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

[Ally McCoist]

I feel so depressed I don't even feel like consuming any CanMNT content. This was our game man. Gutted.  

A win on Sunday or a tie on Sunday + Belgium win against Morocco puts us in a good position.  

If we win, the result is in our hands.

If we tie, the result is in our hands + hoping Belgium tie/beat Croatia on the final match day.

If we lose, we pack our bags.

[phil03]

My fear is that this will be the equivalent of the game against France against 86, as good as it gets from a team that would be mostly remembered internationally for giving a good fight to a powerhouse but then fell down in the next game. A fun what if and nothing else

We need to score against Croatia and we need to do it early to break through that mental barrier. If we can win against them (I know, I know, but I watched the highlights of Croatia-Morocco and neither were impressive) we would have our faith in our hands last game no matter what. And lets hope that Belgium has ''Ok, we didn't deserve it, we were lucky, so lets get our chit together to capitalize on it!'' moment because Canada's best interest at this point is for Belgium to slaughter the other two...

Edited November 24, 2022 by phil03

[reggietfc]

1 hour 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?

dude,gutted about the loss,and you talk about fans at a game from last summer ,go watch yellowstone

[Jack1997]

12 minutes ago, phil03 said:

My fear is that this will be the equivalent of the game against France against 86, as good as it gets from a team that would be mostly remembered internationally for giving a good fight to a powerhouse but then fell down in the next game. A fun what if and nothing else

We need to score against Croatia and we need to do it early to break through that mental barrier. If we can win against them (I know, I know, but I watched the highlights of Croatia-Morocco and neither were impressive) we would have our faith in our hands last game no matter what. And lets hope that Belgium has ''Ok, we didn't deserve it, we were lucky, so lets get our chit together to capitalize on it!'' moment because Canada's best interest at this point is for Belgium to slaughter the other two...

Look I didn’t even exist yet and don’t know much about that game but I’m pretty sure Canada didn’t miss a pen and have 2.6Xg compared to 0.7

[phil03]

4 minutes ago, Jack1997 said:

Look I didn’t even exist yet and don’t know much about that game but I’m pretty sure Canada didn’t miss a pen and have 2.6Xg compared to 0.7

Fair, but the result of the game was the same and Canada was similarly in the attack in the early game.

[lamptern]

I feel gutted AND exhausted after the game. Mental input really drained me fast. Almost like the moment when I leave a dentist’s chair: empty in stomach and pain in head. I need pills tonight. Hopefully the only thing I need would be a bottle of champagne on Sunday.

[lamptern]

8 minutes ago, phil03 said:

Fair, but the result of the game was the same and Canada was similarly in the attack in the early game.

As for scoring chances, very similar: A header on the post in 1986, first half vs France. A PK denied in 2022, first half vs Belgium.

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

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.

Is anybody saying this after Richie's performance? I said it before the game, but sure as shit won't be saying it now.

[Watchmen]

Just now, SthMelbRed said:

Is anybody saying this after Richie's performance? I said it before the game, but sure as shit won't be saying it now.

I mean, I'm still saying it now.  But as I said, that's also me nitpicking. 

[SthMelbRed]

1 minute ago, Watchmen said:

I mean, I'm still saying it now.  But as I said, that's also me nitpicking. 

You're wrong. Herdman made the call, and it turned out to be the right one. Richie was fantastic.

[Watchmen]

3 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

You're wrong. Herdman made the call, and it turned out to be the right one. Richie was fantastic.

Well, they didn't win or draw.  Maybe Adekugbe makes the play Richie can't.  Again, this is nitpicking.

[SoCalTransport]

2 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

You're wrong. Herdman made the call, and it turned out to be the right one. Richie was fantastic.

I thought Richie played a good game, the issue I find with him, and I've seen it in multiple games now.

I find he goes for the foul, even though he is on a dangerous run.

I wanted to throw my remote at the television multiple times watching him.

[reggietfc]

some of these takes tonight.richie put a ball a plater for tajon ,stopped a sure goal should of had a pk call,we need to be more clinical and some luck around the box.

[Kadenge]

What was KDB thinking when Staq nutmegged him?.......  "now why can't my moustache ever look as good as that?"

