CONCACAF U20 qualifying (for the cycle ending in 2025) + preparation & news

[Borjans Sweatpants]

1 hour ago, phresh said:

Crawford and Coimbra are too old, it's '05 and younger

18 minutes ago, Xavier. said:

Crawford and Coimbra are too old. 2005 and younger

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

The draw for this is today:

https://www.concacaf.com/under-20s-men/article/2024-concacaf-men-s-under-20-qualifiers-draw-set-for-october-11/

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

We get maybe the toughest Pot 2 team! 😬

Our group will be:

Canada

Trinidad and Tobago

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Dominica

 

Likely hosted in one of those countries or in the Dominicam Republic (as a neutral venue)

Can Canada U20 beat T&T U20 in Trinidad?

We may find out!

Edited October 11, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Ivan]

Well, if we can't beat T & T with the players we have, we don't deserve to qualify.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

We get maybe the toughest Pot 2 team! 😬

Our group will be:

Canada

Trinidad and Tobago

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Dominica

 

Likely hosted in one of those countries or in the Dominicam Republic (as a neutral venue)

Can Canada U20 beat T&T U20 in Trinidad?

We may find out!

Bring on the competition. We should be striving to not have to play in these qualifier rounds for the tournament itself, and to do that we need to be successful against youth programs we should be beating. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

....likely hosted in one of those countries or in the Dominicam Republic (as a neutral venue)

Can Canada U20 beat T&T U20 in Trinidad?

We may find out!

CONCACAF confirms the match schedule and that Trinidad will host.

https://www.concacaf.com/under-20s-men/article/draw-reveals-groups-for-2024-concacaf-u-20-qualifiers/

We will need to beat Trinidad and Tobago on their home soil (or get a draw against them but better results against the other teams)

Friday, February 23rd: Canada vs Dominica

Sunday, February 25th: Canada vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Tuesday, February 27th: Trinidad and Tobago vs Canada

----

For those of you that like to go south ✈️🏝 ☀️ for a week in the winter, there are direct return flights for under $710 for those dates from Toronto.

Mardi Gras is February 13th so the carnival period will be over.

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

3 hours ago, Ivan said:

Well, if we can't beat T & T with the players we have, we don't deserve to qualify.

2 hours ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Bring on the competition. 

We have lost to worse teams at that level in recent years, like St. Kitts and Nevis

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_CONCACAF_U-20_Championship

 

[Borjans Sweatpants]

11 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

We have lost to worse teams at that level in recent years, like St. Kitts and Nevis

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_CONCACAF_U-20_Championship

 

Right, I'm just saying I dont see a benefit to wanting a weak group. Our youth teams need to progress to be able to beat these other countries in the way. 

[Footyeh]

Who do we call up?  This 2005 age group is relatively non existent.  No more than a few actually playing club football;

Kane (Forge), Cameron (Van FC), Olguin & Pearlman (TFC II), Mihail (VWFC II), who else?

Some abroad like Swiderski (Bordeaux) and Costa (Wolfsburg), but no one really that's a key player in their club or excelling at that current level.  Will LDF play at this level?  

[VinceA]

15 minutes ago, Footyeh said:

Who do we call up?  This 2005 age group is relatively non existent.  No more than a few actually playing club football;

Kane (Forge), Cameron (Van FC), Olguin & Pearlman (TFC II), Mihail (VWFC II), who else?

Some abroad like Swiderski (Bordeaux) and Costa (Wolfsburg), but no one really that's a key player in their club or excelling at that current level.  Will LDF play at this level?  

LDF would probably captain this team if he was released. A number of 2006s would also be on this team, so Stefanovic, and if he's playing regularly in 2024, Kevaughn Tavernier. You'd also probably include someone like TJ Tahid.

You also have Lennon Thompson with Vancouver but he was loaned to L1BC. If he gets minutes in 2024 for VFC he's another shout.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

24 minutes ago, Footyeh said:

Who do we call up?  This 2005 age group is relatively non existent.  No more than a few actually playing club football;

Kane (Forge), Cameron (Van FC), Olguin & Pearlman (TFC II), Mihail (VWFC II), who else?

Some abroad like Swiderski (Bordeaux) and Costa (Wolfsburg), but no one really that's a key player in their club or excelling at that current level.  Will LDF play at this level?  

I’ll lean on Xavier’s prospect rankings and share the relevant ones:

 

[Borjans Sweatpants]

Fine, twist my arm. Here’s a hypothetical ideal starting 11:

————————Swiderski————————

Gheras-De Foug-Stefanovic-Pearlman-De Mont

————-Costa-Biello-De Guzman

——————-Diallo-Tahid

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by Borjans Sweatpants

[toontownman]

I dig it. I think Cameron looked great though. Could definitely see a double VFC act getting starting minutes with Tahid.

If everyone is released and onboard we should have a great CB pool. Likewise Costa, Bunbury, De Guzman and Diallo could all be huge. 

More than likely half the names we would like won't make it! 

[phresh]

2 hours ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Fine, twist my arm. Here’s a hypothetical ideal starting 11:

————————Swiderski————————

Gheras-De Foug-Stefanovic-Pearlman-De Mont

————-Costa-Biello-De Guzman

——————-Diallo-Tahid

 

Gherasimencov usually plays on the left, I think Cameron will play in that spot. De Guzman doesn't play at a high enough age group to warrant a spot, also don't know whether he'd want to participate in a cap-tying tournament. I could see the kid Olguin starting

[phresh]

1 hour ago, toontownman said:

If everyone is released and onboard we should have a great CB pool. Likewise Costa, Bunbury, De Guzman and Diallo could all be huge. 

