Match Thread: World Cup Group F - Matchday 1 - Belgium v Canada - November 23, 2022 - 10pm local time / 2pm ET / 11am PT

[cornerkick]

I recall that Cup of Nations game.... it was a total farce.  The official reason given for all the drama is heat stroke.  I would hope that isin't an issue on Wednesday? 

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/afcon-referee-chaos-tunisia-mali-explaining-what-happened/1kc9bzefu2asb1qryjv4b56rbp

"

 

Head of officiating for CAF, Essam Abdel-Fatah, stated that the official, Janny Sikazwe, was suffering from heat stroke and dehydration during the closing stages of the match, causing the error to occur. Abdel-Fatah confirmed that Sikazwe was hospitalized after the match for his condition, receiving further treatment.

“The referee suffered from heat stroke and very severe dehydration, which led to him losing focus and was taken to the hospital,” Abdel-Fatah told MBC Egypt’s Al-Laib, and quoted by The Independent. “It caused him to lose time in the 80th minute, and he ended the match in the 85th minute. He returned after directions from the assistant staff and then returned to finish the match in the 89th minute.

“When the crisis occurred and the objections and control were lost in the match, the fourth referee was the one who was going to complete the match [instead of Sikazwe], but one of the two teams refused.”

Temperatures at the stadium in Limbe, Cameroon during the match on Wednesday reached 34 degrees Celsius, or 93 degrees Farenheit."

[cornerkick]

from a friend...

the silver lining to this ref assignment is he may stop the match once Canada is winning! 

[InglewoodJack]

If you wanted to fix a game, wouldn’t the refs be in the bag for Canada, and not Belgium anyways?

[Sal333]

6 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

If you wanted to fix a game, wouldn’t the refs be in the bag for Canada, and not Belgium anyways?

Why? Money is money no matter where it comes from.

[InglewoodJack]

23 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Why? Money is money no matter where it comes from.

If you wanted to throw a game, you win a lot more money by having the underdog win. Unless of course Belgium felt like spending a ton of money to ensure the victory against Canada, and based on the talent gaps between our teams, I'm not sure that would be money well spent.

[Neil R.]

I like that we're the late game on Wednesday and Sunday. It will be nice to know the Morocco/Croatia result before we play Belgium, and the Belgium/Morocco result before we play Croatia.

I think I'm hoping for a Morocco/Croatia draw on Wednesday. That way, if we're unable to get a result against Belgium, we'd still only be 1 point out of 2nd instead of being 3 points back of 2 teams.

[Mattd97]

with these stoppage time numbers im either going to be relieved cause we need one, or destroying furniture cause were up 1

[Alex]

Where is Nick Nolte when you need him!!!! Another 48 hrs. 

[TGAA_Star]

4 hours ago, Neil R. said:

I like that we're the late game on Wednesday and Sunday. It will be nice to know the Morocco/Croatia result before we play Belgium, and the Belgium/Morocco result before we play Croatia.

I think I'm hoping for a Morocco/Croatia draw on Wednesday. That way, if we're unable to get a result against Belgium, we'd still only be 1 point out of 2nd instead of being 3 points back of 2 teams.

Yeah but what if both games end in draws

[StretchArmstrong]

1 hour ago, TGAA_Star said:

Yeah but what if both games end in draws

I guess you could say nobody wins in that scenario...

[Neil R.]

1 hour ago, TGAA_Star said:

Yeah but what if both games end in draws

No problem with that here. If everyone was still level on points after we had played the highest-ranked opponent, I'd take that.

[BearcatSA]

Three man central midfield vs Belgium?

[cornerkick]

9 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

If you wanted to fix a game, wouldn’t the refs be in the bag for Canada, and not Belgium anyways?

or they could just be in the bag for doing certain things, like awarding x amount of yellow cards, showing a red, awarding a PK.  those options are more subtle than trying to fix the result, although bookmakers should be on alert if suspicious amounts are bet on card totals, red cards, etc. 

 

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[mpg_29]

 

[jhoops__]

Certainly sounds like we’ll be in a 3-4-3 to start the match…

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[SpursFlu]

I hope Herdman is shielding our guys from the media right now. Insecure Canadians falling for some serious confidence game coming out of the Belgium camp at the moment 

[TGAA_Star]

To think tomorrow afternoon is our first World Cup game in over 36 years. The world is going to be watching, billions of people all over the world. Spotlight is going to be on us, on a global stage. All eyes on Canada. Pressure is going to be on us but let's see which Canada squad shows up tomorrow to face Belgium.

[InglewoodJack]

7 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I hope Herdman is shielding our guys from the media right now. Insecure Canadians falling for some serious confidence game coming out of the Belgium camp at the moment 

Belgium is a fake country (France/Netherlands crossover) with a fake FIFA ranking (no world cup wins, no euro wins, a single "medal" at the world cup and haven't left euro group stage since 1980- #2 OA my ass) who deserve nothing and will ultimately get nothing. Win or lose, we as a country should never allow Belgium or Belgians to affect us in any way.

They are old, their stars don't care about minnows (de bruyne nations league comments), and the world will be a better place if it goes to bed tomorrow having witnessed the second biggest upset in this year's world cup.

We played a big part in liberating Belgium in 44, and we should play an equally big part at liberating them from going deep into this tournament.

 

for any belgians reading this- business is business. all of your people I have met have been very pleasant and you have a beautiful country, but for the next day, we are blood enemies.

[SpursFlu]

                      Borjan     

         Johnston Vitoria Miller

  Hoilett Atiba Eustaquio Adekugbe 

        David                    Davies 

                       Larin

[SpursFlu]

                      Borjan     

         Johnston Vitoria Miller

  Hoilett Atiba Eustaquio Adekugbe 

        David                    Davies 

                       Larin

[king1010]

20 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

                      Borjan     

         Johnston Vitoria Miller

  Hoilett Atiba Eustaquio Adekugbe 

        David                    Davies 

                       Larin

don't see how Buchanan doesn't start. Other than that looks good. 

Edited November 22, 2022 by king1010

[SpursFlu]

7 minutes ago, king1010 said:

don't see how Buchanan doesn't start. Other than that looks good. 

Over who though?

For me you have to see how the game plays out. If you need a goal and you'll be committing guys for ward later you bring him in and play Phonzie a bit further back

Edited November 22, 2022 by SpursFlu

[king1010]

Just now, SpursFlu said:

Over who though?

Larin. Obviously formation would need to change. 

Edited November 22, 2022 by king1010