I prefer the Hex. We have a young team that needs to be challenged to improve. They are already good but they need to be put in harder situations where they are expected to grind a result when things aren't going your way. They lack experience, more so than talent.
What a difference getting to play similar quality teams makes. After having to play the likes of Jamaica and Dominican Republic in qualifying, Cayman Islands starts out it's Nations League campaign with two straight wins, including one over Barbados, who I suspect most neutrals would've considered the favourites to win the Group and promote to League B.
Eh...Barbados haven't done much of anything in a while, so I'm not surprised by them slipping up...as opposed to Nicaragua, for example. On a much, much more somber note: Curaçao's back-up keeper fell ill upon arriving in Haiti, went for treatment, decided to sleep it off...and passed away. RIP Update: the Honduran press reporting that it was a heart attack.
I was at that game. I was actually staying in the same hotel as the US team (by pure chance). It was an unexpectedly frigid night which ended in the most boring 0-0 game you will ever see. I was never happier to be back in a hotel in my life.
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Home team first, times are ET Monday results: Matchday 1 Thursday, September 5 (C) US Virgin Islands 0-2 Cayman Islands (B) Dominica 1-2 Suriname (C) Barbados 4-0 Saint Martin (A) Bermuda 1-4 Panama (B) Grenada 2-1 St. Kitts & Nevis (B) Fr. Guiana 3-0 Belize (B) Nicaragua 1-1 St. Vincent & the Grenadines (C) Guatemala 10-0 Anguilla Friday, September 6 (C) Bonaire 4-2 Br. Virgin Islands @ Curacao (A) Martinique 1-1 Trinidad & Tobago (B) Aruba 0-1 Guyana @ Curacao (B) Jamaica 6-0 Antigua & Barbuda Saturday, September 7 (B) Montserrat 2-1 Dominican Republic (C) Guadeloupe 5-1 Sint Maarten (A) Curacao 1-0 Haiti (A) Canada 6-0 Cuba (B) El Salvador 3-0 St. Lucia Matchday 2 Sunday, September 8 (C) Saint Martin 1-2 US Virgin Islands @ Anguilla (B) Belize 1-2 Grenada (B) St. Vincent & the Grenadines 1-0 Dominica (B) Suriname 6-0 Nicaragua 5:00 pm (B) St. Kitts & Nevis 2-2 Fr. Guiana (C) Cayman Islands 3-2 Barbados (A) Panama 0-2 Bermuda Monday, September 9 (B) Antigua & Barbuda 2-1 Aruba (C) Bahamas 2-1 Bonaire (B) Guyana 0-4 Jamaica (A) Trinidad & Tobago 2-2 Martinique Tuesday, September 10 (C) Puerto Rico v. Guatemala 2:00 pm (C) Turks & Caicos v. Guadeloupe 3:00 pm (B) Montserrat v. St. Lucia 4:00 pm (B) Dominican Republic v. El Salvador 6:00 pm (A) Haiti v. Curacao 6:00 pm (A) Cuba v. Canada @ Cayman Islands 7:15 pm
What the heck happened to T&T? They were at least half-decent 4 years ago, now can't beat the likes of Martinique and Guyana!
When Hooi scored the equalizer for Curaçao near halftime, the entire team went to the sideline and displayed Pieter's jersey - the crowd applauded them (as did I). Welp...Haiti's now a long-shot just to avoid relegation...we'll have to beat Costa Rica at least once and hope they take all 6 from Curaçao.
No, we had 82% possession and made 753 passes vs 112 passes for Cuba who played a 1-10 formation parking the bus We did that after getting a red Card and playing 10 v.11 No Cavallini, Hoillet, Arfield, Hutchinson, Piette. Osorio played only half the game and we experimented with the defense. Davies Goal Goal! Alphonso Davies opens the score! @CanadaSoccerEN 🇨🇦 leads 1-0 at 10' | #CNL #FollowTheDream pic.twitter.com/yFb5bNlrjc— Concacaf Nations League (@CNationsLeague) September 10, 2019
Yes and no. Cuba never threatened, even after going up a goal. But we had no offensive punch. Just empty possession. Other than Davies' goal in the 9th minute, I think we only had one decent attempt all game. Yes, Cuba putting 9 guys behind the ball at all times was partially responsible, but we looked entirely unable to break down their defense. It was quite clear tonight that Jonathan David shouldn't be played out wide any more, he looks entirely uncomfortable. I can't see a role for Sam Adekugbe on the team anymore. On Saturday, Kamal Miller appeared invisible, but after seeing Adekugbe's defensive lapses tonight, I realize that Miller being invisible was probably him completely erasing Cuba on his side of the field.
