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The Road to Qatar.


Binky

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Unfortunately for us everything is based  on potential so I believe we can both be thinking World Cup qualification while still worrying about the Surinames and Bermudas of the world.  On paper we should roll through the first round but the reality is we lost to Haiti and  the US when the stakes were high, so our actual results don’t inspire unwavering confidence in the team.  When we are truly top 4 in Concacaf consistently, then our focus will/should be on how far we will go in the World Cup.

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1 hour ago, TFC2017 said:

I'm not sure if any of you caught this part but at the end of the presentation they were going over who they thought the final 3 spots would go to. As in, who they thought would finish top 3 in the "Octogonal". Not a single person mentioned Canada, not even as a dark horse. That pissed me off. 

 

I hope that the players heard that at the end and it lit a fire underneath them. We have the talent to come top 3, I believe in them and I hope that everyone on this board believes in them but more importantly I hope that the players believe in themselves. This really is a strong Canadian team. 

You mean the opinions of two former players, including David Suazo who picked Honduras to finish top of the Octagonal? I would not sweat those deep thoughts. The host was even chuckling.

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53 minutes ago, xabuep2 said:

Right in the window of January 2022 that Canada could take advantage of the weather, it will be his turn to play 2 matches away.

I've started to come around to the theory that the cold for us isn't the same advantage as the heat for the Central American and Caribbean teams. I think we actually get more net benefit having away games during colder periods.

 

Edited by Redpunkfiddle
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41 minutes ago, top cheese said:

Tough draw? If Canada can’t make it out that group. It doesn’t deserve to go to any world cup

Is anyone actually saying it's a tough draw? Your comment is the first one I saw. If so that's a bit nuts.

Edited by scullion44
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1 hour ago, TFC2017 said:

I'm not sure if any of you caught this part but at the end of the presentation they were going over who they thought the final 3 spots would go to. As in, who they thought would finish top 3 in the "Octogonal". Not a single person mentioned Canada, not even as a dark horse. That pissed me off. 

 

I hope that the players heard that at the end and it lit a fire underneath them. We have the talent to come top 3, I believe in them and I hope that everyone on this board believes in them but more importantly I hope that the players believe in themselves. This really is a strong Canadian team. 

I think it's fair. I never expect any of them to pick a team not already in the Octagonal.

Also, wasn't one of them legendary Honduran international David Suazo?

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1 hour ago, One American said:

Have the Wikipedia ringers for Suriname actually committed to play for them? I see a lot of zero caps on most or all of the scary ones. 

It does look like they have a couple of Israeli league players already in the fold. 

Ryan Donk of Galatasaray has 0 goals in 0 caps for Suriname. I am sure chemistry will not be an issue for him. 

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52 minutes ago, Redpunkfiddle said:

You mean the opinions of two former players, including David Suazo who picked Honduras to finish top of the Octagonal? I would not sweat those deep thoughts. The host was even chuckling.

Yeah and the other player was a Bermudan I think, so yeah, not getting any Canada predictions from those two lol

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This draw is alright. I actually think Group C is tougher overall - Curaçao is not a team to be taken lightly, and Guatemala is a bit of a wild card. Even Cuba and St. V&G aren't totally bad.

I get that this will be a new Suriname team, but just treat them like Guadeloupe or Martinique: take them seriously. I feel like we tend to lose games when we lose sight of our opponent's skill level. Just take care of business. If we can't beat Suriname, we shouldn't even entertain the possibility of qualification to Qatar.

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1 hour ago, Redpunkfiddle said:

You mean the opinions of two former players, including David Suazo who picked Honduras to finish top of the Octagonal? I would not sweat those deep thoughts. The host was even chuckling.

 

43 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I think it's fair. I never expect any of them to pick a team not already in the Octagonal.

Also, wasn't one of them legendary Honduran international David Suazo?

You guys are right, they were biased opinions but Idk maybe it was just me, to not even mention Canada when we have a 20 year old who will be a starter in the Champions League final and a 20 year old striker who was a record-breaking transfer for Lille. It was just a little annoying to me that we didn't even get a mention. 

