The Road to Qatar.

[BrennanFan]

3 minutes ago, beachesl said:

My far-out prediction: the Gold Cup this summer in a single US bubble location will also be the sole WCQ tournament, losing semi-finalists play for the 3rd auto and 4th playoff with the other continent. Easy solution for this mess. If Vic continues to let everything slide until the last-minute cancelations, he can sell this. In the meantime he can just politically blah, blah, blah.

I don't think FIFA will allow that, as there are a minimum amount of games that are required to be played for a qualification format to be approved. I'd sooner expect the WC postponed.

[beachesl]

...yes, good point, but the rules are only "so far". Rules can change instantly, like the change to the release provisions for clubs just did. 

[Obinna]

20 minutes ago, beachesl said:

My far-out prediction: the Gold Cup this summer in a single US bubble location will also be the sole WCQ tournament, losing semi-finalists play for the 3rd auto and 4th playoff with the other continent. Easy solution for this mess. If Vic continues to let everything slide until the last-minute cancelations, he can sell this. In the meantime he can just politically blah, blah, blah.

He seemed pretty steadfast that Gold Cup would proceed without bubbles. He said there would be limitations and precautions in place and seemed hopeful that some fans would be in attendance, citing the 25k fans at the super bowl as an example.

He also said that discussions on venues are ongoing, but I would not be surprised to see Florida and Texas host games. It doesn't make sense to play in cities that won't allow fans when you have other cities willing and able. It's all about the Benjamins baby. 

Either way, the possibility of bubbles seems remote, but obviously we'll have to see.  

[beachesl]

yeah, but for the players coming from very remote, loose and small leagues on the field (unlike the control in clubs like the MLS), a bubble may be needed for the field. The spectators are a separate issue. 

[Obinna]

5 hours ago, beachesl said:

yeah, but for the players coming from very remote, loose and small leagues on the field (unlike the control in clubs like the MLS), a bubble may be needed for the field. The spectators are a separate issue. 

I was curious as I was going off memory, so I went back and he does indeed say they'll be no bubble for the Gold Cup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk23vlF9KEs&t=23m1s

"If there's gonna be fans, why do you need a bubble"?

[nfitz]

On 2/5/2021 at 1:54 PM, JamboAl said:

https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/bureau-of-the-fifa-council-extends-temporary-measures-concerning-the-release-of-

From my 2 min glance at this, the release of players for internationals has been changed so that they would not have to be released if they are subject to a period of quarantine on either end.  But someone with a keener eye can correct me.

I think you've got it.

So US MLS teams will have to release players for the World Cup Qualifiers (unless they are travelling to somewhere that has a quarantine), but Canadian MLS and CPL teams don't have to (though I expect they will)

Edited February 9, 2021 by nfitz

[xabuep2]

More updates regarding the Concacaf qualifiers. On this occasion, the group C matches will be played only in Curaçao and Guatemala. San Vincent & the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands decided to play their home games in Curacao. While Cuba will play its home games at the Doroteo Guamuch Flores stadium in Guatemala City.

 

https://futbolcentroamerica.com/noticias/Eliminatorias-Concacaf--Guatemala-tendra-dos-partidos-de-visitantes-en-Curazao-20210212-0003.html

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 2/12/2021 at 4:05 PM, xabuep2 said:

More updates regarding the Concacaf qualifiers. On this occasion, the group C matches will be played only in Curaçao and Guatemala. San Vincent & the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands decided to play their home games in Curacao. While Cuba will play its home games at the Doroteo Guamuch Flores stadium in Guatemala City.

 

https://futbolcentroamerica.com/noticias/Eliminatorias-Concacaf--Guatemala-tendra-dos-partidos-de-visitantes-en-Curazao-20210212-0003.html

For group A, El Salvador will host Grenada in El Salvador but will travel to Curaçao to face Montserrat.

http://www.futbolcentroamerica.com/amp/noticias/El-Salvador-jugara-el-segundo-partido-de-las-Eliminatorias-Concacaf-contra-Montserrat-en-campo-neutral-20210216-0013.html

So far, for all groups, no rumours of cancelations of any matches, just venues being shifted around, which is a great sign.

