The Road to Qatar.

[TGAA_Star]

36 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The NWSL has also avoided scheduling matches at Exploria in Orlando during the FIFA window:

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/nwsl-announces-full-2021-regular-season-schedule

These WCQ matches are looking very Florida. At this point I am expecting Aruba @ IMG  and Suriname @ Exploria in Orlando.

Playing in Florida...it is really perfect...I love it

[costarg]

19 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

Playing in Florida...it is really perfect...I love it

Does playing games in Florida in June really help us vs guys from the Caribbean/Central America?  All our EU based guys don't play games in 35c before factoring humidity.  I feel this is a pretty major disadvantage.

[TGAA_Star]

1 hour ago, costarg said:

Does playing games in Florida in June really help us vs guys from the Caribbean/Central America?  All our EU based guys don't play games in 35c before factoring humidity.  I feel this is a pretty major disadvantage.

Well yes and no. Yes in the sense that we're already playing games in Florida or we were for the most part anyway right? Well because of COVID, we can't play our home games back in Canada and if we are or have been camped out in Florida for some time, then well we sort of have somewhat of an advantage but not much. But then it hinders us too because of the reason you pointed out.

[archer21]

7 hours ago, costarg said:

Does playing games in Florida in June really help us vs guys from the Caribbean/Central America?  All our EU based guys don't play games in 35c before factoring humidity.  I feel this is a pretty major disadvantage.

Probably true for the 2nd round (against Haiti or Nicaragua). I don’t think Suriname will have a big advantage though, since their guys play in Europe too, for the most part.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

@CanadaFan123,

Reason #1 why we should play in Chicago:

21 hours ago, costarg said:

Does playing games in Florida in June really help us vs guys from the Caribbean/Central America?  All our EU based guys don't play games in 35c before factoring humidity.  I feel this is a pretty major disadvantage.

Reason #2:

I assume it was also MUCH cheaper to rent, seeing as the Chicago Fire do not play there anymore, only the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL.

https://www.chicagoredstars.com/post/chicago-red-stars-reveal-2021-nwsl-schedule

https://www.seatgeekstadium.com/events-tickets

You get to play in an MLS quality stadium, likely without the MLS rental prices in this now underused stadium!

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[ADP10]

Found this 10 minute video below on why Mexico has lackluster success at the World Cup really interesting. It also touches on how Mexico thinks the Gold Cup is a joke.

 

Also really enjoyed the other video below where the person discusses each CONCACAF team's chances of qualifying for the World Cup. It was cool to see someone from a CONCACAF minnow's perspective on the confederation. This one is a little longer though.

 

[TGAA_Star]

5 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

@CanadaFan123,

Reason #1 why we should play in Chicago:

 

I assume it was also MUCH cheaper to rent, seeing as the Chicago Fire do not play there anymore, only the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL.

https://www.chicagoredstars.com/post/chicago-red-stars-reveal-2021-nwsl-schedule

https://www.seatgeekstadium.com/events-tickets

You get to play in an MLS quality stadium, likely without the MLS rental prices in this now underused stadium!

 

 

 

A temporary home set up in Chicago is actually not that bad

[TGAA_Star]

5 hours ago, ADP10 said:

Found this 10 minute video below on why Mexico has lackluster success at the World Cup really interesting. It also touches on how Mexico thinks the Gold Cup is a joke.

 

Also really enjoyed the other video below where the person discusses each CONCACAF team's chances of qualifying for the World Cup. It was cool to see someone from a CONCACAF minnow's perspective on the confederation. This one is a little longer though.

 

Yeah but it still does not change facts though. Fact being that Mexico continues to qualify for World Cups consistently. Hell out of all CONCACAF teams they have the most appearances at World Cups. Long history. Not to mention they win Gold Cups consistently too. Overall talent they have us Canada beat by a country mile. But Canada we are improving for the most part because our talent pool is getting deeper now. Probably deeper as we have been in years so can we be on that same level as USA and Mexico in our men's program? Yes we definitely can especially as the years go on.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

Yeah but it still does not change facts though. Fact being that Mexico continues to qualify for World Cups consistently. Hell out of all CONCACAF teams they have the most appearances at World Cups. Long history. Not to mention they win Gold Cups consistently too. Overall talent they have us Canada beat by a country mile. But Canada we are improving for the most part because our talent pool is getting deeper now. Probably deeper as we have been in years so can we be on that same level as USA and Mexico in our men's program? Yes we definitely can especially as the years go on.

Mexico continues to qualify for World Cups consistently?  Do you have a source for this?

[CanadaFan123]

8 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

@CanadaFan123,

Reason #1 why we should play in Chicago:

 

I assume it was also MUCH cheaper to rent, seeing as the Chicago Fire do not play there anymore, only the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL.

https://www.chicagoredstars.com/post/chicago-red-stars-reveal-2021-nwsl-schedule

https://www.seatgeekstadium.com/events-tickets

You get to play in an MLS quality stadium, likely without the MLS rental prices in this now underused stadium!

 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, costarg said:

Does playing games in Florida in June really help us vs guys from the Caribbean/Central America?  All our EU based guys don't play games in 35c before factoring humidity.  I feel this is a pretty major disadvantage.

The heat reason does not outweigh the benefit of playing in the same state when we play two matches in 3 days. 

We also realize that we have Toronto and Montreal playing their season out of Florida right? Along with all the other players who regularly play in MLS... while Suriname will bring a squad that largely plays in Europe.

We've taken away our travel advantage when they have an extra day of rest. This just makes no sense - playing in Chicago gives us no advantage and actually plays into their hands. The only thing I can think of is if the CSA has studied flight patterns and realized that this would screw over Suriname in some way. That's the only way this gives us an advantage.

