Come on already Canada

I think Morado was talking of both games between Honduras and Canada, meaning that he thinks they would draw in both games with eachother.

 

if honduras and canada draw both games, then it is up to honduras and canada to get more points than the other does against mexico & jamaica, of which canada already has 1.

 

yes

 

Alothi> welcome to the brotherhood/sisterhood. This how it always is.

In 1988 with Mexico not eligible, a new league producing talent, my young naive mind felt that we were going to Italy for sure. Then a few months after beating Peru 3-1 on the road we went out against Guatemala on away goals. It's been a series of crushing disappointments ever since.

We may ultimately not be good enough, but we tend to do enough to make you think it's possible before we choke once again.

As someone wrote on the Vees board "put the calculators down and believe!" What else can you do?

cheers,
hobbes

 

as I've said before, the runner up in the group will likely finish with less than 9 points. will honduras beat jamaica at home? really not certain! will canada beat jamaica in jamaica? possibly, but a draw seems more likely.

the group should be decided by the honduras/canada series. two draws and it's up for grabs!

 

Didn't Fulham just beat Arsenal? So why exactly can't a very skilled Canadian team defeat Jamaica in Jamaica? Did you watch the Canada-Jamaica match? It was one-way traffic. Jamaica defended and only have a brilliant GK performance to save them from a pretty crushing defeat.

BUT YES, Canada MUST get 4 points off Honduras - after the last semi-final group in which Canada got 2 draws against Honduras and were totally ROBBED by absolutely SHOCKING officiating, I have no reason to believe we can't again. Our squad is much improved over that group 4 years ago....yes, I know Honduras is in something of a golden age too.

Honduras can't take too much pride from a 1-2 loss at Azteca. Mexico will not dominate this group (in scorelines - even if they do dominate in points) as they had groups in the past. Especially with Sven at the helm....they'll be much too overconfident. Canadians are expecting we get a point against Mexico in Edmonton.

 

Honduras is a dangerous team. Suazo might be the best player in CONCACAF. Carlos Pavon, Julio Cesar de Leon, Amado Guevara and Carlos Costly are all skilled and dangerous. I fear for Canada.

 

I think Honduras is massively over-confident. Why, I am not sure. After Canada's very impressive GC (remembering only a very poor referee decision kept them from the final) and having drawn Hondy twice in the last WCQ, same stage, with an inferior squad to what they have now....Honduras is the team I fear for. That being said. The most either team will get from these two games is 4 points. I'd not bet on who that would be unless I was a rich man with money to spare!!!

Canada also has the most intelligent midfielder in Concacaf....including Mexican ones.

 

If you guys cannot beat a Jamaican B squad at home what makes you think you are gonna beat our A squad at the Office in the hotass sun.

 

Jamaica's a pretty dangerous team. They drew Canada and they didn't have their two premiership strikers on the field: Ricardo Fuller of Stoke (who had a wonder-goal against Villa this past weekend) and Marlon King of Hull. Why weren't they there? I know in ~2006 King was banned from the Jamaican squad for 2 years for some sort of breach of discipline. But he's been back in the squad in 2008.

Jamaica will score goals, and rarely lose in Kingston. In fact I see Jamaica finishing 3rd in the group.

 

I have news for you. That is your "A" squad. The guys who were left in England etc, are not being called into the team - unless Simoes was lying through his teeth....which I do not doubt is possible.

Read the Reggae Boyz chat boards....they are convinced (and very upset) that certain players aren't coming to join the squad.

Also, Simoes was extremely fortunate (again, GREAT goaltending) to get away from Canada with a point. If he had lost with a "B" squad and then called that same squad and lost again in the second game, he'd have been fired I'm sure.

 

The pressure's now entirely on Canada to get that home win against Honduras on the 6th. If they win that match, then they've put themselves in a good position with 4 points after 2 games (probably'd be 2nd in the group). A point would be acceptable, but then there's a lot of pressure to get away points. As we know in CONCACAF WCQ those are hard to come by. If you were betting your house you'd put money on Canada to lose all 3 games after that: Away to Honduras and Mexico. Home to Mexco. That winnable game at the end of the semi AT Jamaica will be meaningless if they lose to Honduras next week. In my opinion anyway. Honduras is one of those Jeckyll and Hyde teams. In the Gold Cup they beat Mexico and then lost to Guadeloupe. So obviously, they can be beaten. Moral of the story? If Canada lose their home match against Honduras on the 6th.............they're done. Why? Because Honduras will have 3 points without playing a home game yet.