It still seems like the idea from FIFA/CONCACAF is to commit to playing the first round of matches next month.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[dyslexic nam]

I sooooo want these games to happen.  I know I am not alone, but man - I don’t think there have been a set of games I have wanted to happen more than these. 

[Alex]

We should find out the details soon. In a recent interview with Wheeler I’m sure Vic said the date for finalizing wcq venues are a month before. 

[SpursFlu]

Euro Cup seems confident it will go ahead across multiple countries in June

[Kadenge]

I think we all agree that Canada has underperformed over the years in big games given its squad talent. Matches  we should have won that would have advanced us to the WCQ hex in 2014 (Honduras @ home draw) and 2018 (El Salvador away draw) and GC semis in 2017 (Jamaica) and 2019 (Haiti). Curious as to what the consensus is re why we are unable to bring it to the big games. Coaching, mental toughness?? When I watch Bayern I see players like Kimmich, Muller, Alaba..players with immense intensity who hate to lose. I have to think  they have a huge impact on their teamates and team results. Many of our players  wear or have worn the captains armband for their clubs, so there is leadership but do we have players that can push their teamates like the 3 I mentioned for Bayern? A lot of our current players have experienced big games with their club teams in Champions League, Europa, CCL, MLS Cup or winning league titles. So how do we progress from "strong on paper" to "getting results on the field"

[Obinna]

35 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

I think we all agree that Canada has underperformed over the years in big games given its squad talent. Matches  we should have won that would have advanced us to the WCQ hex in 2014 (Honduras @ home draw) and 2018 (El Salvador away draw) and GC semis in 2017 (Jamaica) and 2019 (Haiti). Curious as to what the consensus is re why we are unable to bring it to the big games. Coaching, mental toughness?? When I watch Bayern I see players like Kimmich, Muller, Alaba..players with immense intensity who hate to lose. I have to think  they have a huge impact on their teamates and team results. Many of our players  wear or have worn the captains armband for their clubs, so there is leadership but do we have players that can push their teamates like the 3 I mentioned for Bayern? A lot of our current players have experienced big games with their club teams in Champions League, Europa, CCL, MLS Cup or winning league titles. So how do we progress from "strong on paper" to "getting results on the field"

The thing is, we are better than the likes of El Salvador and Honduras on paper, but not so much so that we should expect to win time and again. In other words, our apparent advantage in talent is marginal at best. 

Yes, Kimmich, Muller, Alaba and others at Bayern have an immense intensity, but I would say the same about Arfield, Cavallini and Hutchinson. We are talking a different standard of player though, that's the difference I think.

I don't think a lack of intensity is an issue, at least with our current group. I just don't think our gulf in talent is as great as we make it out sometimes, partially because we undervalue the squads of our opponents when they have a sizeable domestic contingent. 

Here's a thought:

I think we can say the CanPL is already getting close to some of the Central American leagues in terms of talent. We are still below Honduras and Costa Rica surely, but perhaps slightly below or on par with Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador, while arguably slightly ahead or on par with Caribbean leagues like Jamaica and T&T. 

We know there are some talented players in the CanPL, so now envision an All-Canadian all-star team. We're talking Bustos, Bekker, Didic, Zator, Petrasso, Arid, Carducci, De Jong, Abzi, Henry, Awuah, Farsi, etc. Hard to name them all, but you get the point, we could probably come up with a couple of squads that would be decent.

Now here's the thing, if we can call upon a decent domestic squad, from a league that is middle of the road, why do we discount the squads of other nations when they do the same thing? We know that our domestic guys have talent, so why do we overlook the talent from similar leagues? For me it has to be down to ignorance and I am guilty for glazing over the names of Salvadorian or Panamanian-domestic players too.

