narduch Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said: Guatemala's downfall was only beating the British Virgins 3-0, which is the joint-lowest margin of victory any team in the group had over them (tied with St. Vincent who got pummeled by everyone else in the group). If they had won that game 4-0 they would ultimately have qualified - although you would have to figure that Curacao wouldn't have played for a draw in the final game if that had been the case. I despise Guatemala just like I do nearly ever other Concacaf non-minnow so I am not exactly in tears over what has happened to them, but it's an example of why this WCQ format is garbage since it relies on which teams can pummel the minnows the most (although not even that is true technically since they had the same goal differential). I still feel the minnows should be playing each other and the winner of those groups then advance to play against the bigger teams. Otherwise you get a situation like this where a team is told "Well done - you are undefeated, won 75% of your matches, scored 14 goals and allowed none - now get the fuck out of here!" I really don't think you can play with hypotheticals like this Maybe Curacao plays differently if they have to win. Edited June 9, 2021 by narduch BigMo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceA Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 This whole cycle is like this because of Covid. And we won't see it again with 2026 expanding the field. narduch and Kent 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer21 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said: Guatemala's downfall was only beating the British Virgins 3-0, which is the joint-lowest margin of victory any team in the group had over them (tied with St. Vincent who got pummeled by everyone else in the group). If they had won that game 4-0 they would ultimately have qualified - although you would have to figure that Curacao wouldn't have played for a draw in the final game if that had been the case. I despise Guatemala just like I do nearly ever other Concacaf non-minnow so I am not exactly in tears over what has happened to them, but it's an example of why this WCQ format is garbage since it relies on which teams can pummel the minnows the most (although not even that is true technically since they had the same goal differential). I still feel the minnows should be playing each other and the winner of those groups then advance to play against the bigger teams. Otherwise you get a situation like this where a team is told "Well done - you are undefeated, won 75% of your matches, scored 14 goals and allowed none - now get the fuck out of here!" And yet it’s still 1000x better than the original plan for qualifying. Kent, yomurphy1, lamptern and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 14 minutes ago, narduch said: I really don't think you can play with hypotheticals like this Maybe Curacao plays differently if they have to win. Agreed, in fact I said as much re Curaçao in that post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadenge Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I would love to see SKN & Curacao go through, eliminating 2 Central American teams in the process. Less concacafing in the Ocho and playing in those crappy away games!. TGAA_Star and narduch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 29 minutes ago, VinceA said: This whole cycle is like this because of Covid. And we won't see it again with 2026 expanding the field. Remember the even worse format they had before covid? Glad that was ditched The Real Marc, Ruffian, An Observer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpursFlu Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I thought Guatemala looked good. Look this whole cycle is a big it is what it is. What more can you say. Excited to see them in the Gold Cup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 hour ago, SpursFlu said: I thought Guatemala looked good. Look this whole cycle is a big it is what it is. What more can you say. Excited to see them in the Gold Cup Very tough to play away there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack15 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Galindo and Nef good conversation on the national team as always 1:10 – The Davies-David connection reconnects! 6:03 – Thoughts on the 3-5-2 14:22 – What to make of Scott Kennedy's debut 23:26 – Takeaways from Canada 7-0 Aruba 29:00 – Previewing second round vs. Haiti 40:18 – Answering more of your questions (Akinola, Singh, Heward-Belle, venues for the Ocho, etc.) Acid-Tone, CanadianSoccerFan, Ngravs and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 13 hours ago, Kadenge said: I would love to see SKN & Curacao go through, eliminating 2 Central American teams in the process. Less concacafing in the Ocho and playing in those crappy away games!. This is my thinking too. Looking at the Octagonal schedule this also sets up a final match day away trip to Curacao in March 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGAA_Star Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 14 hours ago, Kadenge said: I would love to see SKN & Curacao go through, eliminating 2 Central American teams in the process. Less concacafing in the Ocho and playing in those crappy away games!. Curacao going against Panama I don't give them much of a chance against Panama and Panama just qualified for Russia in 2018 you do realize that right? St Kitts going up against El Salvador...I mean it would be an upset if they went through but seeing El Salvador's quality I can't see St Kitts getting the job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) I think Curacao can beat Panama. Everybody was talking up Suriname but Curacao may be the real deal in terms of Caribbean nations with Dutch heritage. And their squad has been together longer. St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset. Even though I really hope it happens. Edited June 10, 2021 by narduch TGAA_Star, JamboAl, Kyle_The_Hill and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Costa Rica just sacked their manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer21 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 hour ago, narduch said: I think Curacao can beat Panama. Everybody was talking