The Road to Qatar.

[El Hombre]

1 minute ago, _Roberto_ said:

Remember that thread: "Should FIFA postpone the Qatar World Cup till 2023" (which was taken down by the mods) wasn't that far off the mark, considering that CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers had originally been scheduled to start in March 2020, and will now commence in March 2021.

Nope.  Don't think so.  Pretty sure I remember that the June rankings were going to be used and we were trying to figure out a way to squeeze four or five games in somewhere in May/June to overtake El Salvador.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, JamboAl said:

Likely not.  I think most countries in the world (except Europe) are in the same boat as us.  Suspect friendlies are a no go but if they are, then why would friendlies be okay but not actual matches? 

Because FIFA world cup qualifiers need the guarantee of cooperative governments. There are 35 countries involved, and there must be a guarantee for all nations involved that boarders won't be closed. Friendlies on the other hand can be planned and cancelled and it's no big deal. There are only 2 nations involved and there is nothing really at stake.  

I think you're going to see teams playing friendlies and countries like Canada with restrictive boarders not hosting friendlies, so the effect for us will be negative in that regard. We may get to play away friendlies in the meantime, however. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Obinna

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

11 minutes ago, _Roberto_ said:

Go back and check the very first post of this thread.

@El Hombre is talking about the format that was announced after this thread was created; go back and check page 4 of this thread, starting with post from @xabuep2.

[El Hombre]

18 minutes ago, _Roberto_ said:

Go back and check the very first post of this thread.

No.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

8 minutes ago, _Roberto_ said:

130 pages,

3,235 replies,

172,606 views,

and we still haven't kicked a ball.

That's why I like this thread. It seems appropriate for the moment. The day before we actually play a WCQ game (in March perhaps) I'll ask @jordan or another mod to lock it.

Let the nonsense and chaos reign for now  

Robert ( @_Roberto_), since this thread is about everything besides actual matches played, I'll tell you about a dream I had:

We were finally playing WCQs. It was our first match against Bermuda. We were winning 3-1 but in the 77th minute Herdman subbed on Cavallini! It had been so many months that Herdman and all those around him had forgotten that Cavallini was suspended due to yellow card accumulation (see: https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/forums/topic/72834-lucas-cavallini/page/82/ )

so we had to forfeit the match 0-3. Bermuda drew Suriname 1-1 and advanced. The country was in  disbelief.  Cavallini went into self-exile in Uruguay and you wrote a long ranting post in the forum in all-caps.

Also, Octavio Zambrano tweeted about how much smarter he was than Herdman.

What do you think?

[PiedPilko]

Got bored, so here's our all-European team.

Subs: Breza, Hoilett, Millar, Kennedy, Borges, Trafford, Bassong, 

Extras: Leutwiler, Brym, Twardek, Sekunda, Hemati

 

So yeah, would it be possible to have a nice camp in like, Germany, for all of our Euro based players for some friendlies? Only glaring difference here is our fullback depth, which gets pretty ugly without Laryea, Johnson and ZBG.

[PiedPilko]

9 minutes ago, _Roberto_ said:

Whose the European coach? 

Whoever gets there first

Edited September 8, 2020 by PiedPilko

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, PiedPilko said:

Got bored, so here's our all-European team.

Subs: Breza, Hoilett, Millar, Kennedy, Borges, Trafford, Bassong, 

Extras: Leutwiler, Brym, Twardek, Sekunda, Hemati

 

So yeah, would it be possible to have a nice camp in like, Germany, for all of our Euro based players for some friendlies? Only glaring difference here is our fullback depth, which gets pretty ugly without Laryea, Johnson and ZBG.

Maybe Hutchinson participates in such a friendly. Travel would be relatively minimal. 

I also don't see a world where Wotherspoon starts and Hoilett doesn't.

Aside from that, yeah, the depth is non-existent without the domestic guys.

[Strait Red]

Could add in a few of the younger guys as well like Mitrovic, Yankov and even Corbeanu. 

[baulderdash77]

3 hours ago, PiedPilko said:

Got bored, so here's our all-European team.

Go 4-2-3-1 with Davies, David and Hoilett as your wingers and AM.  That’s not a bad lineup to be honest.

[PiedPilko]

3 hours ago, _Roberto_ said:

Interesting how Atiba Hutchinson at 37 years of age is deemed too old for the CMNT, yet

Christine Sinclair at 37 years of age is still considered a viable option for the CWNT.

No, he's not too old by any means. It'd still be like a 5 hour flight though, and since he passed on Nations League, I wouldn't expect him to come all the way over just for a few friendlies. I don't expect to seem him until the Oct, really. If he wants to, though, by all means. He's probably our third best player.

[Kent]

7 hours ago, PiedPilko said:

No, he's not too old by any means. It'd still be like a 5 hour flight though, and since he passed on Nations League, I wouldn't expect him to come all the way over just for a few friendlies. I don't expect to seem him until the Oct, really. If he wants to, though, by all means. He's probably our third best player.

If there is an Oct, he HAS to play in the Oct, because he IS the Oct(opus).

[N1ckbr0wn]

If we were to play some friendlies before WCQ begin, but NA/Euro based, how would you all feel about these squads ? 

[Obinna]

30 minutes ago, N1ckbr0wn said:

If we were to play some friendlies before WCQ begin, but NA/Euro based, how would you all feel about these squads ? 