If you flip it around though, we would argue that Didic, Bustos and others ought not to be slept on just because of where they play. It's the same thing for them. 

Just my two cents anyways.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Obinna

[archer21]

15 minutes ago, Obinna said:

The thing is, we are better than the likes of El Salvador and Honduras on paper, but not so much so that we should expect to win time and again. In other words, our apparent advantage in talent is marginal at best. 

Yes, Kimmich, Muller, Alaba and others at Bayern have an immense intensity, but I would say the same about Arfield, Cavallini and Hutchinson. We are talking a different standard of player though, that's the difference I think.

I don't think a lack of intensity is an issue, at least with our current group. I just don't think our gulf in talent is as great as we make it out sometimes, partially because we undervalue the squads of our opponents when they have a sizeable domestic contingent. 

Here's a thought:

I think we can say the CanPL is already getting close to some of the Central American leagues in terms of talent. We are still below Honduras and Costa Rica surely, but perhaps slightly below or on par with Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador, while arguably slightly ahead or on par with Caribbean leagues like Jamaica and T&T. 

We know there are some talented players in the CanPL, so now envision an All-Canadian all-star team. We're talking Bustos, Bekker, Didic, Zator, Petrasso, Arid, Carducci, De Jong, Abzi, Henry, Awuah, Farsi, etc. Hard to name them all, but you get the point, we could probably come up with a couple of squads that would be decent.

Now here's the thing, if we can call upon a decent domestic squad, from a league that is middle of the road, why do we discount the squads of other nations when they do the same thing? We know that our domestic guys have talent, so why do we overlook the talent from similar leagues? For me it has to be down to ignorance and I am guilty for glazing over the names of Salvadorian or Panamanian-domestic players too.

If you flip it around though, we would argue that Didic, Bustos and others ought not to be slept on just because of where they play. It's the same thing for them. 

Just my two cents anyways.

I get what you’re trying to say, but the fact is if we put together a CPL all star team against our national team, we should expect the national team to easily beat the CPL team. So yeah, I expect us to beat other nations that have all their players come from their not so great domestic league. Of course upsets happen, but we should certainly be winning the vast majority of these types of matches.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

The press in Bermuda seems concerned that they won't be able to call their England-based players:

https://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/sport/article/20210217/kyle-lightbourne-suffers-selection-setback-ahead-of-world-cup-qualifiers/

I doubt that we will get ours if they can't get theirs.

[Obinna]

Just now, archer21 said:

I get what you’re trying to say, but the fact is if we put together a CPL all star team against our national team, we should expect the national team to easily beat the CPL team. So yeah, I expect us to beat other nations that have all their players come from their not so great domestic league. Of course upsets happen, but we should certainly be winning the vast majority of these types of matches.

That's a fair point, but couldn't we say the Honduran national team should expect to beat a Honduras league all-star team? So what's the difference, y'know? I guess if we consider El Salvador it would be more to your point. 

I expect us to beat El Salvador 8/10 times at a neutral venue. Maybe those odds would apply to a theoretical CanMNT versus Can PL all-star match too. Clearly though we can see the odds even when the conditions change, such as having to play away, particularly on less desirable surfaces. 

[Obinna]

5 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The press in Bermuda seems concerned that they won't be able to call their England-based players:

https://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/sport/article/20210217/kyle-lightbourne-suffers-selection-setback-ahead-of-world-cup-qualifiers/

I doubt that we will get ours if they can't get theirs.

That would probably leave us without Hoilett, Millar and maybe Corbeanu. Hurts them more than us. 

I imagine Arfield and Wotherspoon would be out too? I imagine the restriction applies to the UK and not just England...

Arfield was probably already out anyways though, while Wotherspoon was probably on the bubble for getting a call.

[narduch]

16 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The press in Bermuda seems concerned that they won't be able to call their England-based players:

https://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/sport/article/20210217/kyle-lightbourne-suffers-selection-setback-ahead-of-world-cup-qualifiers/

I doubt that we will get ours if they can't get theirs.

