GC: Canada vs Mexico - Thursday, July 29th, 10pm Eastern / 7pm Pacific - Houston TX

[TOcanadafan]

2 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

She is awesome. 

I really think she could be the next ‘Ron MacLean’ - such a hosting talent.

[gator]

I had a hard time falling asleep after that match, there were so many things fresh in my mind to think about, overall I am pleased with the tournament although it sure would have been nice to play a revenge match in the final! I think my main takeaway from this Gold Cup is we discovered some depth and confirmed that Buchanan is reaching the next level, this was obviously a great learning experience for all! I would like to think we are losing the fear factor going up against teams like that, we showed we can take the play to the US and Mexico and we got a fresh reminder of how corrupt Concacaf is! These matches on the Octo could be completely different, it remains to be seen how we can play in true away matches with heat, humidity and corruption all present, I am not going to book my ticket to Qatar just yet! 

[nolando]

The best part, for me, is the timing of all of this momentum, given the very quick turnaround to WCQ.

We now have 14 delicious opportunities to prove to the region that this wasn't a one-off  tournament but rather the start of an unstoppable force. 

A new beast has arrived in CONCACAF.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

1 hour ago, apbsmith said:

It's honestly disgusting. 

Celebrated for choke holding Kaye and getting away with it, racial slurs towards Buchanan pre game (what a boss with the ear plug celebration after his goal - love the Kid even more) and yelling homophobic slurs to both our players and their players on the pitch. 

.... Not sure how anyone choses Mexico over Canada when you have the option to play for either. 

Really want to take points of these guys come WCQ.  

I actually, and maybe blindly, cheered for Mexico fair bit in the past (World Cups etc. and Chicharito being at my club, Jimenez seeming a class guy helped.)

Maybe it was because they were not the States and maybe because we were out of their league, they didn't direct a lot of this garbage at us but it has certainly changed.

They noticed us for good reason, with all that entails. 

[TOcanadafan]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Saw this….hate to say, but MAK should’ve went full Latino, and dropped on the floor holding his neck, and waving his hand.

VAR was a joke, as that should’ve been immediately been flagged. 

You know something was up when the ref gave nothing on that foul along the touch line immediately following the first penalty - that was at least a yellow and could have been red.  The 2nd penalty had me asking - can the ref actually change his mind on the awarding of the foul (big dive!) after VAR steps in, or is it out of his hands, as they are just checking where the alleged foul took place (which was in the box)?  

[VinceA]

I feel completely different to how I felt  in 2017 and 2019. 

I'm so happy with this team and everyone involved. I can't wait for September.

[reggietfc]

i love the way we played,but we were never going to win that game one way or another,in xtra time it would of been a sending off or another pk on the one inch line of the box,this touny is so fixed to have  a US- MEX final,i cant it take serious.

Edited July 30, 2021 by reggietfc

[JamboAl]

You know you have made it when the Mexican fans start treating Canada like garbage.  
In the past, they wouldn’t have cared as we were not a threat to them - we are now.  
 

[youllneverwalkalone]

8 hours ago, lenny said:

Jimenez, Guardado, Ochoa.   

What about Hugo Sanchez, Rafa Marquez, Claudio Saurez.

 

[costarg]

9 hours ago, An Observer said:

I think I can honestly say we have arrived. It’s only taken from the days of me being a high school student to the brink of retirement, but I will take it (and retirement is now looking much much sweeter!)

Great way to put it in perspective.    

[El Diego]

This loss is much easier to take once you realize you never actually cared about the Gold Cup.

Ok, jokes aside, very positive performance. Super disappointed in how it ended, but on the whole we have to be very happy with how we looked and what our players learned (and what we learned about out players). Imagine Davies and David (and Larin) with this team. I haven't read this thread and I'm sure I'm not saying anything new, but wanted to share my thoughts.

[El Diego]

Oh one other thing I wanted to mention:

When I watched highlights of Miller before he was drafted, a lot of them were him stepping up with the ball through forward pressure.  He seemed really good and confident at bursting forward and playing a forward pass. I never saw this at the pro level before this tournament, he seemed to get more confident as it went on. Obviously college to MLS and international play is a big step up, so it is nice to see this skill start to translate more.

[jonovision]

@El Diego's post above brings this to mind for me:

We've had enough Wheeler talk (and I thought yesterday was one of his more credible and restrained outings) but one of my favourite moments last night, no snark, was a sequence when Canada was bossing things and Kamal Miller made a little deke going forward and he goes "Oh behave!"

[costarg]

13 minutes ago, El Diego said:

Oh one other thing I wanted to mention:

When I watched highlights of Miller before he was drafted, a lot of them were him stepping up with the ball through forward pressure.  He seemed really good and confident at bursting forward and playing a forward pass. I never saw this at the pro level before this tournament, he seemed to get more confident as it went on. Obviously college to MLS and international play is a big step up, so it is nice to see this skill start to translate more.