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by CanadaFan123

[costarg]

47 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

 

The heat reason does not outweigh the benefit of playing in the same state when we play two matches in 3 days. 

We also realize that we have Toronto and Montreal playing their season out of Florida right? Along with all the other players who regularly play in MLS... while Suriname will bring a squad that largely plays in Europe.

 

8/9 of our starting 11 play in Europe, only 2/3 are in MLS. 

[Boominbooty]

Why Chicago is a good option:

1. Much cooler/colder than Florida. June temps at night are about 13 c. Good for Canada 

2. Florida to Chicago on a  charter flight is about 2.5 hours. Suriname to Chicago (assuming no Charter) is around 16 hrs with at least one lay over

3. if there are any fans, most likely they will be for Canada

4.Good stadium and base for the next round of games assuming we win. Who knows, Maybe there’s some special arrangement and we can run the next round of games in Manitoba. Probably not but you never know  

5. deep dish pizza

 

 

[CanadaFan123]

11 minutes ago, costarg said:

8/9 of our starting 11 play in Europe, only 2/3 are in MLS. 

We don't have a set starting XI so there's no point in arguing about it - I'm assuming your XI includes Larin and Eustaquio who have both played professionally in Florida and Mexico. The point is that our players, on a whole, are much more acclimated to playing in Florida/heat than Suriname's. 

@Boominbooty's point about the travel makes sense. It's the only logical explanation. 

[RS]

What, did you guys just talk the Chicago option into existence or was there previous chatter that indicated it might end up being there?

35 minutes ago, Boominbooty said:

1. Much cooler/colder than Florida. June temps at night are about 13 c. Good for Canada 

That must be the overnight low (3 a.m.). It's not 13 degrees at a normal kickoff time in Chicago in June.

[CanadaFan123]

17 minutes ago, RS said:

What, did you guys just talk the Chicago option into existence or was there previous chatter that indicated it might end up being there?

That must be the overnight low (3 a.m.). It's not 13 degrees at a normal kickoff time in Chicago in June.

I posted that tweet in the Suriname thread last night.

[RS]

1 minute ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I posted that tweet in the Suriname thread last night.

Oh. Weird that the responses are in here.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

https://searchlight.vc/sports/2021/05/07/svgff-announces-larger-vincy-heat-training-squad/
St. Vincent and the Grenadines have announced their training squad, some Canadians are included:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Marshall
https://www.league1ontario.com/roster_players/24407233?subseason=490480

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

59 minutes ago, RS said:

Oh. Weird that the responses are in here.

Ya, I did that on purpose since the talk wasn't really about the Suriname squad.

Might as well lock my "opponent watch" thread since the discussion has deteriorated: https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/forums/topic/77463-opponent-watch-suriname-why-they-have-the-potential-to-be-a-tough-team/

Plus, the discussion question was "Will they get a bunch of news guys?" and we now know the answer is a resounding "Yes". 

I've started a match thread instead since we have venues, kickoff times etc..

 

[VinceA]

17 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

https://searchlight.vc/sports/2021/05/07/svgff-announces-larger-vincy-heat-training-squad/
St. Vincent and the Grenadines have announced their training squad, some Canadians are included:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Marshall
https://www.league1ontario.com/roster_players/24407233?subseason=490480

I know for a fact that they are aware of Atletico Ottawa's Brandon John I'm surprised he hasn't been called up.

[TGAA_Star]

4 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Mexico continues to qualify for World Cups consistently?  Do you have a source for this?

Well no I'm saying that during World Cup qualifying, they always find a way to qualify am I right or am I wrong? Look at how many World Cup appearances they have compared to that of Canada. Canada only has 1 appearance in its history. Mexico has 16. It is no contest.

[TGAA_Star]

3 hours ago, Boominbooty said:

Why Chicago is a good option:

1. Much cooler/colder than Florida. June temps at night are about 13 c. Good for Canada 

2. Florida to Chicago on a  charter flight is about 2.5 hours. Suriname to Chicago (assuming no Charter) is around 16 hrs with at least one lay over

3. if there are any fans, most likely they will be for Canada

4.Good stadium and base for the next round of games assuming we win. Who knows, Maybe there’s some special arrangement and we can run the next round of games in Manitoba. Probably not but you never know  

5. deep dish pizza

 

 

No argument from me

[Shway]

2 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

https://searchlight.vc/sports/2021/05/07/svgff-announces-larger-vincy-heat-training-squad/
St. Vincent and the Grenadines have announced their training squad, some Canadians are included:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Marshall
https://www.league1ontario.com/roster_players/24407233?subseason=490480

Tre Crosby is good last time I seen him play/played against him. 
Quick, tricky little shit.
He used to play with Vaughan, and played with former Atletico man Jarred Philips

I'm surprised the smaller Caribbean islands don't scour more the Ontario football landscape. I know they have, just not enough in my opinion.

[narduch]

9 hours ago, RS said:

What, did you guys just talk the Chicago option into existence or was there previous chatter that indicated it might end up being there?

That must be the overnight low (3 a.m.). It's not 13 degrees at a normal kickoff time in Chicago in June.

Interesting thing is Haiti hosting their match.

Has Canada confirmed where its 2nd round match would be?

We have the potential for some brutal travel.

Florida to Chicago to Haiti to Chicago 

[RS]

19 minutes ago, narduch said:

Interesting thing is Haiti hosting their match.

I don't understand how that's being allowed.

[Obinna]

If the name of the game is maximizing travel for Suriname, why not play at Allianz Field in St. Paul? What about Rio Tinto stadium? I assume playing on field Turf in Seattle or Portland would not be desirable.