Match Thread: FIFA U-17 World Cup: Group B - Matchday 1 - Canada v Spain - November 10, 2023 - 7am ET / 4am PT (7pm local time)

[El Hombre]

With Guiu coming off, who is this commentator going to gush over now?

[SoccMan]

Wow yes a man down but to stand their like pylons on a practise pitch not good on that goal wow .

[dyslexic nam]

Just now, El Hombre said:

With Guiu coming off, who is this commentator going to gush over now?

The commentator watching Spain:

[dyslexic nam]

Jesus.  A completely unchallenged header in the box from a corner that was just floated in.  Wake up boys.  

[Footyeh]

Feel for Abraham, has been a real bright spot.

[toontownman]

While he is not wrong...the commentator does know we are a player down when talking about free headers right?

[toontownman]

How is that not handball lol

[toontownman]

Canada Soccer in denial of the 2nd goal. 

Edited November 10, 2023 by toontownman

[Floortom]

Solid beatdown. Obviously the red card was ridiculous, but we had nothing for Spain either way. Hopefully we can be more competitive against Uzbekistan.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Given that red card, the result could have been far worse.

[El Hombre]

Could've been worse.

[dyslexic nam]

Well that was fun. 

[dyslexic nam]

Result wasn’t overly surprising but the red card ruined any chance of seeing what we could do against a better team.  Annoying.  

[Obinna]

Watched the last 30 or so minutes of this. Unfortunate we played down but looked like the boys gave their all in some difficult circumstances. Sounds like the Uzbeks lost to Mali by 3, so maybe we are primed to get a result in the next one, if not a win. 

[Stryker911]

1 minute ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Given that red card, the result could have been far worse.

If we had played the whole game with 11 and got this result, it would still be decent. Getting it with 10 men is very impressive.

With 4 of the 6 3rd place teams moving on goal difference is huge. With a win against Uzbekistan we are in a good spot entering the final game.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

If you told me at the start of the game that we would lose 2-0, I’d say that’s a pretty good result. 

To lose 2-0 while being a man down for over half the match is a great result. Some great showings too. Look forward to the next one

[Unnamed Trialist]

Didn't watch, will later. Spanish commentary I've read did recognize Biello tripped, they were not so sure. They also thought adding 9 was unnecessary. Seems most felt they needed to get 3 to draw Mali on GD, so the result falls short. Praise for Abraham and Tahid.

José Lana the Spanish coach worked in Calgary with Chinooks SC and Calgary West SC, just a few years ago. He was unknown in Spain and sent his resume into the federation, cold call, to get hired.

[CanadaFan123]

Losing 2-0 to Spain down a man for 30 minutes where the winning goal was scored by a Barcelona first team player. Nice to hear that Tahid impressed and also remembering he is a year younger, which is a huge difference at this age. 

[SoccMan]

Canada tactics get the ball dribble down the wing try to beat a few players and either lose the ball or ball goes out of play for a Spain throw in . I think it was at an U 20 World Cup  in 2003 where Canada not only got out of their group but lost a close and well played game to Spain 2-1 in the quarter finals , a game from all reports they could have won. When was the last time Canada even qualified for the U20 ? Well way back in 2007. Therefore , at the youth level Canada has actually done better when coaches were just volunteers , players were all coming from your basic youth soccer clubs back then . Now we have fancy academies , payed youth coaches , players playing in European academies and yet in terms of youth World Cups apart from a couple of qualifications at the U17 World Cups we haven’t qualified for an U 20 World Cup since 2007 and use to qualify more before . Moreover , and judging from this U17 team it doesn’t look promising we qualify for any U20’s anytime soon . Not questioning the effort of these kids while being a man down they gave it their all , but we need some better coaches at this level can’t keep constantly going with these same coaches this Olivieri guy looks like a lifer .

Edited November 10, 2023 by SoccMan

[SoccMan]

13 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Didn't watch, will later. Spanish commentary I've read did recognize Biello tripped, they were not so sure. They also thought adding 9 was unnecessary. Seems most felt they needed to get 3 to draw Mali on GD, so the result falls short. Praise for Abraham and Tahid.

José Lana the Spanish coach worked in Calgary with Chinooks SC and Calgary West SC, just a few years ago. He was unknown in Spain and sent his resume into the federation, cold call, to get hired.

Oh but we have Olivieri we are good no worries .

[Footyeh]

14 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Losing 2-0 to Spain down a man for 30 minutes where the winning goal was scored by a Barcelona first team player. Nice to hear that Tahid impressed and also remembering he is a year younger, which is a huge difference at this age. 

Spain also had 07’s and 08’s in the team I believe.  
 

Tahid was a bright spot for sure though 

[CanadaFan123]

6 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

Canada tactics get the ball dribble down the wing try to beat a few players and either lose the ball or ball goes out of play for a Spain throw in . I think it was at an U 20 World Cup  in 2003 where Canada not only got out of their group but lost a close and well played game to Spain 2-1 in the quarter finals , a game from all reports they could have won. When was the last time Canada even qualified for the U20 ? Well way back in 2007. Therefore , at the youth level Canada has actually done better when coaches were just volunteers , players were all coming from your basic youth soccer clubs back then . Now we have fancy academies , payed youth coaches , players playing in European academies and yet in terms of youth World Cups apart from a couple of qualifications at the U17 World Cups we haven’t qualified for an U 20 World Cup since 2007 and use to qualify more before . Moreover , and judging from this U17 team it doesn’t look promising we qualify for any U20’s anytime soon .

The issue is simple: 1) we don’t have as much preparation as we used to; and 2) our player identification and selection is lazy. Always looking to appease academies.

I predict the 2nd problem will disappear fairly quickly as we’re producing better quality than ever before the top players will be in the public eye. Doesn’t solve #1 though. 
 

 

[costarg]

30 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

The issue is simple: 1) we don’t have as much preparation as we used to; and 2) our player identification and selection is lazy. Always looking to appease academies.

I predict the 2nd problem will disappear fairly quickly as we’re producing better quality than ever before the top players will be in the public eye. Doesn’t solve #1 though. 
 

 

Preparation time is good, but still a crutch when the coaching is not quite at the ideal level.

[Soccerpro2]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

The issue is simple: 1) we don’t have as much preparation as we used to; and 2) our player identification and selection is lazy. Always looking to appease academies.

I predict the 2nd problem will disappear fairly quickly as we’re producing better quality than ever before the top players will be in the public eye. Doesn’t solve #1 though. 
 

 

Are our players better than ever before? I'm not really seeing what separates our current 16 or 17 year olds from our 16 or 17 year olds from 10 years ago. When our MLS academies got up and running they improved our u17 program, but has it evolved after that? I say no. And of course, our u20 and u23 programs sure dont reflect producing better quality (and some past u20 teams like Rob Gale had tooooooons of preparation camps and resources) We're never a serious contender to win a concacaf championship at any youth level.

And even if our players are better than before and thats an "if" that I dont agree with, hasnt every other country improved just as much if not more?

When we talk about improving as a soccer country there never seems to be an acknowledgement that other countries aren't standing still themselves.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[Jack1997]

Klukowiski should’ve scored on that insane run from Tahid, and if we had 11 men we would’ve been able to defend better. This game easliy could’ve been 1-1