World Cup Qualifying Third Round Match Day 1: Canada Honduras - Thursday, September 2nd, 2021 - BMO Field, Toronto.

[Bison44]

Sounded great on sportsnet.  Lots of noise, you could hear the chants...if not for the odd shot of Honduran fans, I wouldnt have noticed they were there.

[toontownman]

3 minutes ago, BigMo said:

For those who watched at home, how did the crowd sound on TV?

Electric. Real credit to all of you that made it out. Not sure how close to capacity it was, looked far from full to start but filled up late. Came across very loud though.

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Not sure what was more disappointing waking up to the result or the two minutes of highlights on the CSA YouTube that only show the penalties being taken and not why they were awarded. 

[sebdeserio]

1. Not a horrible result considering this was everyone on the teams first game at this stage and we came back to get a point (also considering the other results today).

2. Switching to a 343 was a stupid idea and we had no midfield presence because of it.

3. Kennedy>>> Miller, I think Miller started as a reward for the Gold Cup but this should be his last start at Kennedy's expense.

4. Attack was toothless and had no ideas except for the first 15 minutes of each half and maybe a bit near the end of the second. David couldn't find a foothold in the game and Tajon and Larin were  both unimpressive.

5. Ref was a fraud.

7. Corners were horrendous it's not that hard to get past the first man.

6. The southend was great to be in and happy to have been able to watch the boys live for the first time since the US game.

[The Beaver 2.0]

I said before the match that the game would be won or lost in the midfield for us, and sure enough we blew that in the first half. But we'll learn and adjust and come out stronger.

Mexico looks good for the win. Everyone else ties. Not too bad for us all things considered. Only 13 match days to go!

[prairiecanuck]

US tied 0 - 0 with El Salvador.  Mexico gets a late winner.  I somehow feel better about our draw now.

[SpecialK]

Thank you Mexico

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, Lansdude said:

Four minutes huh. I hate this part of the game. It really needs to be changed.

Sure it needs to be changed, having a running clock like most sports do. Stop the clock at injuries, after goals , at substitutions and so on . But we know this will never happen and so the time waisting will always be part of the game unfortunately.

[The Beaver 2.0]

1 hour ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

We didn't need God or Jesus but apparently we needed somebody

We needed at least 11 somebodies.

[dyslexic nam]

20 minutes ago, BigMo said:

For those who watched at home, how did the crowd sound on TV?

 

Bigger Honduran presence than I expected but thought it was good support all things considered. 

Sounded awesome.  

[SpursFlu]

Thank god Mexico pulled that off. Remember the final table. Those 2 pts could be huge for us

[Joe MacCarthy]

Just now, The Beaver 2.0 said:

We needed at least 11 somebodies.

Include a manager and you got a team called the Disciples

[The Beaver 2.0]

I know it is only match day one, but could we be nearing quasi-parity in our region?  Could the gap between Mexico/USA and several other nations only be very slight now?  Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada, Honduras all in the mix? 

[SpursFlu]

24 minutes ago, BigMo said:

For those who watched at home, how did the crowd sound on TV?

 

Bigger Honduran presence than I expected but thought it was good support all things considered. 

Looked and sounded great. Honestly I was a little surprised how small and toned down Honduran crowd felt. 

Big ups Toronto. Seemed like 15k × 2

Edited September 3, 2021 by SpursFlu

[CanadaSantos]

we have a lot of great attacking players but the problem i felt today was that they were all just kind of forced into the lineup. it sucks that a player like buchanan, larin or a laryea will have to sit, but by playing them all at once there just seemed to be some imbalance. i was never the biggest hoilett fan but i loved his role in the gold cup and think he needs to go back up front and start over one of larin or david. those 2 are just to similar and we couldnt create anything through the middle.

 

i know lots of people dont rate osorio, but hes another player i think helps a lot in balancing the play, can start out wide and come through the middle, very good finding spaces between the lines, help defensively as well. it was a better second half but with very few grade a scoring chances. Everything got blocked and everything from the wings only. Hopefully they learned something today and pick the one system/formation we want to go forward with.

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Exact same view we had in 221. I have not seen a replay yet but the initial reaction was a foul by the Honduran. 
 

But I have no idea why Herdman switched Tajon and Davies midway through the 1st half. That is what really cost us the goal IMO.

