Opponent watch: Suriname (why they have the potential to be a tough team)

[archer21]

2 minutes ago, Atlantic said:

I know a lot is focused on right now but if Suriname can keep some of these guys around and add more guys from Europe they could be in good shape to leap far up the CONCACAF rankings. You can essentially click on most Eredivisie rosters and there is multiple players with Surinamese citizenship. It’ll be interesting to follow in the years to come for sure.

Yeah if they can continue to pull guys from the Netherlands, they could be a strong team by CONCACAF standards. They’ll have to keep adding though, because a lot of their guys right now are getting up there in age and probably won’t be around come 2026

[PiedPilko]

On 5/30/2021 at 11:35 AM, VinceA said:

they aren't at the best clubs, and are older and most probably will duck out after the Gold Cup if Suriname doesn't get passed us (Which is fine I think many will

Quite a few young Dutch players with Suriname ancestry. I think they'll have a reliable stream of veterans whose Dutch careers never panned out.

[Obinna]

Tomorrow live stream at 1:30 pm (11:30 am EST?) apparently featuring a Canadian guest to give his take on our squad.

[Stryker911]

One thing I like about this squad is that they won't he a typical CONCACAF game. At least we won't have to deal with the guys rolling around like they got shot and the normal Honduras shenanigans.

[Shway]

Suriname picks up another guy:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Klaiber

ohh wait, we don’t care anymore 🤣...but they’ll have a good gold cup squad.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

36 minutes ago, Shway said:

Suriname picks up another guy:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Klaiber

ohh wait, we don’t care anymore 🤣...but they’ll have a good gold cup squad.

Now that we no longer have a to worry about them for 2022 or 2026, I'm actually interested to see how this plays out the next few years.  There will be a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 8 CONCACAF teams at the 2026 WC and I don't want to see the snob crowd laughing at blowout results from CONCACAF teams.  It benefits everyone when the confederation gets more competitive.

[Floortom]

Wonder why Klaiber commits now instead of for the qualifiers.

They have two strong backs now in their mid 20s. They’ll still be there for the next round of qualifiers.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Floortom

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

22 minutes ago, Floortom said:

Wonder why Klaiber commits now instead of for the qualifiers.

They have two strong backs now in their mid 20s. They’ll still be there for the next round of qualifiers.

He may have committed earlier but the one-time-switch may not have gone through quickly enough.

 

[Footscray]

Honestly they should be kicked out of concacaf and placed in conmebol.  We have a ton of nations already and they don't have enough... nevernind the actual geography.

They can take Panama too while they're at it lol

[Floortom]

7 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

He may have committed earlier but the one-time-switch may not have gone through quickly enough.

 

You appear to be correct based on this:

 

[PopePouri]

/FIN

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by PopePouri

[One American]

How many guys can play right back at the same time? 

[Atlantic]

 

Interesting little thread even if some of the probabilities are not exactly accurate. Suriname have a pretty decent pool to choose from (as already discussed in this thread). Since we will likely auto-qualify in 2026 along with Mexico and USA it will be good if the others team joining from CONCACAF are also really strong to give the federation a good look. 

 

On another note...

 

Curacao also have a decent sized pool of dual-nats although not as big as Suriname. Bermuda have Kortney Hause (Premier League) and Nathan Trott (Ligue 2 / West Ham U23) as dual-nationals while Bermudians Djair Parfitt-Williams (Iceland 1st Tier) and Ajani Burchall (Aston Villa U18s) have yet to debut for Bermuda. Burchall is a highly rated prospect and would be a massive coup for Bermuda if he decides to join. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Atlantic

[Floortom]

20 minutes ago, Atlantic said:

 

Interesting little thread even if some of the probabilities are not exactly accurate. Suriname have a pretty decent pool to choose from (as already discussed in this thread). Since we will likely auto-qualify in 2026 along with Mexico and USA it will be good if the others team joining from CONCACAF are also really strong to give the federation a good look. 

 

On another note...

 

Curacao also have a decent sized pool of dual-nats although not as big as Suriname. Bermuda have Kortney Hause (Premier League) and Nathan Trott (Ligue 2 / West Ham U23) as dual-nationals while Bermudians Djair Parfitt-Williams (Iceland 1st Tier) and Ajani Burchall (Aston Villa U18s) have yet to debut for Bermuda. Burchall is a highly rated prospect and would be a massive coup for Bermuda if he decides to join. 