 

The only way we're playing your "A" team (one with players from across the pond) that day is IF you're not already mathematically eliminated. With your next 3 games at home to Mexico, @Hon and @Mex that's a big IF.

I'm confident the boys will bounce back strong, we've typically played well against Honduras.

^ Clint, what makes you think we're going to lose in Honduras? They're typically weaker at home when they're under pressure from their home fans. We should have beaten them on the road 4 years ago, having the run of play for 75 minutes and then letting back in at the end.

 

Yeah, if Canada get 1 point from the Honduras match they've really put themselves in a bit of a bind as well. They'll have 2 points after 2 home games. Honduras will have 0 points, but after two AWAY games. Honduras' next 3 games are their easiest ones (in theory). Home and away to Jamaica, and home to Canada. Canada's middle 3 games are their hardest games: Home and away to mexico and at Honduras. You could easily see the last week not meaning anything in the group. That's IIIIIIIIIF Canada don't get the home win against Honduras. If they beat Honduras on the 6th, then game on. Then it could come down to the last weekend.

(I'm making the grand assumption that Mexico's going to have a good campaign picking up points. Any team that picks points off of Mexico is really helping their cause. That could actually make the difference in a tight race between the other 3 teams.)

 

Canada is only finished if we lose against Honduras on the 6th, I agree. A draw and anything can still happen as we'd remain in second with Honduras on 1 pt, and Jamaica on 1 pt as they'll lose to Mexico.

Yes, road pts are very difficult - just look at how hard U.S. had to work against Guatemala!

Do not be surprised to see Canada come into your countries and steal a point or more, and possess the ball for long periods.

Now, if only myself as a youth coach and others could develop goal scorers!

 

absolutely agree with you friend, Clint Eastwood!

 

I just think this is a different Honduras team.

The US has also won IN Honduras in a WCQ (2001) so it can be done.

This Honduras team just looks really strong to me when they're playing their best. As I said, though, they were beaten by Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup when they had to have a win. So that tells you they're a little mentally fragile. But talent-wise they're awfully strong, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And they just won the CONCACAF U-23's. This is a team on the rise for sure. Personally, I think they'll not only make it thru the semi but have a really good chance of finishing on top of the hex. (Keep in mind Mexico hasn't finished with the most points in either of the last two hexes.)

I don't have anything against this Canadian team, in fact I'd pick them in either of the other two groups. And if they beat Honduras on the 6th, they'll have an opportunity to advance from this "group of death." Otherwise, start planning for 2014.

 

The other thing Canada has going for them this go around is massive fan support. with an 80-20 Can-Jam ratio in Toronto of all cities, you can expect something similar OR MORE against Honduras in Montreal. The fans are very excited, and this will only continue.

 

I'm sorry but possesion is Mexico's bread and butter and there is not one team in the region that is better than us at it.

Canada is going to be tough but I'd rate Honduras above Canada and also believe that Mexico will get at least a point when they play in Canada.

 

This is actually Canada's real weakness. Their goalkeeping and defense is acceptable (although not exactly world-class), their midfield is one of the best in CONCACAF, but they have a complete lack of international quality forwards. Rob Friend is a good forward as a starter for them. But against Jamaica they brought on Ali Gerba in the 2nd half. This is a League 1 player in England for MK Dons. That's simply not going to get it done over the long haul in CONCACAF. They've got some midfielders that can play in the forward position like DeRosario, but I personally think he's more valuable as a midfielder. In fact you could say Canada's chance of advancement hinges on how healthy their starting XI can stay over the course of the semi. Because there's quite a drop off from guys like Friend and de Guzman to guys like Kevin Harmse, Martin Nash, Tam Nsaliwa, Antonio Ribeiro, Tyler Rosenlund, Rhian Dodds, Olivier Occean, Ante Jazić, Chris Pozniak, etc.

I know you can say that about a lot of teams, but I think it's especially true in Canada's case.

 

And you think Simoes is going to say "yea Canada this our A squad".

I don't need to read it I'm the one that posted it.

We were only gonna have our "A" squad together for three days so it was not worth it to bring them to play you guys in Canada. Simoes knows what he is doing, our pool of talented players are much larger than '98. We'll just go with the role of underdogs like we did in '98. Lets see how it plays out.

 

yes mexico will out-possess Canada. I was more referring to Jamaica and Honduras....especially in Canada.

 

I hope that on my 28th birthday (the 6th of September) the CMNT can be generous enough to give me a nice present - three points against Honduras!

Not sure how much I'm asking for, though - coming from Ireland, I'm not as used to CONCACAF qualifiers as I would have been to the UEFA ones I used to care about following.