 

And just saw a replay, the initial reaction we all had at the stadium was correct. Moot point now of course, and never should have even got to that stage, ball watching by Tajon caused the incident. Hopefully he will have a better outing next match, he has been on a steep learning curve and I expect it to continue. 

[SthMelbRed]

28 minutes ago, BigMo said:

For those who watched at home, how did the crowd sound on TV?

 

Bigger Honduran presence than I expected but thought it was good support all things considered. 

I was fortunate to find a stream with no commentary, only crowd noise*. I missed the first 10ish minutes, but from that point, it seemed quite loud and very much a home crowd. I didn't hear any significant Honduran presence.

 

 

 

 

 

*found, as in clicked the link that @beachesl did the leg work to dig up. 🙂 

[SpecialK]

13 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

We needed at least 11 somebodies.

We need …. 

Edited September 3, 2021 by SpecialK

[Free kick]

Everyone got a result that they could live with tonight.   Except Canada.

Mexico got a win

Jam lost at the high atitude of azteca. mexico never loses at Azteca so any points would have been a huge bonus.

USA got an away draw 

ES earned a home draw against a favoured side in the region

CRC got a away draw 

Panama.  Got a home draw against a more heralded side.  But next to canada, they are likely the next most dispointed ones.

Honduras got an away result 

And Canada? they needed to win this game.  

Edited September 3, 2021 by Free kick

[SthMelbRed]

29 minutes ago, sebdeserio said:

1. Not a horrible result considering this was everyone on the teams first game at this stage and we came back to get a point (also considering the other results today).

2. Switching to a 343 was a stupid idea and we had no midfield presence because of it.

3. Kennedy>>> Miller, I think Miller started as a reward for the Gold Cup but this should be his last start at Kennedy's expense.

4. Attack was toothless and had no ideas except for the first 15 minutes of each half and maybe a bit near the end of the second. David couldn't find a foothold in the game and Tajon and Larin were  both unimpressive.

5. Ref was a fraud.

7. Corners were horrendous it's not that hard to get past the first man.

6. The southend was great to be in and happy to have been able to watch the boys live for the first time since the US game.

The referee was actually pretty good. 

[king1010]

2 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Everyone got a result that they could live with tonight.   Except Canada.

Mexico got a win

Jam lost at the high atitude of azteca. mexico never loses at Azteca

USA got an away draw 

ES earned a home draw against a favoured side in the region

CRC got a away draw 

Panama.  Got a home draw against a more heralded side.  But next to canada, they are likely the next most dispointed ones.

Honduras got an away result 

And Canada? they needed to win this game.  

We needed to win is a bit of a stretch in game 1 of 14. The other results do a bit to soften the blow of the draw, but yes we should have won. Its not the end of the world but it is not ideal. A loss would have been the end of the world IMO. 

[sose]

we have too many McDoogles

[sebdeserio]

3 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

The referee was actually pretty good. 

Entertained their time wasting way too long, they should've had a couple more yellows and should've carded Quioto for his embarrassing (even for CONCACAF standards) theatrics on the edge of the box.

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 8/30/2021 at 5:02 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

Honduras is a badass team and has been for almost 40 years. They've screwed really top teams over the years and punch way above their weight. We are way below them, far below them in legacy and mentality.

There is no cakewalk here fans, and besides, when it comes to reffing we get taken and they know how to take. Anything but total quality play and full gamesmanship mode is just asking for an embarrassment. 

See? 

[Approve My Account Pls]

Thoughts from section 110: 

1. Atiba was definitely rusty, but he grew into the game

2. Not upset we tried the Davies/Buchanan experiment, but wtf was that switching sides fiasco

3. Kennedy needs to start

4. Borjan played great. Almost equally important, he single handedly got the crowd going on several occasions bringing us to our loudest points. 

5. Crowd was great, neutrals don't know the more difficult chants but more than willing to go along with the simple ones. The Bullshit chants to the ref were a notable favourite in 110.

6. There was an altercation or two between Honduras and Canadian fans that ended with security and police escorting a few people out. It happened a few rows behind me and I was too focused on the last few minutes to care too much. Anyone in attendance able to confirm what happened?

Also was interesting to hear the take of some family members who are newly exposed to the national team (including a grandpa who played as "pro" as you could in apartheid South Africa): Loved Johnston and Vitoria on D, loved Eustaquio in the middle, thought Atiba, Kamal, Buchanan, and Larin left a lot to be desired.