CONCACAF Nations League 2022/2023 - General Thread - Group Stage

[Alex]

Shit yes, I was referring to Suriname the whole time as they were mentioned earlier on in the thread and didn’t realize the Hiddink article said Curaçao. My mistake.

[scooterlawrence5]

With Vancouver back in the FIFA 2026 discussion, the Curacao game and the friendly could be anywhere in Canada.  But I suspect both games will be in the same city, so whoever gets them will definitely have a bump.

[ted]

1 hour ago, scooterlawrence5 said:

With Vancouver back in the FIFA 2026 discussion, the Curacao game and the friendly could be anywhere in Canada.  But I suspect both games will be in the same city, so whoever gets them will definitely have a bump.

Curacao in Victoria, big friendly in Vancouver would work nicely.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Art Langeler is the new coach of Curaçao:

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Langeler

https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetbal/art-langeler-wordt-bondscoach-curacao-aangedragen-door-technisch-directeur-guus-hiddink~a0837202/

Guus Hiddink will remain as technical director.

--------------

Honduras don't seem to be close to finding a new coach:

https://futbolcentroamerica.com/amp/honduras/Seleccion-de-Honduras-Javier-Atala-revela-detalles-sobre-el-proximo-entrenador-20220422-0014.html

D.C. United player Andy Najar is out injured for 6 to 8 weeks.

He could recover in time for Nations League but it's doubtful.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Vasi]

There you go Vancouver.

Let's see how well this does in BC. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

21 minutes ago, Vasi said:

There you go Vancouver.

Let's see how well this does in BC. 

CONCACAF official:

https://mcusercontent.com/78d3589fb61466b549ff752e5/files/bec7630d-d15c-2284-d728-72bf06887e35/CNL_Schedule_V3.pdf

That is the original source.

Edit, and now the CSA official press release:

https://canadasoccer.com/news/canada-soccers-mens-national-team-returns-to-british-columbia-in-june-for-concacaf-nations-league-at-bc-place/

Edited May 9, 2022 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Approve My Account Pls]

As much as I want to be wrong, do we really think Nations League vs Curacao will sell out BC Place?

Canada Soccer should be very careful on how they price this one, because if it's anything similar to the last couple WCQ, they could be in for a rude awakening

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

12 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

As much as I want to be wrong, do we really think Nations League vs Curacao will sell out BC Place?

Canada Soccer should be very careful on how they price this one, because if it's anything similar to the last couple WCQ, they could be in for a rude awakening

It can easily sell out the lower bowl.

The price-point would need to be quite low to sell out the whole thing.

[Treppy2]

4 hours ago, Vasi said:

There you go Vancouver.

Let's see how well this does in BC. 

That’s a long time between the third and fourth matches!

[Vasi]

20 minutes ago, Treppy2 said:

That’s a long time between the third and fourth matches!

Hahahahahaha. 

[kacbru]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

It can easily sell out the lower bowl.

The price-point would need to be quite low to sell out the whole thing.

Agreed - and how cool is it that we are at the point where we can put the game in any major centre, regardless of the opponent and sell over 20k tickets.

No offence to Victoria, Halifax, etc. (and it really is unfortunate), but I think there is an increasingly narrow window for games in those places in 2023/24 before the WC26 hype train takes off again.

[SpecialK]

1 hour ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

As much as I want to be wrong, do we really think Nations League vs Curacao will sell out BC Place?

Canada Soccer should be very careful on how they price this one, because if it's anything similar to the last couple WCQ, they could be in for a rude awakening

I could be wrong but I think Concacaf sets the prices for nations league 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

2 hours ago, SpecialK said:

I could be wrong but I think Concacaf sets the prices for nations league 

Only the case for the final 4.

[dhawk11]

I'd love to see $20-25 seats for this Nations League game. I get trying to bank off the success of the national team, but if your really putting fans first, make the game affordable. At this point Canada has maybe 2 or 3 home games before the World Cup in November. 

Having cheaper tickets and more available capacity could cut down on the resale market as well. I'm looking forward to walking from my house to BC Place and see a pack stadium with fans from across Canada, rather then a quarter filled stadia because the CSA decides to price out fans with high prices and limited tickets. 

[Shway]

7 hours ago, dhawk11 said:

I'd love to see $20-25 seats for this Nations League game. I get trying to bank off the success of the national team, but if your really putting fans first, make the game affordable. At this point Canada has maybe 2 or 3 home games before the World Cup in November. 

Having cheaper tickets and more available capacity could cut down on the resale market as well. I'm looking forward to walking from my house to BC Place and see a pack stadium with fans from across Canada, rather then a quarter filled stadia because the CSA decides to price out fans with high prices and limited tickets. 

I think this is key. Yes we are all thinking....it's time Vancouver. It's time to show the rest of the country and the squad why BC place should be regularly considered. 

However on the flipside, the ticketing of this match is very a important contribution to that. And I'll defend my Vancouver brothers if we see tickets touching $50+ in the upper bowl for Curacao, resulting in half full stadium - I'll back them. But then there's my Montreal brothers who haven't had a game in a longer time, and I feel more confident in a sellout at Olympic stadium because of many factors. 

[Bison44]

I hope its not an extra 25 bucks for a ticket that keeps the Van fans away.  You've only had 3-4 games in the last 10 years, it should be a big crowd even at 50$.    

