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

[clamlinguine]

17 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Was anyone else's heart pounding during the game? Fortunately I'm in decent shape and in my 30s. If I was older I feel like I would have had a heart attack.

Yes. Waiting for the pk got me worried about my pounding heart....had to get up and walk away for a bit. Haven't had that for awhile.

[clamlinguine]

One big chance we had, maybe the best, has gone uncommented on. Hoilett missed Davies cruising alone through the middle and took an off-balanced shot instead. If he had picked up AD, that may have been the sitter we needed to beat that keeper.

[narduch]

24 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Was anyone else's heart pounding during the game? Fortunately I'm in decent shape and in my 30s. If I was older I feel like I would have had a heart attack.

I thought I was going to be sick.

I`m in my 40s and honestly and honestly thought a sporting event couldn`t do that to me in my cynical older years now.

[Craig11rm]

My favourite moment in the match was when Eustaquio nutmegged KDB and then put in a beautiful cross to Jonathan David. 

[Stryker911]

Also how did we end up with more fans in the stands of Qatar than we had on a nice late summer day in Toronto against Honduras?

[BearcatSA]

I'm used to getting CONCACAFed, but today we just simply got CAFed by the African officiating crew on that phantom offside call and the noncall/review on Buchanan.  

We were the better team but they put away their one chance after a defensive break down on a route one welly:  we switched off once and then we were down at the break.  Gutted for the guys, definitely, but in the cruel world of sport we lost the game with our missed golden opportunities in that first half.  

I thought their half time subs made a difference.  The Phantom of the Opera on the right and the big guy in central midfield gave them a little more bite and stability.  They needed to do something because we were owning them in that first 45.

I am hoping that Eustaquio came off for fitness reasons and not purely tactical.  He has to be a 90+ minute man for us in these close games if we are going to get results.

Finally, Fox hyped up the CR pregame vs Spain as that being the "Group of Death."  Bullshit.  We are in the toughest group, by far.  Any of these four teams are legit to go to the 16, and that's a fact, Jack!

[Fullback]

I just woke up from a nap after going pretty hard at the pub… I have to say we got fucked by things out of our control, plain and simple. I know we as Canadians don’t like to criticize refs as much but I’m sorry, absolutely brutal calls in a tournament where one game means so much.

Maybe we weren’t great at finishing but two more chances from the spot would have went a long way…

[RS]

18 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Also how did we end up with more fans in the stands of Qatar than we had on a nice late summer day in Toronto against Honduras?

No COVID restrictions today.

[SoCalTransport]

37 minutes ago, clamlinguine said:

Yes. Waiting for the pk got me worried about my pounding heart....had to get up and walk away for a bit. Haven't had that for awhile.

Yeah, I agree, it's been a while since I felt like that about a sporting event.

I really wanted Canada to get their first goal at a world cup, and it would been so nice if they exercised that demon early, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

[gwsmith63]

Amid all the excitement and euphoria of today, I hope I’m reading the table properly but a loss to Croatia officially eliminates us, right?  

Any result in the Belgium v Morocco game leaves one of them on at least four points along with Croatia (if they beat us). 

A win or tie against the Croats keeps things open for us into the Morocco game. 

Edited November 24, 2022 by gwsmith63

[PastPros]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/23/canada-belgium-world-cup-qatar-2022-soccer

[SpursFlu]

Another great performance were the Canadian supporters in the stadium. Well done folks 👏 

[Watchmen]

16 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

We were the better team but they put away their one chance after a defensive break down on a route one welly:  we switched off once and then we were down at the break.  Gutted for the guys, definitely, but in the cruel world of sport we lost the game with our missed golden opportunities in that first half.  

That's the difference between the best sides in the world and...CONCACAF.  The best sides finish their half-chances, the lesser teams (like most of the CONCACAF region) need multiple great chances to get one.

[Watchmen]

I could nitpick here (Davies shouldn't have taken the penalty, I thought Herdman made some of his subs too late, Adekugbe should have started ahead of Laryea etc), but that's all they'd be.  The boys played did the country proud.  Heard from one non-soccer friend today, with a simple "that was incredible" after he'd watched it with his class of school kids.

[narduch]

So when did astronaut Chris Hadfield join the CanMNT staff and what is his roll?

[BearcatSA]

5 minutes ago, narduch said:

So when did astronaut Chris Hadfield join the CanMNT staff and what is his roll?

What??

Edit:  oh, this

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.com/soccer/canada-can/story/4812109/canada-showed-they-belong-world-cup-despite-loss-belgium-herdman%3fplatform=amp

Edited November 24, 2022 by BearcatSA

[frmr]

38 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Also how did we end up with more fans in the stands of Qatar than we had on a nice late summer day in Toronto against Honduras?

Toronto.

[gwsmith63]

7 minutes ago, narduch said:

So when did astronaut Chris Hadfield join the CanMNT staff and what is his roll?

Seems just recently for pregame speech and egg or sausage. 

Edited November 24, 2022 by gwsmith63

[Kadenge]

2 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

it doesn't matter if Vertonghen got the ball, you can't go through the player with a studs-up stomp,

 

Yup, you see that called a lot in open play.  Someone mentioned that the whistle blew for the offside and before the stomp. Did that in fact happen?

[Jack1997]

As the day goes by, this lost hurts more and more.

[narduch]

11 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

What??

Edit:  oh, this

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.com/soccer/canada-can/story/4812109/canada-showed-they-belong-world-cup-despite-loss-belgium-herdman%3fplatform=amp

He was on the sidelines too.

 

 

[PegCityCam]

Fantastic from our boys. The only thing that keeps repeating over and over in my head is - why the fuck did anyone let Davies take that pen?! -

[A_Gagne]

14 minutes ago, narduch said:

So when did astronaut Chris Hadfield join the CanMNT staff and what is his roll?

Guest lecturer 😜

Herdman has had soldiers from the armed forces come and talk to the team before about what it means to them to represent Canada and to inspire the team, so why not a soldier-astronaut-Canadianfreakinghero. Seems appropriate to me.

[grigorio]

54 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Also how did we end up with more fans in the stands of Qatar than we had on a nice late summer day in Toronto against Honduras?

honestly! who are these ppl and where've they been?

[gwsmith63]

3 minutes ago, A_Gagne said:

Guest lecturer 😜

Herdman has had soldiers from the armed forces come and talk to the team before about what it means to them to represent Canada and to inspire the team, so why not a soldier-astronaut-Canadianfreakinghero. Seems appropriate to me.

I have no idea what he said to the team before the game but for the first 15 or 20 minutes the boys were flyin’.