Olympic Qualifying U24 Tournament - Guadalajara Mexico - March 18 to 30 2021

[Shway]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Are we sure Martin Amuz is better than a guy like Romeo? Seems to be the “sexy” choice because he’s different but really hasn’t played much at a level that isn’t exactly Italian Serie A defensively.

 

Man I totally agree with you.....nobody, has seen him play, I don’t think the coaching staff has either. I think he’s in the boat of turning a every stone over/doing our due diligence. 

However I don’t think he deserves to be apart of the 20 man team, but he just might be there based on the formalities of:

1. Are you part of the March WCQ team, and 2. Are you available to be released with your team in season. 

Chances are for example, Montreal won’t release ZBG, Bassong, Waterman, Miller, Yao, Piette, and Pantemis, .... but they will let Bahiya and Matthieu.

This team is a toss up, solely based on the release aspect.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

This is what the new schedule should look like:

Friday March 19th #CanU24 vs El Salvador U24

Monday March 22nd #CanU24 vs Haiti U24

Thursday March 25th #CanU24 vs Honduras U24
(Thursday March 25th #CanMNT vs Bermuda)

Sunday March 28th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semi-finals
(Sunday March 28th, Cayman Islands vs #CanMNT)

Tuesday, March 30th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying final

https://www.scribd.com/document/489964734/Calendario-de-la-Concacaf-para-2021

Edited January 12, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Shway]

Where the heck do you find half the stuff you do @Olympique_de_Marseille the dark web?

 

[Shway]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

This is what the new schedule should look like:

Friday March 19th #CanU23 vs El Salvador U23

Monday March 22nd #CanU23 vs Haiti U23

Thursday March 25th #CanU23 vs Honduras U23
(Thursday March 25th #CanMNT vs Bermuda)

Sunday March 28th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semi-finals
(Sunday March 28th, Cayman Islands vs #CanMNT)

Tuesday, March 30th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying final

https://www.scribd.com/document/489964734/Calendario-de-la-Concacaf-para-2021

Knowing that this tournament will take place almost at the same time as an official FIFA window. Makes me hope that the team will be very competitive.

I do wonder how player releases will work, as the Olympic Qualifiers aren't mandatory. I also wonder if the JH and Mauro are going to work together to send the best team possible.

[costarg]

10 hours ago, Shway said:

Where the heck do you find half the stuff you do @Olympique_de_Marseille the dark web?

 

Victor Montagliani is that you @Olympique_de_Marseille ???

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

29 minutes ago, costarg said:

Victor Montagliani is that you @Olympique_de_Marseille ???

My salary would be better!

[Ansem]

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

"A schedule of matches will be communicated in due course." 

The official release:

 https://www.concacaf.com/en/olympics-qualifying-men/article/concacaf-confirms-guadalajara-to-host-men-s-olympic-qualifiers-in-march-2021

On 1/6/2021 at 9:28 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

This is what the new schedule should look like:

Friday March 19th #CanU24 vs El Salvador U24

Monday March 22nd #CanU24 vs Haiti U24

Thursday March 25th #CanU24 vs Honduras U24
(Thursday March 25th #CanMNT vs Bermuda)

Sunday March 28th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semi-finals
(Sunday March 28th, Cayman Islands vs #CanMNT)

Tuesday, March 30th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying final

https://www.scribd.com/document/489964734/Calendario-de-la-Concacaf-para-2021

↑ however the above schedule should hold unless they switch the order of play between the groups (unlikely). The dates are correct; March 18th to 30th for the tournament as a whole.

 

EDIT:

I think CONCACAF are trying to avoid the problems of March 2020 (before the COVID shutdown), where the original schedule conflicted with senior men's team matches.  The dates are likely set but the kickoff times of the matches will likely be published at the last minute to avoid conflicting with WCQ or friendlies.

I'm not even sure you can stream two different games at the same time on ONESOCCER!

Edited January 14, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Alex]

Qualifying results:

Haiti - beat Grenada 2-0, tied Cayman Islands 2-2, beat Barbados 4-0.

El Salvador - tied Panama 1-1 and beat them 2-0

Honduras- beat Nicaragua 2-0 and 3-0

[Dominic94]

Wait did we avoid Mexico and the USA ? As in one of the 2 isn’t leaving their group ???

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

6 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

Wait did we avoid Mexico and the USA ? As in one of the 2 isn’t leaving their group ???

2 groups of 4. Top 2 in each group advance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_CONCACAF_Men's_Olympic_Qualifying_Championship

If we finish Top 2 in our group, then we would likely need to face either the USA or Mexico.