Miller like Tajon is getting better by the match, we see it with CFM too.  A young CB will always be a gamble, I wonder what could've been if Cornelius had the same opportunity to keep his spot and learn even after having made some mistakes.  

[rkomar]

11 minutes ago, costarg said:

Miller like Tajon is getting better by the match, we see it with CFM too.  A young CB will always be a gamble, I wonder what could've been if Cornelius had the same opportunity to keep his spot and learn even after having made some mistakes.  

I don't think that Cornelius is gone from the picture unless he wants to be.  Herdman respected him enough to make him the leader of the Olympic qualifying squad.  Herdman also keeps the door open for players who put in the work to improve.  If Cornelius is serious about making the CMNT, I'm sure he will get his chances in the future.

[costarg]

7 minutes ago, rkomar said:

I don't think that Cornelius is gone from the picture unless he wants to be.  Herdman respected him enough to make him the leader of the Olympic qualifying squad.  Herdman also keeps the door open for players who put in the work to improve.  If Cornelius is serious about making the CMNT, I'm sure he will get his chances in the future.

Agreed, i just meant Cornelius could've developped faster had he played more consistently the past few years.  There was a while where he was getting regular minutes, but Vancouver was just so bad at the time that I don't think it really helped him much back then. 

Miller can really express himself with CANMNT and CFM and not be afraid of being pulled too quickly, the team around him is solid.

[Metro]

5 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

It never changes, does it?  They always get away with crap like this.

But we're learning how to counter: just beat 'em with talent.

[Ruud]

Honestly this intensity going forward is not even about Mexico who qualify no matter what or the US who will also.  It’s about the other teams in the Octo.  And we can all agree that we have to feel better about the chances in the Octo now than we did before the start of this tournament.  If you can stand up to Mexico - can you do the same in Panama on San Jose and on San Pedro Sula?

[Gian-Luca]

Osorio's comments about the "Puto" break (not sure how else to call it) are interesting, if a little confusing - we were told the free kick was behind the Mexico bench?

 

[SpursFlu]

The Puto break was completely orchestrated by the officials of Concacaf. There were loud puto chants thru the entire first half. Why not stop it then? They wanted to wait until the most high profile moment to make a statement and that was pre determined before the match. Ridiculous. This is a football match not a political platform. Its not fare to use the players and fans as pawns in their game

You can tell Osorio just didn't want to touch it or make excuses 

Edited July 30, 2021 by SpursFlu

[Kadenge]

39 minutes ago, Ruud said:

Honestly this intensity going forward is not even about Mexico who qualify no matter what or the US who will also.  It’s about the other teams in the Octo.  And we can all agree that we have to feel better about the chances in the Octo now than we did before the start of this tournament.  If you can stand up to Mexico - can you do the same in Panama on San Jose and on San Pedro Sula?

I think we can all say that we saw a different CMNT this GC compared to prior versions.  The mental toughness is finally there.  I dont think they can be intimidated anymore regardless of where we play and we were missing a lot of our vets.

[PegCityCam]

Wasn't there someone on here saying this tourney doesn't matter? What was THAT bloke smokin'? 

[gigi riva]

6 hours ago, reggietfc said:

i love the way we played,but we were never going to win that game one way or another,in xtra time it would of been a sending off or another pk on the one inch line of the box,this touny is so fixed to have  a US- MEX final,i cant it take serious.

Trust me It would not have been any different if we played the Americans

[BuzzAndSting]

47 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Osorio's comments about the "Puto" break (not sure how else to call it) are interesting, if a little confusing - we were told the free kick was behind the Mexico bench?

 

I think he meant that the free kick was supposed to be in the Mexican half, in front of the Canadian bench. After the break the ref moved the kick to deep into the Canadian half, towards the corner to the “left” of the Mexican bench (from the TV angle). So behind the Mexican bench if you’re moving from the Canadian goal to the Mexican goal.

[Free kick]

4 hours ago, gator said:

These matches on the Octo could be completely different, it remains to be seen how we can play in true away matches with heat, humidity and corruption all present, I am not going to book my ticket to Qatar just yet! 

Thats the key part right there.   We have seen in the past that performances in the Gold Cup are not necessarily a true indicator of what happens in WCQ.  We dont really know if some of these sides were holding back or not.    
 

The one that still stands out for me is CRC.   I believed, going in, that we had closed the gap on them and maybe surpassed them.   But at the same time i still cant believe that they could possibly be as poor as they were in that GC game against Canada.   They didnt have Keylor Navas at the GC and he was huge in the last WCQ hex in the important match versus the US in New Jersey.  

Edited July 30, 2021 by Free kick