Thats a lot of good talent for Suriname. You can easily see them being #4 in Concacaf and a top 50 FIFA ranked nation *on paper*.

I'm not sure how accurate those probabilities are - seems a bit optimistic. Almost every guy is apparently "in the process" of getting a passport? It would take real strong commitment for a lot of these guys to deal with the terrible travel, conditions and opponents. You need to build a strong culture to have all these guys buy in. It will be 10X harder than what Herdman had to deal with. Suriname has no manager, doesnt play many matches...it's going to be very tough. Would be great for CONCACAF if they can pull it off though.  Having a Dutch "D" squad would be great for the region. 

[Califax]

Now that they’re good, they should consult a map and play in South America. 
 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Califax

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, Califax said:

Now that they’re good, they should consult a map and play in South America. 
 

 

That map will also tell them that they have a Caribbean coast line, no?

[Shway]

15 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

That map will also tell them that they have a Caribbean coast line, no?

As does Venezuela no? To @Califaxpoint, conembol has been looking for more “quality” opponents. They can take Guyana too while they are it. 

[Kent]

12 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

That map will also tell them that they have a Caribbean coast line, no?

So do Colombia and Venezuela.

I am sure if Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana had traditionally been as good as say, Chile, they would be in CONMEBOL. Because that's what makes sense. I don't think the reason for them being in CONCACAF is actually because culturally they feel Caribbean or because they have a coastline with the Caribbean, just like I don't think Australia is in AFC because they culturally feel Asian. It's about playing level, plain and simple.

[Shway]

Also it’s possible we play them again in the Nations league this summer. A game like that should go to Winnipeg or Ottawa (if we are still worrying about time zones) 

[Obinna]

Without seeing the list of potential Suriname recruits I will say this: It takes more than a super star team on paper to get results. They were already pretty impressive when they faced us. A top 6 team on paper is how Herdman put it. I don't think he was wrong either.

We handled them very easily in the end. Yes we have two outstanding players who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, but we clearly had more chemistry than them, which was unsurprising.

All of this is to say they can't bring in a ton of talent and then just expect other teams to just roll over. They are going to have to carve out an identity and culture like we have done before the results match the team on paper.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

The confederations are all arbitrary anyway.  People get hung up on which continent they're on but does it really matter?  There's a bunch of Central Asian countries in UEFA, Australia in the AFC etc.  

[Shway]

19 minutes ago, Obinna said:

All of this is to say they can't bring in a ton of talent and then just expect other teams to just roll over. They are going to have to carve out an identity and culture like we have done before the results match the team on paper.

And with them being in league A of the nations league, it makes it even harder for them to “warm up to each other” or “carve out an identity”.  I think they’ll be hoping to draw teams who have qualified for Qatar, as the player selection might be a factor for those squads. 

However, they are starting now and that is key to their future success.

I’m all for Concacaf getting better. 

[Trois Reds]

If Suriname, and Curacao to a smaller extent can get even a few of these players to join, they can probably challenge the Central Americans and Jamaica over the next few years.  I think that's great for the region as a whole.

 

3 hours ago, Kent said:

So do Colombia and Venezuela.

I am sure if Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana had traditionally been as good as say, Chile, they would be in CONMEBOL. Because that's what makes sense. I don't think the reason for them being in CONCACAF is actually because culturally they feel Caribbean or because they have a coastline with the Caribbean, just like I don't think Australia is in AFC because they culturally feel Asian. It's about playing level, plain and simple.

The Guyanas (Suriname was once Dutch Guyana) actually specifically joined CONCACAF because they do have a cultural affinity to the Caribbean. Latin America, not so much.  Suriname was even a founding member of CONCACAF, even though it was attached to the Netherlands at the time.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Trois Reds

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 hours ago, Califax said:

Now that they’re good, they should consult a map and play in South America. 
 

 

Another poster who doesn't know what Concacaf stands for. Consult a map and maybe Colombia and Venezuela should be playing up here. Really, such base posting. 

If FIFA were worried about geography would Australia be playing in Asia just because they felt like it? 

[aloyol]

7 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

The confederations are all arbitrary anyway.  People get hung up on which continent they're on but does it really matter?  There's a bunch of Central Asian countries in UEFA, Australia in the AFC etc.  

I never really understood why Kazakhstan is in UEFA. They aren't really good but they would've a better chance to do well in Asia.