Personally, I don't see the hype. Is Costa even a regular for Wolfsburg's u19 team? De Guzman is playing u17 ball, I doubt he'll get called up. Diallo too isn't a starter for his u19 yeam. Bunbury is a solid Next Pro player, but that is not a high level at all. In order to field competitive u20 teams, we need more players playing first team football. It's possible that our 2022 roster will have had more pro experience , and they got bounced in the round of 16 after an utterly unimpressive group stage. Will say the backline looks good though

[gigi riva]

10 hours ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Bring on the competition. We should be striving to not have to play in these qualifier rounds for the tournament itself, and to do that we need to be successful against youth programs we should be beating. 

amen

[toontownman]

1 hour ago, phresh said:

Personally, I don't see the hype. Is Costa even a regular for Wolfsburg's u19 team? De Guzman is playing u17 ball, I doubt he'll get called up. Diallo too isn't a starter for his u19 yeam. Bunbury is a solid Next Pro player, but that is not a high level at all. In order to field competitive u20 teams, we need more players playing first team football. It's possible that our 2022 roster will have had more pro experience , and they got bounced in the round of 16 after an utterly unimpressive group stage. Will say the backline looks good though

All true but how many is that currently? I fear it's unfortunately only an ideal world scenario.

[VinceA]

14 hours ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Fine, twist my arm. Here’s a hypothetical ideal starting 11:

————————Swiderski————————

Gheras-De Foug-Stefanovic-Pearlman-De Mont

————-Costa-Biello-De Guzman

——————-Diallo-Tahid

 

If we play that midfield three that has no pro experience it's gonna be bad. Khadim Kane should be in the XI 100%.

[VinceA]

11 hours ago, phresh said:

Gherasimencov usually plays on the left, I think Cameron will play in that spot. De Guzman doesn't play at a high enough age group to warrant a spot, also don't know whether he'd want to participate in a cap-tying tournament. I could see the kid Olguin starting

Do we know if Gherasimencov would accept a call-up?

[solsous]

12 hours ago, phresh said:

Personally, I don't see the hype. Is Costa even a regular for Wolfsburg's u19 team? De Guzman is playing u17 ball, I doubt he'll get called up. Diallo too isn't a starter for his u19 yeam. Bunbury is a solid Next Pro player, but that is not a high level at all. In order to field competitive u20 teams, we need more players playing first team football. It's possible that our 2022 roster will have had more pro experience , and they got bounced in the round of 16 after an utterly unimpressive group stage. Will say the backline looks good though

Bunbury may not be playing at a highly competitive level, but he is playing under a coach that expects his players to be highly technical with the ball at their feet.  Additionally, he moved him from winger to striker.  Based on what I am seeing, it bodes well for his development.

[InglewoodJack]

13 hours ago, phresh said:

Personally, I don't see the hype. Is Costa even a regular for Wolfsburg's u19 team? De Guzman is playing u17 ball, I doubt he'll get called up. Diallo too isn't a starter for his u19 yeam. Bunbury is a solid Next Pro player, but that is not a high level at all. In order to field competitive u20 teams, we need more players playing first team football. It's possible that our 2022 roster will have had more pro experience , and they got bounced in the round of 16 after an utterly unimpressive group stage. Will say the backline looks good though

Just looked up his stats, and unless transfermarkt is wrong, Costa has the weirdest run of form lately. In the last 7 games, he has one goal and 3 assists... in 54 total minutes played. Boy's got the Matias Tel statline.

What about Marsel Bibishkov with Juventus? He posted a photo of Canada soccer boots a few months back, I assume someone at the federation sent them. He's an '07 so among the youngest, and I think he's only playing U17 with Juventus, but judging by our pool, he could probably play a big part on this team.

[phresh]

2 hours ago, VinceA said:

Do we know if Gherasimencov would accept a call-up?

No clue. @Olympique_de_Marseille mentioned that Moldova's u19 team has Euro qualifers in November, his participation would cap-tie him

[phresh]

36 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

What about Marsel Bibishkov with Juventus? He posted a photo of Canada soccer boots a few months back, I assume someone at the federation sent them. He's an '07 so among the youngest, and I think he's only playing U17 with Juventus, but judging by our pool, he could probably play a big part on this team.

Playing in the Juve academy is certainly noteworthy, but like with De Guzman you don't want guys who play u17 ball to participate in a u20 tourney. I realize some of these players will have taken leaps by February, but I doubt Bibishkov will play a big role, if he's selected at all

[Acid-Tone]

9 hours ago, solsous said:

Bunbury may not be playing at a highly competitive level, but he is playing under a coach that expects his players to be highly technical with the ball at their feet.  Additionally, he moved him from winger to striker.  Based on what I am seeing, it bodes well for his development.

And not to mention that last year he was getting playing time on a solid USL Championship team. I watched most of his appearances and he didn't look out of place. (He showed he was still a raw 17 yr old at times, but that's obviously to be expected)

We always complain about young guys not getting enough playing time in their late teens/early career to help in their development, and then when it seems a young player might have actually done that (moved to a lower league, in order to get more playing time) we have some folks that wanna ding him for "not playing at a high enough level"   *shrug*

 

[phresh]

1 hour ago, Acid-Tone said:

We always complain about young guys not getting enough playing time in their late teens/early career to help in their development, and then when it seems a young player might have actually done that (moved to a lower league, in order to get more playing time) we have some folks that wanna ding him for "not playing at a high enough level"   *shrug*

 

I did not ding him at all, nor did I make a comment about his development or potential. I simply stated that Next Pro is not a high enough level to help the boys compete for medals at the international level. That obviously doesn’t mean that all Next Pro players will be unimpactful at this level, but the general point remains