Lozano is a sideshow at a La Liga team that just relegated to Liga 123. Majority of his goals for Girona have come from Copa Del Rey. His season prior with Tenerife was pretty strong, which earned him the move to Girona, but his lack of participation is showing. Rubilio finished as Saprissa's highest scorer with 7 goals this Clausura. RoRo had a very strong Apertura with Alajuelense, netting like 21-22 goals. He was breaking records in CR, but his Clausura form was pretty poor compared to his Apertura form. Quioto is a winger more than a striker, but he's currently not in form from all accounts with Houston. Elis is a winger more so than a striker, He's probably our most consistent forward, problem is he can't put the team on his back. Dude can't assist AND score.. he has to do one or the other to be effective.
Feyenoord was giving coaching clinics in Cuba: https://www.feyenoord.com/feyenoord-international/news/feyenoord-returning-to-cuba
Thanks that was very informative. I remember David Suazo was a beast in Serie A but he rarely scored for Honduras. I think we're seeing this phenomenon again, hopefully not for long but at least right now yes.
USA flexing some muscle yesterday. Exceeded my expectations for sure. Hope they keep building upon it and get better as the games go by.
Yes, they looked good in the 2nd half. The Pulisic/Boyd/McKennie trio is exciting. Still trying to temper my excitement, as T&T is as down as I can ever remember them, and I think they were really hurt by the Hyland injury. But, a definite improvement from the USA.
Martinique very competitive vs Mexico. I'd really wish Martinique (& Guadeloupe) would be recognized by FIFA. I think they might be able to draw more talent if that was the case, and CONCACAF would be better off with the added competition of another country who can rise up from time to time (and pretty consistent top 12 region ELO ratings as is).
Apparently, it's becoming very popular: (Ignore the misleading title) Anecdotal evidence: My cousin married a Cuban dude who has 3 grown sons. Over the past couple of years, he's brought all 3 over to the US. These kids are about 25, 22, and 16 years old. They were raised in three different households (each has a different mom) and ALL three play soccer and play it well. Not well for a Cuban, but well, period. And their dad doesn't know anything about soccer so it's not like they got it from him. According to the oldest one, he's not alone because tons of kids play it and it's growing like crazy. But like HomietheClown said, not being able to become professional the giant handicap.
Martinique and Guadeloupe are France as much as Hawaii and Alaska are USA. How could they ever be recognized by FIFA? A few players you may have heard of Tierra Henri, Anelka and Lacazette are just a few French players from there..
Wikipedia says Henry has a dad from Guadeloupe and a mom from Martinique, but he never lived in the Caribbean. Anelka's parents are both from Martinique. Lacazette's parents are both from Martinique. If Guadeloupe and Martinique were members of FIFA, those players could have played for them or France, but IMO there's a difference between being born in mainland France with parents from a territory and being born in a territory or country and having your family move when a player was young (sometimes as refugees), which you can find many examples of if you look at articles from FIFA.
This question and anecdotes about Gwada and Martinique always pops up during each Gold Cup. I file it under "Never gonna happen" alongside Suriname accepting dual nationals.
Most Similar would be that FIFA recognizes Gibraltar, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, etc. Perhaps I don't understand the legal distinctions making these different situations. Is it really that different than Guam, or the Faroe Islands, either? Not to mention the elephants in the room (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales).
I was thinking it was more like Puerto Rico vs Hawaii. Puerto Rico being a Territory and Hawaii being a state. Guadeloupe and Martinique are both departments of France (like a state) but New Caledonia is a territory of France. It looks like it is more complicated than that.
Looking this up - you're probably right. Of course, the whole UK thing opens up just about any possibility (the Dutch Carribbean islands don't seem to be consistent either) - I think it's really up to what the territory/state wants to push. I just thought it would be better for CONCACAF - not necessarily that Martinique would want to. Related but different topic - on the whole dual citizenship or choice of country to play for - I actually think the smaller countries might be better off if players could change every 4 years (declare change in months after world cup ends) vs being stuck with a 1 time decision.
Congrats to Paul Calixte and all the Haitian fans out there. Your team made history and avoids Mexico in the next round.
Congrats to Haiti, they've been around for a while trying to make a statement within concacaf. But I'm from Canada so I hope your storied run ends in the quarters.
The Haiti Costa Rica match was incredibly entertaining - looked like a great environment/game to be at in person. Congrats to Haiti. Sets up a couple of intriguing matchups in the quarters.
so happy for Curacao, the story of the tournament for sure. Not convinced Honduras isn't the best team in that group Jamaica were dissapointing and benefited from their home game against the toughest opponent El Salvador exposed as a very limited team who only knows how to play conservative and hope for a result. Their only goal this tournament courtesy of a bad mistake from a Curacao defender.
The real winner last night and main beneficiary of Honduras underachieving is USA. Against Honduras or El Salvador the opposing fans would have shown up in Philly or Nashville but Curacao????? IT is going to be all USA fans now with a couple of jamaicans sprinkled in from the first quarter-final match. Nashville will also be 99% USA fans no matter who they face in the Semi. I feel much more confidence for the USA making it to the Final now but of course, there's always a chance of an upset like in years past.
Gosh, only 7,000 attendance in Dallas this year? The same teams drew 19,000 in Costa Rica and 20,000 in Harrison. In 2017 the Dallas game had Costa Rica/Canada/Honduras/French Guiana and drew only 10K compared to 12K in Houston and 26K in Harrison. Why do they keep going back to Dallas - at least for games other than Mexico and the USA?
Hard to improve when your best players defect every 2-4 years. If you looked at everyone available for Cuba in the mid-2000s, if the political situation were different, they would've been a threat to reach a Hex or two.
Strange thing happened in the Gold Cup match between T&T and Guyana yesterday. With Sheldon Holder and Pernell Schultz subbed out for Guyana (having made their first starts), T&T finished the match with more Guyana-born players (Aubrey David) on the pitch than their opponents— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) June 27, 2019