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5 minutes ago, TFC2017 said:

 

You guys are right, they were biased opinions but Idk maybe it was just me, to not even mention Canada when we have a 20 year old who will be a starter in the Champions League final and a 20 year old striker who was a record-breaking transfer for Lille. It was just a little annoying to me that we didn't even get a mention. 

Suazo mentioned us and Panama as favorites for the Octagonal, so there's that.

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Understood that there are some teams that pose a threat but we need to change our mentality. I know we don’t have the results to completely justify that but this is a new generation of players that are doing big things.

As fans, let’s get excited and believe. It is good to be prepared, it will not be a walk in the park by any means. But to fear these nations is a different story. We will not fear anyone in Concacaf except for the teams that have truly deserved that respect and that’s Mexico and the Americans (and we just happened to play them off the park at home).

I think the boys mentality is right and that’s thanks to Herdman. He brought a confidence and a swagger to the program. Let’s just hope he gets his tactics right, that’s truly the only thing that frightens me (oh, and our defence).

Pumped for this. An absolute great opportunity for our program. A few solid and consistent performances and we will firmly be in contention for Qatar.

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14 minutes ago, Floortom said:

C I get, but F looks pretty favourable for T&T.

2 of the teams in group F tied us in 2011 (St. Kitts and Nevis, and Puerto Rico), and T&T has beaten us a couple times in the past (4 wins against us, 2 draws, and we have beaten them 7 times) . We've never played Guyana or Bahamas, so no measuring stick games there. I can understand people thinking that group is pretty wide open.

 

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If we make it to the Octagonal as the B vs. E winner, here is what our schedule would be:

June 2021

Matchday 1 Home vs. Honduras
Matchday 2 Away at USA
Matchday 3 Home vs. Winner of A vs. F
Matchday 4 Away at Mexico

September 2021

Matchday 5 Away at Jamaica
Matchday 6 Home vs. Winner of C vs. D

October 2021

Matchday 7 Home vs. Costa Rica
Matchday 8 Home vs. Mexico

November 2021

Matchday 9 Away at Honduras
Matchday 10 Home vs. USA

January 2022

Matchday 11 Away at Winner of A vs. F
Matchday 12 Away at Costa Rica

March 2022

Matchday 13 Home vs. Jamaica
Matchday 14 Away at Winner of C vs. D

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4 hours ago, xabuep2 said:

Right in the window of January 2022 that Canada could take advantage of the weather, it will be his turn to play 2 matches away.

The draw does seem rigged so that we wouldn't host in January, doesn't it?

Interesting.

Window 1 June 2021:
A/F home x2
Honduras away x2

Window 2 June 2021:
Honduras home x2
Jamaica away x2

Window 3 September 2021:
No double home or double away games

Window 4 October 2021:
B/E home x2
Mexico away x 2

Window 5 November 2021:
Honduras home x2
A/F away x2

Window 6 January 2022:
Mexico home x 2
B/E away x2

Window 7 March 2022:
No double home of double away games

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In the Octagonal, of course every match is important, but look at the 4 matches we would play between October 2021 and November 2021:

Home vs. Costa Rica
Home vs. Mexico
Away at Honduras
Home vs. USA

Wow. Huge. Throw in the last part of the September 2021 window as well (Home vs. Winner of C vs. D) and there's a stretch of 5 matches where 4 would be at home for us.

Edited by jtpc
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42 minutes ago, jtpc said:

In the Octagonal, of course every match is important, but look at the 4 matches we would play between October 2021 and November 2021:

Home vs. Costa Rica
Home vs. Mexico
Away at Honduras
Home vs. USA

Wow. Huge. Throw in the last part of the September 2021 window as well (Home vs. Winner of C vs. D) and there's a stretch of 5 matches where 4 would be at home for us.

I"m sure it'll be absolutely delightful in here when they announce the home venues for that stretch. 😄 

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9 hours ago, Fullback said:

We can't be scared of Bermuda and Suriname ffs. It's probably a better thing we play decent teams in that round than just beat up on minnows anyway

I was gonna say this, why not get some more competitive games in? As long as we can call up our strongest team I'm not worried at all. Well, maybe a little since we're Canada...but we should be good...right?

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