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Home team first, times are ET Tuesday results: Matchday 1 Thursday, September 5 (C) US Virgin Islands 0-2 Cayman Islands (B) Dominica 1-2 Suriname (C) Barbados 4-0 Saint Martin (A) Bermuda 1-4 Panama (B) Grenada 2-1 St. Kitts & Nevis (B) Fr. Guiana 3-0 Belize (B) Nicaragua 1-1 St. Vincent & the Grenadines (C) Guatemala 10-0 Anguilla Friday, September 6 (C) Bonaire 4-2 Br. Virgin Islands @ Curacao (A) Martinique 1-1 Trinidad & Tobago (B) Aruba 0-1 Guyana @ Curacao (B) Jamaica 6-0 Antigua & Barbuda Saturday, September 7 (B) Montserrat 2-1 Dominican Republic (C) Guadeloupe 5-1 Sint Maarten (A) Curacao 1-0 Haiti (A) Canada 6-0 Cuba (B) El Salvador 3-0 St. Lucia Matchday 2 Sunday, September 8 (C) Saint Martin 1-2 US Virgin Islands @ Anguilla (B) Belize 1-2 Grenada (B) St. Vincent & the Grenadines 1-0 Dominica (B) Suriname 6-0 Nicaragua 5:00 pm (B) St. Kitts & Nevis 2-2 Fr. Guiana (C) Cayman Islands 3-2 Barbados (A) Panama 0-2 Bermuda Monday, September 9 (B) Antigua & Barbuda 2-1 Aruba (C) Bahamas 2-1 Bonaire (B) Guyana 0-4 Jamaica (A) Trinidad & Tobago 2-2 Martinique Tuesday, September 10 (C) Puerto Rico 0-5 Guatemala (C) Turks & Caicos 0-3 Guadeloupe (B) Montserrat 1-1 St. Lucia (B) Dominican Republic 1-0 El Salvador (A) Haiti 1-1 Curacao (A) Cuba 0-1 Canada @ Cayman Islands
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Standings After Matchday 1: A League Group winners advance to 2020 CNL semifinals and 2021 Gold Cup 2nd place teams advance to 2021 Gold Cup 3rd place teams relegate to CNL B League and qualify for 2021 Gold Cup playoffs Group A 1. CAN 2 g.p. 6 pts +7 2. USA 0 g.p. 0 pts +0 3. CUB 2 g.p. 0 pts -7 Group B 1. PAN 2 g.p. 3 pts +1 2. BER 2 g.p. 3 pts -1 3. MEX 0 g.p. 0 pts +0 Group C 1. TRI 2 g.p. 2 pts +0 2. MTQ 2 g.p. 2 pts +0 3. HON 0 g.p. 0 pts +0 Group D 1. CUW 2 g.p. 4 pts +1 2. HAI 2 g.p. 1 pts -1 3. CRC 0 g.p. 0 pts +0 B League Group winners promote to League A and qualify for 2021 Gold Cup 2nd place teams qualify for 2021 Gold Cup playoffs 4th place team relegate to CNL C League Group A 1. GRN 2 g.p. 6 pts +3 2. GUF 2 g.p. 4 pts +3 3. SKN 2 g.p. 1 pts -1 4. BLZ 2 g.p. 0 pts -4 Group B 1. MSR 2 g.p. 4 pts +1 2. SLV 2 g.p. 3 pts +2 3. DOM 2 g.p. 3 pts +0 4. LCA 2 g.p. 1 pts -3 Group C 1. JAM 2 g.p. 6 pts +10 2. GUY 2 g.p. 3 pts -3 3. ATG 2 g.p. 3 pts -5 4. ARU 2 g.p. 0 pts -2 Group D 1. SUR 2 g.p. 6 pts +7 2. VIN 2 g.p. 4 pts +1 3. NCA 2 g.p. 1 pts -6 4. DMA 2 g.p. 0 pts -2 C League Group winners promote to CNL B League and qualify for 2021 Gold Cup playoffs Group A 1. BRB 2 g.p. 3 pts +3 2. CAY 2 g.p. 6 pts +3 3. VIR 2 g.p. 3 pts -1 4. SMN 2 g.p. 0 pts -5 Group B 1. BAH 1 g.p. 3 pts +1 2. BOE 2 g.p. 3 pts +1 3. VGB 1 g.p. 0 pts -2 Group C 1. GUA 2 g.p. 6 pts +15 2. PUR 1 g.p. 0 pts -5 3. AIA 1 g.p. 0 pts -10 Group D 1. GLP 2 g.p. 6 pts +7 2. TCA 1 g.p. 0 pts -3 3. SMA 1 g.p. 0 pts -4
I'm fine with that. Concacaf gets accused of making the Gold Cup bracket so if USA and Mexico win their groups they can't meet until the Final. By ranking the group winners, USA and Mexico could meet in the Semifinals. I don't know if this is the reason Concacaf used, but a good reason not to have extra time in the Semifinals is that when teams play a few days apart they won't have to play 120 twice. If one team won a Semifinal in 120 and lost the Final to a team that won a Semifinal in 90, fans of the losing Finalist might blame being tired from the Semifinals for why they lost the Final. Now that can't happen. Honduras is fifth and El Salvador is sixth. Canada, Panama, Curacao, and other lower teams only need to pass one of Honduras and El Salvador. @newtex To be more specific, rather than just stating who qualifies for the Gold Cup playoffs, can you state that League B and C teams go to Gold Cup Playoff Round 1 and League A teams go to Gold Cup Playoff Round 2?
Love to hear everyone's impressions after the first set of matches for the new competition. My take: I think the Nations League is a big plus for CONCACAF - these seem to turn out better than I expected. Some good matches, and I think this will really help some nations advance their programs. I do wish that FIFA assigned more points to the matches - if it weren't for the fact these are also counting as confederation qualifiers this time, they wouldn't be worth much more than friendlies. I'd like to see the Nations League always count that high (maybe they will always count as Gold Cup qualifiers?).
Dang... I forgot theres no points at play against Martinique. Makes the Chile win that much more crucial.
I also find NL a big plus for the confederation and its other members besides those top 10 or so teams. A rare good decision by a bunch of morons that lead the confederation.