The Road to Qatar.

[Kent]

The thing about forcing forfeits for countries that don’t allow a team in is that it could become very messy with travel restrictions against certain countries deemed risky. Let’s say a team has 2 or 3 players who play club soccer in a risky country. So the rest of the team can go to a game, but those couple players can’t. Is that a forfeit for the hosting country? What about when a host country would let a team in if it was the first match of the window, but instead it is the second match of the window and in the first match the team was playing in a risky country. It could potentially get farcical really fast if there aren’t assurances from all nations that players can come and go for these games.

[narduch]

8 minutes ago, Kent said:

The thing about forcing forfeits for countries that don’t allow a team in is that it could become very messy with travel restrictions against certain countries deemed risky. Let’s say a team has 2 or 3 players who play club soccer in a risky country. So the rest of the team can go to a game, but those couple players can’t. Is that a forfeit for the hosting country? What about when a host country would let a team in if it was the first match of the window, but instead it is the second match of the window and in the first match the team was playing in a risky country. It could potentially get farcical really fast if there aren’t assurances from all nations that players can come and go for these games.

As soon as one major nation has to forfeit they will just delay all qualifying.

UEFA kicked out a Kosovo club from Champions League. There is no way they do the same if it was Juventus or Bayern.

 

[nfitz]

On 8/29/2020 at 10:40 AM, narduch said:

UEFA kicked out a Kosovo club from Champions League. There is no way they do the same if it was Juventus or Bayern.

Because the team showed up in another country and many on the team tested positive on arrival - while most teams were entirely negative.

I doubt that Juventus or Bayern would pull such a stunt. But if they did, then I'd have no doubt they would indeed be kicked out.

[narduch]

2 hours ago, nfitz said:

Because the team showed up in another country and many on the team tested positive on arrival - while most teams were entirely negative.

I doubt that Juventus or Bayern would pull such a stunt. But if they did, then I'd have no doubt they would indeed be kicked out.

You can't day that definitively. If the virus levels increase as they are expected to it may happen.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 8/26/2020 at 9:29 AM, Shway said:

Ravel Morrison

It looks like he will play for Jamaica:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20200831/morrison-ready-boyz-debut

------------

Meanwhile plenty of things are going on behind the scenes. CONCACAF is working hard they say and WCQs are likely to be postponed:

https://antiguaobserver.com/final-decision-to-be-made-on-concacaf-qualifiers/

AFC have already postponed their WCQs.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

CONCACAF are having a ZOOM meeting tomorrow (Tuesday), they will decide what is to be done and if WCQ get postponed:

https://www.elsalvador.com/deportes/futbol/hugo-carrillo-fesfut-aprendizaje-covid/747626/2020/

Edited August 31, 2020 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Shway]

10 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

It looks like he will play for Jamaica:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20200831/morrison-ready-boyz-debut.

Apparently in addition to Ravel there’s four other players who are finalizing their paperwork to become eligible. They could be Daniel Johnson (CM) of Preston NE, Andre Gray (FW) Watford, Chey Dunkley (CB) Sheffield Wednesday, A’mari Bell (LB), Kemar Roofe (FW) Rangers and Rolando Aarons (LM) Newcastle. 
Jamaicas attack could be a problem for defenders, however their defence is the question mark.

[SthMelbRed]

I've always wondered....

at what point do actual supporters of the Reggae Boyz in Jamaica stop seeing the team as representative of them and their nation, if the majority of the team are 2nd- and 3rd-generation Englishmen of Jamaican heritage? Same for many of the other Caribbean nations?

[Shway]

3 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

I've always wondered....

at what point do actual supporters of the Reggae Boyz in Jamaica stop seeing the team as representative of them and their nation, if the majority of the team are 2nd- and 3rd-generation Englishmen of Jamaican heritage? Same for many of the other Caribbean nations?

A bit fickle coming from us when our Captain never stepped foot in Canada before his first camp. Did Scott grow up eating poutines, beavertails, or even knowing what a double double is?

I understand that Jamaican diaspora is massive in places specifically like London, NY, Miami, and the GTA - although some are born in different countries due to their parents, their culture, the food they eat, the music they listen to, is what brings them the connections or gives them great affinity. I’m sure it’s probably the same thing for other nations. So AFAIK the only issue is that it takes away from the local players trying to get on, if you’re committed to the program it doesn’t matter to them.
Majority is an exaggeration too, right now there’s only Hector, Bobby Reid, and Marriappa who are all second generation (that’s currently 3 of 11 starters). Aarons, and Johnson were born in Jamaica like Sterling. The next 5 are a mixture of squad depth as you can only play with so many attackers.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

FIFA Council will vote on Trinidad suspension in their next meeting in the days before the September 18 FIFA Congress.

Looking inevitable.

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2020/09/01/time-running-united-ttfa-chief-hunts-help-asias-football-leaders/

[Obinna]

6 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

I've always wondered....

at what point do actual supporters of the Reggae Boyz in Jamaica stop seeing the team as representative of them and their nation, if the majority of the team are 2nd- and 3rd-generation Englishmen of Jamaican heritage? Same for many of the other Caribbean nations?

I can't speak for Jamaica specifically, but Nigerians like to claim their diaspora as their own. I don't think they view it as a lack of representation. On the contrary, I believe they see it as the opposite. Maybe there is an upper limit where that no longer becomes true, but you would have to look much further out. In addition to English born and bread players, Nigeria also has mixed players of German, Russian and Dutch descent. Knowing what it is like to be of mixed Nigerian descent, I can almost guarantee that each one of those players had great pride putting on that jersey and the feeling from the fans is mutual. They feel the love. They feel more represented, not less represented. Perhaps it is not exactly the same for Jamaica, T&T, Curacao, Haiti etc., but I would be surprised if it was much different....

