and break quickly down the wing or use their striker as a target man. Costa Rica on the other hand is stronger on paper they have many players on top teams around the world and are very technical gifted. They like to play it slow but with precision but as you saw from the game yesterday they didn’t know what to do when Haiti pressed their players. In my opinion I’d prefer Haiti because if you can cut them off from breaking quick and don’t just sit back and let them attack like Costa Rica did in the second half then we should be able to beat them and move on.

[BuzzAndSting]

3 minutes ago, SkuseisLoose said:

In my opinion I’d prefer Haiti because if you can cut them off from breaking quick and don’t just sit back and let them attack like Costa Rica did in the second half then we should be able to beat them and move on.

So in hindsight are you happy we played the Mexico game the way we did? Had we gone all out for the win we would have ended up with Costa Rica.

[Admin]

It was about managing things for the QF game, not the opponent. 

Same strategy applies be it Haiti or CR.

[SkuseisLoose]

59 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

So in hindsight are you happy we played the Mexico game the way we did? Had we gone all out for the win we would have ended up with Costa Rica.

Sure in hindsight but at the time I expected Haiti to come second so I still think it was a dumb move to make not knowing who’d we play.

Edited June 25, 2019 by SkuseisLoose

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Sure in hindsight but at the time I expected Haiti to come second so I still think it was a dumb move to make not knowing who’d we play.

I don't get why this was a dumb move?

Was there some great incentive for finishing first, aside from bragging rights? I assume you think avoiding Costa Rica was enough incentive to win the group at all costs? I would have to disagree.

I think it was more important for group B to win their section and avoid Mexico than it was for us to win and avoid Costa Rica.

We have never really struggled against the Ticos, or Haiti for that matter, so Herdman probably didn't care who we got in the quarters. Both are winnable if we are at our best.

As a fan, I slightly prefer Haiti and would have been alright with CR.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Obinna

[The Beaver 2.0]

6 hours ago, BuzzAndSting said:

So in hindsight are you happy we played the Mexico game the way we did? Had we gone all out for the win we would have ended up with Costa Rica.

It doesn't matter. The QF match was always going to be a tough one. The key was to make sure we got there; that is why Herdman opted for squad rotation vs. the Mexicans--to make sure we were ready for Cuba. Maybe we could have gone all out vs. Mexico AND still beat Cuba--we'll never know--but for the moment all we know is that we've achieved the first important step: Get to the QFs.  

I still feel that Haiti is the easier of the two teams, but perhaps not by much.  It will be an exciting game, for sure. I feel confident we'll get the result, but only because we will be well-prepared, well-rested and we have a dynamic attack. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by The Beaver 2.0

[Lansdude]

I think if we double up at DM duty and prevent our fullbacks from getting pulled inside and exposed to overlaps we can handle Haiti's attack. Then it's just a matter of finishing the chances we'll inevitably get through possession.

[Yoginess]

5 hours ago, king1010 said:

you answered your own question. 

set up for a Mexico USA Final $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

EDIT: I see everyone else already answered your question lol

I don't mind the tournament being in the US. You basically get home revenue from any Mexico or US game. 

Obviously the bracket format needs to change. But one thing I'd like to see is that the 1st and 2nd seeded teams from the group get to play home matches against the lower seeded teams. 

Unfair advantage? Yes but would be great to see places like Panama and Jamaica (I realized they got a home game this tournament) get rewarded too. Also might help with the gate? You could likely sell the Mex/US matches for the same price without it being a "double header"

[CanadaFan123]

4 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Sure in hindsight but at the time I expected Haiti to come second so I still think it was a dumb move to make not knowing who’d we play.

But in reality going all out to avoid Costa Rica was the dumb move because we would have faced them anyway.  Imagine our luck if we had beat Mexico and this just happened.. it would be a shot in the nuts to the whole squad.  Now our manager looks like a genius, we are rested, coming off a huge result and ready to rock (presumably). 

Herdman played this hand like a champ. It’s ok, everyone can admit it. The Mexico game was actually worth even less than most of us thought, which was nothing.. now it was less than nothing.  

Haiti v Costa Rica there is no argument. One team failed to qualify for the last gold cup.. the other has qualified for 4 of the last 5 world cups. Also, Haiti regularly features Canadian rejects so it’s a nice match up in that way.  I’m also not sure about Haiti being on the rise.. they were ranked 40 in FIFA a few years back (who knows how) but they’ve literally done nothing of note in concacaf.  

Edited June 25, 2019 by CanadaFan123

[BuzzAndSting]

2 hours ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

It doesn't matter. The QF match was always going to be a tough one. The key was to make sure we got there; that is why Herdman opted for squad rotation vs. the Mexicans--to make sure we were ready for Cuba. Maybe we could have gone all out vs. Mexico AND still beat Cuba--we'll never know--but for the moment all we now is that we've achieved the first important step: Get to the QFs.  

