Since the next two matches in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship will involve the Impact and Whitecaps directly before TFC faces them on their turf D), it was only fair that a separate match thread be created for them. This thread will encompass both matches on May 20 and 27, first in Vancouver and then in Montréal.
I hope they both lose 0-0, no positive GD and one measely point apiece. ******** Montreal and Vancouver and the mooses they rode in on.
NCC/CCL-related here--- Interesting little tidbit that just popped up on the Concacaf website today: http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.aspx?id=4748 I can understand Honduras, but how exactly does Panama get another spot before Canada does? (Or the Caribbean?)
33% percent of Canada's eligible teams already qualify. If we got another spot over half our teams would qualify, that doesn't seem fair.
so the game tommarow won't be on Sportsnet.... but the game on the 27th will.... according to Whitecaps website. doh. anybody hear anything different? I see Vancouver lost 2-1 @ home over the weekend and Montreal beat a USL expansion team 4-0 at home.
I thought it would be on USLlive.com , but it won't. It will, from what I could find, be on local Montreal radio on The Team 990 and at SRC's website (http://www.Radio-Canada.ca/sports/).
0-0 draw would be fine with me and follow that with another 0-0 draw. It would be the best result for Toronto FC in this compeition.
These defenses are far too porous for a 0-0 draw. It seems even more unlikely with Montreal's 4-0 win, which might give a little confidence up front.
it actually doesn't matter if the two games are 0-0 draws or 5-5 draws. If both games end up in a draw, TFC wins the championship before they even travel to their next game. Both Impact and Whitecaps would be 2 points from 3 games with one game remaining (against TFC). TFC could lose both and qualify with 6 points compared to 5 points from the other sides.
Hondouras got a third spot because another CA country Belize did not meet stadia standards. The Panama spot actually refers to their second spot not their third.
I hope they draw the first one...as it's unlikely they will draw the second one (as both teams will need to go for it in the second match). They understand that they need at minimum 4 points from these two matches (likely six). I'm wondering if Vancouver (or even possibly Montreal) would even settle for the draw in this one as they would know that it would be a huge disadvantage to finish these two matches with 4 points. This would leave you needing to beat TFC and needing a team that's out of the competition to at least draw TFC though it has nothing to play for. For Vancouver especially since they would then still need to beat Montreal away in their match. Almost assume both sides will go to three strikers at half/bring the keepers up on corners at 85 min.
Damn. The Impact almost equalize, but Nolly makes a huge save. Both teams get good early chances, but the 'Caps score on theirs.
@17': Goal Whitecaps. 2-0 Vancouver. BTW, there is a match tracker available for the match: http://www.montrealimpact.com/Tracker/Tracker.aspx?GameID=172&language=EN
@28': A drunken idiot runs out onto the pitch. Security quickly grabs him and hauls him to the slammer.
Montreal is playing full out offence now. Wow. Two crossbars on that play. One goal and they are back in it.
@38': A hard blast off of a free kick is stopped by either Nolly or hits the post. Either way, it's the same old song for the Impact tonight.