[Dominic94]

We have the easier group and should win all our games though. Who would we rather play though, Mexico or US ???

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

11 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

We have the easier group and should win all our games though. Who would we rather play though, Mexico or US ???

Let's take it easy; I'm not sure we finish top 2 unless we bring our best U24 team!

It also depends on who the USA and Mexico call; the USA have no competitive matches in March and could call Pulisic, Dest etc..

Edited January 14, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Dominic94]

24 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Let's take it easy; I'm not sure we finish top 2 unless we bring our best U24 team!

It also depends on who the USA and Mexico call; the USA have no competitive matches in March and could call Pulisic, Dest etc..

We are #3 in the region for this age, we have to bring these expectations with us. We have more than enough talent without Davies and David to finish a top our group.

 

quite frankly we should handle our group with ease, anything less is a major disappointment. We avoided Costa Rica... I don’t think we should not see ourselves as worse then Haiti, El-Salvador and Honduras period, especially at this level with the talent we have.

Edited January 14, 2021 by Dominic94

[Floortom]

23 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Let's take it easy; I'm not sure we finish top 2 unless we bring our best U24 team!

It also depends on who the USA and Mexico call; the USA have no competitive matches in March and could call Pulisic, Dest etc..

The US is not going to call Pulisic, Reyna, Dest or any other potential senior players to this IMO. They also have a packed 2021 and have more than enough youth talent to compete with Mexico without calling those big names.

[Shway]

I agree with @Olympique_de_Marseille, we have to have tempered expectations due to given realities. Which are...

1.) Our group is getting together for the first time, a lot of guys aren't even in camp who could/should be shoe ins on this team if availabe (see 3)
2.) Each of those teams have played at least two competitive games to qualify which ultimately equals to preparation for this tournament. 
3.) Lastly but most importantly. Yes we have the talent to make a competitive team list, but we have to hope for players to be available. It's not a guarantee that they will be released. For example, Millar might have been released under the circumstances before...but now that he is on loan with a club that is fighting for something....I don't seem them releasing him. Some MLS clubs have explicitly said they won't release players if it's not necessary as a club policy (ATLU).

The good thing with knowing all of that, it applies to the USA too. Which makes it a toss up.
It's always is, especially if you look at past results. 

And as far as our group being "easy". Honduras has qualified for the past 3 olympics. 

[Dominic94]

9 minutes ago, Shway said:

I agree with @Olympique_de_Marseille, we have to have tempered expectations due to given realities. Which are...

1.) Our group is getting together for the first time, a lot of guys aren't even in camp who could/should be shoe ins on this team if availabe (see 3)
2.) Each of those teams have played at least two competitive games to qualify which ultimately equals to preparation for this tournament. 
3.) Lastly but most importantly. Yes we have the talent to make a competitive team list, but we have to hope for players to be available. It's not a guarantee that they will be released. For example, Millar might have been released under the circumstances before...but now that he is on loan with a club that is fighting for something....I don't seem them releasing him. Some MLS clubs have explicitly said they won't release players if it's not necessary as a club policy (ATLU).

The good thing with knowing all of that, it applies to the USA too. Which makes it a toss up.
It's always is, especially if you look at past results. 

And as far as our group being "easy". Honduras has qualified for the past 3 olympics. 

We have the depth to replace Millar, I’m not huge on the past. We will do this, we need to hold the team to high standards. We’re passing Mexico this decade, I’m calling it now. Priso and Baldisimo will dominate this tourney. Let’s get excited !

[Shway]

41 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

We have the depth to replace Millar, I’m not huge on the past. We will do this, we need to hold the team to high standards. We’re passing Mexico this decade, I’m calling it now. Priso and Baldisimo will dominate this tourney. Let’s get excited !

That's some serious optimism. Mexico? Sounds like you've had a few too many shots of optimism. I'll take solidifying ourselves as number 3 or 4 within our region, in this decade. 

For further roster perspective. 
In camp right now there are 18 U24 eligible players. Unless things have changed we are working off a 20 man roster, with 3GKs. Let's start there.

GKs: 
St. Clair - looking like the clear favourite for MNUFC starting position going into the new season.
Pantemis - Back up for his team, I think he's a lock.
Hasal - Back up for the Whitecaps, but Crepeau might be gone with the senior CMNT.  
this pretty much leaves one of the spots for the Breza, Nogueira, or the other guy in Europe from Montreal. 