Edited September 1, 2020 by Obinna

[Kadenge]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

A bit fickle coming from us when our Captain never stepped foot in Canada before his first camp. Did Scott grow up eating poutines, beavertails, or even knowing what a double double is?

I understand that Jamaican diaspora is massive in places specifically like London, NY, Miami, and the GTA - although some are born in different countries due to their parents, their culture, the food they eat, the music they listen to, is what brings them the connections or gives them great affinity. I’m sure it’s probably the same thing for other nations. So AFAIK the only issue is that it takes away from the local players trying to get on, if you’re committed to the program it doesn’t matter to them.
Majority is an exaggeration too, right now there’s only Hector, Bobby Reid, and Marriappa who are all second generation (that’s currently 3 of 11 starters). Aarons, and Johnson were born in Jamaica like Sterling. The next 5 are a mixture of squad depth as you can only play with so many attackers.

Did Wes Morgan retire from International play?

[gator]

I've watched Ravel Morrison in his two stints at QPR, has bags of talent but there is a reason he has played 104 games for 10 different clubs!

[Shway]

46 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Did Wes Morgan retire from International play?

Yea in 2016. After their 2015 GC run.

[Shway]

44 minutes ago, gator said:

I've watched Ravel Morrison in his two stints at QPR, has bags of talent but there is a reason he has played 104 games for 10 different clubs!

Same could've been said with Michael Hector who's played for 17 different clubs, but recently won promotion to PL with Fulham. 

All in all Concacaf is getting better overall - which is good. The powers could be shifting from the usual suspects in Honduras, Costa Rica and even the USA. 

I know we are ready to force our way into that top 4 nation. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Shway

[Club Linesman]

Being reported that there will be no qualification for Qatar for the rest of this year.  That is if my google translate worked right.  Found something by a Spanish speaking journalist that it will be sent out to all federations tomorrow.  Guess there are too many iffs right now.  Very understandable but disappointing as I am really looking forward to the CMNT playing again.

[Obinna]

Probably no more games for the rest of the year then. Disappointing, but not unexpected. 

I'll tune back in come January, I guess.

[SpursFlu]

Wow how long do we have to sit before we get our doggy treat? I kinda don't care about these initial games so maybe they knock them out in a 2 week span in early 2021

Edited September 1, 2020 by SpursFlu

[Floortom]

15 minutes ago, Club Linesman said:

Being reported that there will be no qualification for Qatar for the rest of this year.  That is if my google translate worked right.  Found something by a Spanish speaking journalist that it will be sent out to all federations tomorrow.  Guess there are too many iffs right now.  Very understandable but disappointing as I am really looking forward to the CMNT playing again.

Certainly shouldn’t be a surprise. I think you’ll see the process change drastically more then once 

[Alex]

It’s begs the question as to why concacaf created a format with very little room for error during a pandemic. 

[SpursFlu]

8 minutes ago, Alex said:

It’s begs the question as to why concacaf created a format with very little room for error during a pandemic. 

I think it was more about the structure than the actual dates

[Califax]

13 minutes ago, Alex said:

It’s begs the question as to why concacaf created a format with very little room for error during a pandemic. 

I think Concacaf's past screw ups have sufficiently prepared them for this big screw up. 

It's nice to see that level of consistency and growth. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Califax

[Obinna]

34 minutes ago, Califax said:

I think Concacaf's past screw ups have sufficiently prepared them for this big screw up. 

It's nice to see that level of consistency and growth. 

I am no fan of concacaf's track record, but I am surprised we are categorizing this as a big screw up. 

This is obviously a volatile situation. It is hard to even organize the return of kids to school, or parents to the office. These things are relatively simple. Scheduling a world cup qualifying tournament, on the other hand, is obviously a major challenge. I would like to think most reasonable people would understand this and cut them some slack.

I don't personally view what they have done here as a "screw up". Good for them for trying is how I see it. 

[Kent]

24 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I am no fan of concacaf's track record, but I am surprised we are categorizing this as a big screw up. 

This is obviously a volatile situation. It is hard to even organize the return of kids to school, or parents to the office. These things are relatively simple. Scheduling a world cup qualifying tournament, on the other hand, is obviously a major challenge. I would like to think most reasonable people would understand this and cut them some slack.

I don't personally view what they have done here as a "screw up". Good for them for trying is how I see it. 

The reason why it seems like a screw up to me is because I always got the impression that they came up with their plan in a vacuum. They came up with a schedule and then what, just assumed all the governments would backtrack on their restrictions? They never ever talked about contingency plans or showed any signs they realized there was a pandemic going on and countries have their borders shut to varying degrees.

[Obinna]

14 minutes ago, Kent said:

The reason why it seems like a screw up to me is because I always got the impression that they came up with their plan in a vacuum. They came up with a schedule and then what, just assumed all the governments would backtrack on their restrictions? They never ever talked about contingency plans or showed any signs they realized there was a pandemic going on and countries have their borders shut to varying degrees.

Fair enough if you had that impression. I just assumed their plans were predicated on cooperative governments. I mean, that is pretty obvious right? 

And is there a contingency that doesn't hinge on cooperative governments? Even a bubble somewhere depends on players being allowed in or out. It is much more complicated than MLS creating a bubble.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Obinna