Maybe put Cornelius on the left as he is left footed. Hard to find anything wrong with the NA line up aside from that.

For the Euro one, I think Atiba at RB is interesting. He played there more often than not with PSV. He could probably do a job there if needed. Most importantly, that keeps Godinho out of the team. Unfortunately, it brings James into it. Looks like we cannot get away with leaving both out. I think Millar would be a better RB than Godinho, allowing you to bring Hutch into the CB and drop James, so we could do that in a one-off game. Long term though we'd want Millar to develop as an attacker and giving minutes to Godinho would help him. I don't think he is a lost cause, even if the thought of him gives me a heart attack. There is something to work with in that player, he just needs to find consistency. 

Would like to see a match between these two sides.

Edit: The way Bustos is playing, I would be tempted to play him where Osorio is. Then drop Fraser and put Oso there. I like Fraser, but the side is a little short on creativity. Bustos could help in that department. He already has 6 caps and is still only 24 years old. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Obinna

[Ansem]

33 minutes ago, N1ckbr0wn said:

If we were to play some friendlies before WCQ begin, but NA/Euro based, how would you all feel about these squads ? 

Europe

I'd invite Ricardo Ferreira at CB to replace James. Invite Adam Straith as I doubt Hutchinson would play outside of a WCQ. So your backline would be

Adekugbe - Vitoria - Ferreira - Straith

 

North America

For me, Jakovic OUT, Cornelius at left. Zator on the right. Your back 3

Cornelius - Didic - Zator

 

The rest looks good!

 

[Corazon]

Although a long shot at this point but maybe Bassong can find a decent team in Europe and start playing regularly at RB.

[SkuseisLoose]

Would probably be Godinho. I know he’s unpopular here after the gold cup but I’m pretty sure he had a good season with Zwickau so he’d be in with a shout.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

This should be interesting....

 

[SpursFlu]

Thats really good news for us. Hopefully Concacaf can underpromise and over deliver on their upcoming schedule 

[Obinna]

21 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Thats really good news for us. Hopefully Concacaf can underpromise and over deliver on their upcoming schedule 

I still don't think we get any WCQ in 2020. November is smack-dab in the middle of flu season, so I am not optimistic for that window. SA on the other hand will be enjoying summer. Their situation is a little different than ours. 

Hope I am wrong, but I am thinking no sooner than 2021. 

[SpursFlu]

4 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I still don't think we get any WCQ in 2020. November is smack-dab in the middle of flu season, so I am not optimistic for that window. SA on the other hand will be enjoying summer. Their situation is a little different than ours. 

Hope I am wrong, but I am thinking no sooner than 2021. 

Yah I agree. But maybe they agree on a single location in the US south or Caribbean but im not holding my breath 

[Kent]

Do any of the South American countries have quarantine rules for people entering the country? As long as we have that quarantine rule I don’t see how it would be possible for us to host any games. We might be forced to play all our matches on the road unless things change.

[SpursFlu]

2 hours ago, Kent said:

Do any of the South American countries have quarantine rules for people entering the country? As long as we have that quarantine rule I don’t see how it would be possible for us to host any games. We might be forced to play all our matches on the road unless things change.

I'm watching Copa Libertadores right now. Teams were given quarantine exemptions based on the fact that they were traveling for work.

A friend just travelled to the US for work and he didn't have to quarantine in the US but he did returning. I was told same with people traveling in to the US from Mexico. They also do not have to quarantine 

I also have a friend in the travel industry who told me the Canadian airline industry is pushing the government for more of a European model which enforces quarantine not for countries but regions you fly in from. The Canadian airline industry has been decimated far beyond what has happened in the US and Europe 

Also for fans in stadiums people should look in to what the Bundesliga announced today. I stand to be corrected on exact numbers but it was something like you can have fans in stadiums unless your region had a 7 day rolling daily average of over 35 cases per 100k people. So 1 million people you can't average over 350 cases per day. Im going by memory 

Edited September 16, 2020 by SpursFlu

[Mikmacdo]

On 9/9/2020 at 6:41 PM, Corazon said:

Although a long shot at this point but maybe Bassong can find a decent team in Europe and start playing regularly at RB.

Left back

[Obinna]

2 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I'm watching Copa Libertadores right now. Teams were given quarantine exemptions based on the fact that they were traveling for work.

A friend just travelled to the US for work and he didn't have to quarantine in the US but he did returning. I was told same with people traveling in to the US from Mexico. They also do not have to quarantine 

I also have a friend in the travel industry who told me the Canadian airline industry is pushing the government for more of a European model which enforces quarantine not for countries but regions you fly in from. The Canadian airline industry has been decimated far beyond what has happened in the US and Europe 

Also for fans in stadiums people should look in to what the Bundesliga announced today. I stand to be corrected on exact numbers but it was something like you can have fans in stadiums unless your region had a 7 day rolling daily average of over 35 cases per 100k people. So 1 million people you can't average over 350 cases per day. Im going by memory 

Thanks for sharing that. I am increasing getting the feeling that Canada in particular is holding things up for the region. Perhaps Vic is even doing Canada a favour by giving us time to join the rest of the world in relaxing quarentine rules.

At some point however the show must go on and we may just end up losing our home games, which obviously hurts our chances of qualifying.

As if the challenge wasn't hard enough...

Edited September 16, 2020 by Obinna