DFs:
These guys are all eligible and in camp right now: Cornelius, Miller, ZBG, Johnston, Halbouni, Gutiérrez, Bassong, Sturring. Of these 5 bolded guys, they all have shown to play important roles in their club squads (Bassong could potentially move into that list), and have a few have several caps with the senior team. Then there's the fringe MLS guys in Montgomerry, Dunn, Yao and  CPL stalwarts in Abzi, and Farsi who could be shoe-ins just based on being available. Kennedy is eligible, but will he be available - his team play games on March 14 & 21.  

MFs:
With the plethora of quality and experienced center midfielders we have currently in the program (SF, AH, SE, JO, MAK, SP, DW). I'll say a lot of the young guys may be moved to the U24 team as it will be more important for them to play a role with that team, versus not seeing the field at all. But again it's a numbers thing, will TFC be willing to let go Osorio AND Okello, Priso, and Fraser? That's a big ask. But let's look at the other guys who could be there:

Paton - Possible, if Ross county is willing to release him. He could potentially miss 1 game as they have on March 20, and their last game before that date is March 6. 
Baldisimo - If going based on the end of last year, Marc may be willing to release him for the U24 since they won't be missing any other midfielder players due to intl call-ups (sorry Rusty)
Borges - I suspect he should be released.
Buchanan - important player for the Revs. It's a tossup his coach is Arena.
MLS fringe guys in Bayhia, Metcalfe, Norman Jr, Choinière, Raposo, CPL guys in Shome, Choinière, and maybe Verhoeven

FWs:
Another area where we have a lot of up young talent. Some of those guys are trying to carve out their place within their club football. But same rules apply as our MF. We have a lot of attacking options in the senior squad in AD, JD, CL, JH and LC who I consider are senior locks. Akinola (depending on commitment) could be there. So let's look at the guys who could be with the U24.

Nelson - Poised to have a greater role with TFC this year, however could be released if TFC's attacking squad is healthy.
Akinola - Dependent on TFC's striker situation, him committing, and his conversations with JH.
Millar - Won't be there. His team play 3 games between Mar 13-27.
Brym - seems likely as he's a fringe guy on his team, however his team will still have to release him.
Bair - possible
Tabla - possible
Shaffelburg - likely
Twardek - Depends on release. His team have two games from March 13- 20. 
Corbeanu - Currently in the Wolves first team, didn't get released for this camp - doubt he get's released for U24.

It's a lot of juggling of names going on between club releases/availability and the question of will JH summon them to be with the senior squad for WCQ.  With that squad uncertainty, we are dealing with a lot of unfamiliarity within the squad. I can't get optimistic because I don't know how the team will ultimately look. I foresee it being a squad full of CPL guys and MLS fringe guys. MLS schedule hasn't been released yet, lets hope they avoid some of these dates. 

The positive note is that of the 18 eligible guys in camp right now, I think at least 10 will be there in March. So there's some familiarity. Our road to Tokyo is by advancing out the group and avoiding Mexico. We do well against the US.

[Dominic94]

18 minutes ago, Shway said:

That's some serious optimism. Mexico? Sounds like you've had a few too many shots of optimism. I'll take solidifying ourselves as number 3 or 4 within our region, in this decade. 

For further roster perspective. 
In camp right now there are 18 U24 eligible players. Unless things have changed we are working off a 20 man roster, with 3GKs. Let's start there.

GKs: 
St. Clair - looking like the clear favourite for MNUFC starting position going into the new season.
Pantemis - Back up for his team, I think he's a lock.
Hasal - Back up for the Whitecaps, but Crepeau might be gone with the senior CMNT.  
this pretty much leaves one of the spots for the Breza, Nogueira, or the other guy in Europe from Montreal. 

DFs:
These guys are all eligible and in camp right now: Cornelius, Miller, ZBG, Johnston, Halbouni, Gutiérrez, Bassong, Sturring. Of these 5 bolded guys, they all have shown to play important roles in their club squads (Bassong could potentially move into that list), and have a few have several caps with the senior team. Then there's the fringe MLS guys in Montgomerry, Dunn, Yao and  CPL stalwarts in Abzi, and Farsi who could be shoe-ins just based on being available. Kennedy is eligible, but will he be available - his team play games on March 14 & 21.  