I still feel that Haiti is the easier of the two teams, but perhaps not by much.  It will be an exciting game, for sure. I feel confident we'll get the result, but only because we will be well-prepared, well-rested and we have a dynamic attack. 

Oh I know... I quoted certain posters for a reason. 

[Gian-Luca]

Should be two interesting games tonight, a Carribbean battle and a Central American battle (the latter between decades-old rivals). El Salvador has (what recently been) a rare chance to really stick it to their historic rivals who are already out. Curacao will be looking for revenge from 2017 (which they already failed to take against El Salvador). Looks like TSN is showing both of them - really glad that they have been showing the vast majority of the games this time round.

[apbsmith]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Should be two interesting games tonight, a Carribbean battle and a Central American battle (the latter between decades-old rivals). 

The game is also in Cali (LA) with a large Honduran & El Salvador population. 

I hope the stadium staff realize how massive this rivalry is, both footy wise and politically.

Edited June 25, 2019 by apbsmith
LA

[ardsa]

On 6/20/2019 at 3:30 PM, Addona said:

Most tournaments reset cards after QF ... but in GC, who the F--- knows ... cards reset in the 36th minutes of the SF, except for U.S. and Mexico, for whom they reset every 10 minutes?

 

I got curious and looked it up. Yellows do reset after the QF.

https://res.cloudinary.com/concacaf-production/image/upload/v1554934799/goldcup-prod/assets/2019_Gold_Cup_Regulations_-_ENG.pdf

[ardsa]

Also of note in the regulations, CONCACAF has its say on friendlies within 100 miles of venues within 60 days of the competition. This may be some insight into why the game vs T&T was not an official match. They likely would have had to pay money to CONCACAF to hold an official match in L.A.

[Admin]

3 minutes ago, ardsa said:

Also of note in the regulations, CONCACAF has its say on friendlies within 100 miles of venues within 60 days of the competition. This may be some insight into why the game vs T&T was not an official match. They likely would have had to pay money to CONCACAF to hold an official match in L.A.

Careful, this is dangerously close to suggesting things happen for actual reasons. 

[Gian-Luca]

Curaçao with some of the worst marking I have ever seen but Jamaica miss three glorious chances in the first 6 minutes 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

This is the worst defending I've ever seen

[Gian-Luca]

Jamaica takes the lead after about 10 shots on goal in the first 12 minutes. Curaçao looks like they partied too hard after beating Honduras as they look worse than Cuba and totally disinterested, other than their keeper. 

[Lansdude]

13 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Jamaica takes the lead after about 10 shots on goal in the first 12 minutes. Curaçao looks like they partied too hard after beating Honduras as they look worse than Cuba and totally disinterested, other than their keeper. 

Maybe the don't know they haven't been eliminated

[red card]

3 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Should be two interesting games tonight, a Carribbean battle and a Central American battle (the latter between decades-old rivals). El Salvador has (what recently been) a rare chance to really stick it to their historic rivals who are already out. Curacao will be looking for revenge from 2017 (which they already failed to take against El Salvador). Looks like TSN is showing both of them - really glad that they have been showing the vast majority of the games this time round.

TSN has actually made available all the Gold Cup matches - if not on tv, stream was available on tsn.ca. Same with Copa America. 

They're finally adapting the model being used by the US sports networks. Get the rights to show everything online to satisfy people who just have an online sub. 

[Hawkguy]

11 hours ago, BuzzAndSting said:

So @Razcal, @king1010, @SkuseisLoose, @Hawkguy did we get the easier opponent?

Last nights result was an upset according to the odds makers and in the end we get what I believe is the more difficult of the two possible scenarios. In my opinion a win against Mexico would have served us better but hindsight is 20/20!

The bottom line is anything but a win at this stage no matter who the opponent is a disappointment!

 

Costa Rica is still better than Haiti. One game doesn't change that. We're talking about a team that was in the World Cup Quarter-Finals 5 years ago and made the World Cup for last year's edition. 

I don't agree with not playing to win the game. You can @ me all you want, but I will never agree with "tactics to lose." 

[apbsmith]

That effort level and lack of defending was insane by Curacao before that first goal. Now Curacao does not even look interested in attacking. 

After stat checking I realized Curacao gave up 35 shots to Honduras last game, crazy.

Edited June 26, 2019 by apbsmith
Decided to edit my post after checking stats

[Lansdude]

Speaking of odds, we started this tourney at 30:1 to 34:1. Now we're down to 13:1 to 15:1.

[apbsmith]

11 hours ago, Lansdude said:

Speaking of odds, we started this tourney at 30:1 to 34:1. Now we're down to 13:1 to 15:1.

Sounds about right.... 

Probably slight favorites in QF.

~5/6:1 to qualify over Mexico in Semi's.

Bookmakers would make us an underdog vs USA in the final, not sure what they do if it's Jamaica or Curacao.

Edited June 26, 2019 by apbsmith
Curacao