[Obinna]

While the opponent is not very sexy, I think the Davies factor could be the difference between just selling out the lower bowl and opening (and filling up) the upper bowl.

Remember, Davies was out during the last match held in Vancouver, so he's yet to play in front of the Whitecaps crowd in national team colors.

Coming off the back of qualification and a successful return to health, I think this game could get the "Edmonton" bump.

Edited May 10, 2022 by Obinna

[Watchmen]

I don't think it's Curacao that's the direct problem, it's WCQ vs Nations League. It they were playing Curacao during the WCQ octo, it would sell out. But Nations League isn't anything to the casual fan, and it's not a "big opponent". I think attendance will be fine, especially if Davies gets confirmed.

This is may be the first test in terms of how much we've progressed as a "soccer nation" that some people are concerned about.

Edited May 10, 2022 by Watchmen

[blueseeka]

The prices for the last couple WCQ games kept rising in Toronto. I think people will be surprised a little

[Kadenge]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

I don't think it's Curacao that's the direct problem, it's WCQ vs Nations League. It they were playing Curacao during the WCQ octo, it would sell out. But Nations League isn't anything to the casual fan, and it's not a "big opponent". I think attendance will be fine, especially if Davies gets confirmed.

This is maybe the first test in terms of how much we've progressed as a "soccer nation" that some people are concerned about.

I hear you but this is the first CMNT game in Vancouver after  many years....regardless of the opposition  and CNL, its and opportunity for fans casual or not to celebrate and cheer on a team that qualified 1st in Concacaf for Qatar. If the tables were reversed and BMO had a 50k stadium, I'm confident the game would sell out...pricing needs to reasonable. There must be  demand in BC after the Octo....probably a bit of pent up frustration???

[Watchmen]

6 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

I hear you but this is the first CMNT game in Vancouver after  many years....regardless of the opposition  and CNL, its and opportunity for fans casual or not to celebrate and cheer on a team that qualified 1st in Concacaf for Qatar. If the tables were reversed and BMO had a 50k stadium, I'm confident the game would sell out...pricing needs to reasonable. There must be  demand in BC after the Octo....probably a bit of pent up frustration???

I think the desire to get out and see the team will drive attendance higher than it would have pre-octo, but I do not believe this game would sell out anywhere in Canada with a 40k+ size stadium. The difference between WCQ and NL, in terms of hype and casual fan understanding is enormous. It is not a big team and it is not WCQ, so I would lower expectations. I'll hope for a lower bowl sellout but would not anticipate the upper bowl being open. I'd love to be wrong.

[BearcatSA]

If Davies and David are there, plus a few other A listers, then it will be a good house regardless of opponent.  But if these guys are off due to nagging injury concerns at the end of a very long club and (very emotional) NT season, then I'm not sure how it will look crowd-wise.  Definitely better than the Caps turnout, but by how much?

[Obinna]

18 hours ago, Watchmen said:

I think the desire to get out and see the team will drive attendance higher than it would have pre-octo, but I do not believe this game would sell out anywhere in Canada with a 40k+ size stadium. The difference between WCQ and NL, in terms of hype and casual fan understanding is enormous. It is not a big team and it is not WCQ, so I would lower expectations. I'll hope for a lower bowl sellout but would not anticipate the upper bowl being open. I'd love to be wrong.

Hype. That's a huge factor in this, if not the biggest.

If the game is plastered all over TSN, the normies will come out in full force. However, if it's treated as just another game the attendance could suffer. 

I know it's technically nations league, but the CSA should market this as part of a celebration tour, bundled with the Iran friendly and (hopefully) a friendly against Albania. Then, have TSN and Sportsnet pump it out to the masses as such. The hardcore fans can be concerned about the nuance with nations league vs friendlies, but the average sports fan just needs to be reminded that Canada is going to the World Cup and this is the celebration tour, so come out and congratulate the boys before they head to Qatar, might be the last chance to see them live before the big show....something like that.

[SpursFlu]

On 5/10/2022 at 6:15 AM, Shway said:

I think this is key. Yes we are all thinking....it's time Vancouver. It's time to show the rest of the country and the squad why BC place should be regularly considered. 

However on the flipside, the ticketing of this match is very a important contribution to that. And I'll defend my Vancouver brothers if we see tickets touching $50+ in the upper bowl for Curacao, resulting in half full stadium - I'll back them. But then there's my Montreal brothers who haven't had a game in a longer time, and I feel more confident in a sellout at Olympic stadium because of many factors. 

It really has nothing to do with us showing anything. It's just logistics. Vancouver is too far to comfortably arrange games on a consistent basis in these windows.  We could sell 200 000 tickets to a game vs US Virgin Island. I say it with peace and love, nobody is buying tickets to prove anything to anyone. It will be well attended because Vancouver always supports and if Phonzie is in it will be a giant crowd. It is what it is, people in BC know the score by now.

Edited May 11, 2022 by SpursFlu

[MtlMario]

On 5/9/2022 at 4:18 PM, Vasi said:

There you go Vancouver.

Let's see how well this does in BC. 

I do not know who proof reads these things (if anyone) but it's inexcusable. The March 25, 2022 game, they must have a time machine.