[jonovision]

Richie was MOTM for me. I don't know what some of you are on about.

[jonovision]

4 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

What was KDB thinking when Staq nutmegged him?.......  "now why can't my moustache ever look as good as that?"

KDB is still shaken up after hearing that Mark-Anthony Kaye said he "wasn't very fast". Truth hurts.

[Kadenge]

KDB, Belgium players & mgr give full praise to Canada. This from the #2 ranked team. Unlike the USA after their loss in Hamilton.

[The Ref]

3 hours ago, RS said:

Did @SpecialK hack your account?

Don't believe so.

[Cheeta]

Couple of thoughts.

Didn't really feel like our day did it?  Mostly went well, but just seemed a bit off.  Especially as the legs started to go.

I get why Herdman is cool with deferring to the field for penalty takers but to my mind that's just juvenile.  Nothing needs to be written in stone but begin by assigning responsibility.  Real time, battlefield decisions can be made but you need a "something" to deviate from if circumstances require it.  "Whoever" is not a starting point.  Madness.

Davies needs structure.  I don't want to cramp anyones style, or under utilise talent but he feels he needs to do too much too often and that has implications across the field.  Sometimes to the detriment of the player and, more importantly, sometimes to the detriment of the team.

There, I said it.

Now that I got the negatives off my chest.   Wow.   Where to begin?

I though the back three plus Laryea had a hell of a match.  Stacks and Hutch too.  Tajon, David, everyone really.  But the whole right outside, back three & cover, gents, I applaude you. 

Courtois is a boggy man.  Damn him.  

Belgians did really, really well to minimalize any outside threat all match long and came away with 3 points because of that.  Damn them.  But I think they're going to get crisper as the tourney moves along so glad we played them out of the gate, arse result notwithstanding.

Don't know how things were at your watch party but at The King's Head it was absolutely bouncing.  We got some face time in with a few of the lads at the ALCOHOL FREE stadium in Qatar and otherwise shared the moment.  Sunday AM is going to be grand.    

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

[SoCalTransport]

I don't know about anyone else, but today kind of felt surreal. It almost felt like a dream.

Then the way they dictated the game like they were playing a CONCACAF team was amazing. 

Hopefully they can bounce back from this and I would love to see them play Belgium later in the tournament, and get this one back.

[rdb9ty]

47 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Well, they didn't win or draw.  Maybe Adekugbe makes the play Richie can't.  Again, this is nitpicking.

Of all the players to choose from to nitpick, this is a strange choice. Richie was one of our best players on the pitch.

[SoCalTransport]

Did anyone see Vincent Kompany on the UK feed of the match?

He had no respect for Canada, he thought this game was going to be like Spain-Costa Rica.

Even the other analysts were saying it's the high pressure which were causing the turnovers, but he wouldn't give Canada any credit.

[jonovision]

3 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

Did anyone see Vincent Kompany on the UK feed of the match?

He had no respect for Canada, he thought this game was going to be like Spain-Costa Rica.

Even the other analysts were saying it's the high pressure which were causing the turnovers, but he wouldn't give Canada any credit.

Belgium were poor and there did seem to be a lot of unforced errors. That said, if he isn't giving Canada any credit he's delusional.

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, lamptern said:

As for scoring chances, very similar: A header on the post in 1986, first half vs France. A PK denied in 2022, first half vs Belgium.

It was a header off the Seiko sign 6 feet to the left of the post. Jeff Gowan was calling the game off a tv monitor for the first 65 minutes or so because there was a technical problem at the stadium and couldn't see properly. He said it hit the post, but re-watch the highlights and notice how unconcerned Joel Bats was on the play.

While the result was the same, there was honestly not much comparison in the performance between this and our opener in 1986

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Gian-Luca

[Gian-Luca]

7 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

Did anyone see Vincent Kompany on the UK feed of the match?

He had no respect for Canada, he thought this game was going to be like Spain-Costa Rica.

Even the other analysts were saying it's the high pressure which were causing the turnovers, but he wouldn't give Canada any credit.

Good thing a guy like Kompany would never be partisan on the part of Belgium or anything...

Actually I was disappointed that we didn't get the usual British/FIFA feed, I would liked to have heard that instead of the usual MLS guys for TSN