MFs:
With the plethora of quality and experienced center midfielders we have currently in the program (SF, AH, SE, JO, MAK, SP, DW). I'll say a lot of the young guys may be moved to the U24 team as it will be more important for them to play a role with that team, versus not seeing the field at all. But again it's a numbers thing, will TFC be willing to let go Osorio AND Okello, Priso, and Fraser? That's a big ask. But let's look at the other guys who could be there:

Paton - Possible, if Ross county is willing to release him. He could potentially miss 1 game as they have on March 20, and their last game before that date is March 6. 
Baldisimo - If going based on the end of last year, Marc may be willing to release him for the U24 since they won't be missing any other midfielder players due to intl call-ups (sorry Rusty)
Borges - I suspect he should be released.
Buchanan - important player for the Revs. It's a tossup his coach is Arena.
MLS fringe guys in Bayhia, Metcalfe, Norman Jr, Choinière, Raposo, CPL guys in Shome, Choinière, and maybe Verhoeven

FWs:
Another area where we have a lot of up young talent. Some of those guys are trying to carve out their place within their club football. But same rules apply as our MF. We have a lot of attacking options in the senior squad in AD, JD, CL, JH and LC who I consider are senior locks. Akinola (depending on commitment) could be there. So let's look at the guys who could be with the U24.

Nelson - Poised to have a greater role with TFC this year, however could be released if TFC's attacking squad is healthy.
Akinola - Dependent on TFC's striker situation, him committing, and his conversations with JH.
Millar - Won't be there. His team play 3 games between Mar 13-27.
Brym - seems likely as he's a fringe guy on his team, however his team will still have to release him.
Bair - possible
Tabla - possible
Shaffelburg - likely
Twardek - Depends on release. His team have two games from March 13- 20. 
Corbeanu - Currently in the Wolves first team, didn't get released for this camp - doubt he get's released for U24.

It's a lot of juggling of names going on between club releases/availability and the question of will JH summon them to be with the senior squad for WCQ.  With that squad uncertainty, we are dealing with a lot of unfamiliarity within the squad. I can't get optimistic because I don't know how the team will ultimately look. I foresee it being a squad full of CPL guys and MLS fringe guys. MLS schedule hasn't been released yet, lets hope they avoid some of these dates. 

The positive note is that of the 18 eligible guys in camp right now, I think at least 10 will be there in March. So there's some familiarity. Our road to Tokyo is by advancing out the group and avoiding Mexico. We do well against the US.

Guys like Priso, Rutty, Assi and Habibulah could be there, same with Pepple.

 

I don’t know all the Mexico prospects, but out of our 04’s I think we have another David or Davies on the way. We developed Flores not them, we beat them at the u’17’s are let’s be real our coaches suck. We’re doing something right, I think the US is about to explode talent wise, Mexico has what in terms of top youth players ? More so ones that were born and trained there ?

[archer21]

How good are we expecting Costa Roca to be? Having one of them finish second in their group could be huge for us if we win our group.

[Ivan]

9 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Guys like Priso, Rutty, Assi and Habibulah could be there, same with Pepple.

 

I don’t know all the Mexico prospects, but out of our 04’s I think we have another David or Davies on the way. We developed Flores not them, we beat them at the u’17’s are let’s be real our coaches suck. We’re doing something right, I think the US is about to explode talent wise, Mexico has what in terms of top youth players ? More so ones that were born and trained there ?

I think these guys are too young for this Olympic cycle.  Maybe we could add one of them for depth purposes?

[VinceA]

1 hour ago, Ivan said:

I think these guys are too young for this Olympic cycle.  Maybe we could add one of them for depth purposes?

Ya we have enough people to choose from the 1997-2000 pool. And none of the younger options are necessarily upgrades over whats in the pool.

[Ivan]

41 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Ya we have enough people to choose from the 1997-2000 pool. And none of the younger options are necessarily upgrades over whats in the pool.

I'd even take it down to the 2002s.  As Shway noted above, guys like Nelson and Corbeaunu and maybe even Priso, have some pro experience and the talent to contribute to this cycle.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

14 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

We have the depth to replace Millar, I’m not huge on the past. We will do this, we need to hold the team to high standards. We’re passing Mexico this decade, I’m calling it now. Priso and Baldisimo will dominate this tourney. Let’s get excited !

I tend to agree with @Shway on this one. I also find it funny that Shway is the one defending the necessity of having a talent like Millar in this squad (don't tell @spitfire  or he may stop hating @Shway  !) when @Dominic94 says we can do without him.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Bison44]

21 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

quite frankly we should handle our group with ease, anything less is a major disappointment. We avoided Costa Rica... I don’t think we should not see ourselves as worse then Haiti, El-Salvador and Honduras period, especially at this level with the talent we have.

A disapointment like every other cycle, tourney and age group we have been involved in for ummmmm, as long as I can remember?  On paper is damn near worthless talk, until we actually start routinely beating the also rans (everyone not USA or Mexico) we should not be talking about catching up to Mexico.