Good reporting.

Best part is the article mentions TFC legend Reggie Lambe, who now plays in England's 9th tier.

Seriously though, in my opinion if players can't be called the integrity of the competition is in question. 

[Shway]

11 minutes ago, Obinna said:

That's a fair point, but couldn't we say the Honduran national team should expect to beat a Honduras league all-star team? So what's the difference, y'know? I guess if we consider El Salvador it would be more to your point. 

I expect us to beat El Salvador 8/10 times at a neutral venue. Maybe those odds would apply to a theoretical CanMNT versus Can PL all-star match too. Clearly though we can see the odds even when the conditions change, such as having to play away, particularly on less desirable surfaces. 

Interesting conversation. I think we do overstate our domestic talent.

And the great comparisons or train of thoughts would be is that can a CanPL Canadian All-stars beat Liga Salva Vida Honduran All-stars or Liga FPD Panama All-stars? I highly doubt it. 
Whats the proof? Our clubs footing in Concacaf, and the majority/history of these nationals teams players have been based within their home leagues. Nations like Honduras/Costa Rica/Panama have been getting results with a heavy  presence of their local leagues. 

In a way we are still playing catchup/coming up to solidify ourselves as true players in Concacaf. Through time this will happen, anything other than that it's paper talk until proven worthy. 

[Shway]

3 minutes ago, narduch said:

Seriously though, in my opinion if players can't be called the integrity of the competition is in question. 

Wait why? 

Integrity basically means being honestly fair for all. What's fair in this scenario is that neither nation will be able to call up their UK based players....how does that question the integrity of the competition?

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, Shway said:

Interesting conversation. I think we do overstate our domestic talent.

And the great comparisons or train of thoughts would be is that can a CanPL Canadian All-stars beat Liga Salva Vida Honduran All-stars or Liga FPD Panama All-stars? I highly doubt it. 
Whats the proof? Our clubs footing in Concacaf, and the majority/history of these nationals teams players have been based within their home leagues. Nations like Honduras/Costa Rica/Panama have been getting results with a heavy  presence of their local leagues. 

In a way we are still playing catchup/coming up to solidify ourselves as true players in Concacaf. Through time this will happen, anything other than that it's paper talk until proven worthy. 

That's a good point. The bolded part is particularly interesting, because generally speaking their domestic players not only have more international experience, but they also have more experience getting results. That's probably not insignificant when comparing our level of domestic-based players with theirs.

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, Shway said:

Wait why? 

Integrity basically means being honestly fair for all. What's fair in this scenario is that neither nation will be able to call up their UK based players....how does that question the integrity of the competition?

I think he's speaking generally, not specifically to this particular fixture. He's brought up this point before. 

I get it, for things to be "fair" you want to see no restrictions for any team, but that's simply not possible with how particular governments (England, Canada, etc.) are restricting the freedom of movement.

We just have to live with it, unfortunately. The show must go on.

[JamboAl]

Could Bayern say no to Davies leaving for these qualifiers?  I believe there is a 10 day quarantine for people returning to Germany from the US.

[narduch]

14 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

Could Bayern say no to Davies leaving for these qualifiers?  I believe there is a 10 day quarantine for people returning to Germany from the US.

Yes. They have a list of Risk Countries that require a 10 day quarantine upon arrival. My German sucks so I wasn't able to find the list.

Remember this is the same country that isn't allowing in teams from England to play Euro club games.

We might be better off moving our home game against Bermuda to the the Cayman Islands. That will lesson our travel as we are set to play the Caymans 3 days after our 'home' game v. Bermuda.

Not sure how that works Covid wise though.

Edited February 17, 2021 by narduch

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

We might be better off moving our home game against Bermuda to the the Cayman Islands. That will lesson our travel as we are set to play the Caymans 3 days after our 'home' game v. Bermuda.

Because Canada is a risk country like the United States?