up Suriname but Curacao may be the real deal in terms of Caribbean nations with Dutch heritage. And their squad has been together longer. St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset. Even though I really hope it happens. Yeah they definitely can beat them. They’re already ranked higher in fifa rankings and are ascending. Not sure I’d say the same for Panama. narduch and Kyle_The_Hill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Marc Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) 17 hours ago, Gian-Luca said: I despise Guatemala just like I do nearly ever other Concacaf non-minnow so I am not exactly in tears over what has happened to them, but it's an example of why this WCQ format is garbage since it relies on which teams can pummel the minnows the most (although not even that is true technically since they had the same goal differential). I still feel the minnows should be playing each other and the winner of those groups then advance to play against the bigger teams. Otherwise you get a situation like this where a team is told "Well done - you are undefeated, won 75% of your matches, scored 14 goals and allowed none - now get the fuck out of here!" Agreed. That's why I find the complaints in Europe about having a Malta or Liechtenstein or Andorra in your qualifying group so absurd. Big whoop. Imagine if a middling team (like Sweden? Or maybe we're more like Hungary or Norway or Slovakia?) had to play in group rounds with two or three other minnows just to have the chance to play another middling team to make the group stage of qualifying. It would be deemed insane and unfair. It would be a disaster. I don't like complaining about our circumstances because we've shown that we can waste good circumstances and I don't think we're good enough to warrant special treatment. And it's true - if you can't get out of these groups you don't deserve to move on. But this format does nothing but result in blowouts and goal difference qualifying on the back of totally random ref calls, minor slip ups, or a bad wind, or your opponents ringers didn't show, or really anything that can affect whether you beat a team by 5 rather than by 6 or by 7 or by 8. Edited June 10, 2021 by The Real Marc Gian-Luca and narduch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaFan123 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 hour ago, narduch said: I think Curacao can beat Panama. Everybody was talking up Suriname but Curacao may be the real deal in terms of Caribbean nations with Dutch heritage. And their squad has been together longer. St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset. Even though I really hope it happens. Curacao remind me of Canada teams of the past. They have a good team on paper (though not as good as Suriname's) but no real attacking stars and struggle to score. St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset but they do have the best player between both sides with Romaine Sawyer. narduch and Obinna 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 8 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said: St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset but they do have the best player between both sides with Romaine Sawyer. Have you heard of standout defender Eriq Zavaleta???😉 CanadianSoccerFan, Corazon, DavemTFC and 2 others 1 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaFan123 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, RS said: Have you heard of standout defender Eriq Zavaleta???😉 How could I forget?! How funny does Zavaleta look on ES? Kissing the crest too LOL. Club Linesman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, narduch said: I think Curacao can beat Panama. Everybody was talking up Suriname but Curacao may be the real deal in terms of Caribbean nations with Dutch heritage. And their squad has been together longer. St. Kitts beating El Salvador would be a massive upset. Even though I really hope it happens. Can Curacao beat Panama? Absolutely. Will they beat Panama? I am not convinced. For as much as Panama have supposedly regressed, let's keep in mind they know what it takes to qualify. There are still a few holdovers from the WC 2018 team. Playing away to Panama is never easy. For Curacao, we know they have Gus Hiddink and Patrick Kluivert running the show. We know about the Bacuna brothers and other Dutch players in the side, but I just wouldn't bet on them getting past Panama, even thought it would be good for the region for them to make the final 8. Also, for what it's worth, they have like 3 or 4 players suiting up for unattached FC at the moment. Edited June 10, 2021 by Obinna narduch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 13 minutes ago, RS said: Have you heard of standout defender Eriq Zavaleta???😉 Better international strike rate than Cyle Larin. RS and Corazon 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corazon Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Obinna said: Better international strike rate than Cyle Larin. Some people swear by some of these types of statistics without taking in any deeper context. Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Corazon said: Some people swear by some of these types of statistics without taking in any deeper context. You mean Gleofilo Vlijter isn't better than Jonathan David? Stats never lie.... Corazon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtpc Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, narduch said: This is my thinking too. Looking at the Octagonal schedule this also sets up a final match day away trip to Curacao in March 2022 I'm cheering for Curaçao as well in the C vs. D matchup with Panama. If we made the Octagonal and found ourselves within 3 points or 1 point of the intercontinental playoff spot on the final match day, I'd rather try and get that win or draw in Curaçao. Edited June 10, 2021 by jtpc Kent and narduch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I wonder if this is true. Obinna and TGAA_Star 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGAA_Star Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Just now, narduch said: I wonder if this is true. Huge boost to Curacao...I love it Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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