I don’t understand. A year ago we looked so exciting at the conclusion of the Olympic qualifiers and beginning the WCQ Octagonal, and now today we’ve lost to Nicaragua. Like, why? What’s going on? I’m still wanting to oversee this 2026 vision.
I don't know seems like Nicaragua is improving. They lost recently 1-0 to both Iran and Ghana's A teams, and are top of their nation's league group.
I'm impressed how fast they play. They had a decent 1st half last night vs Guate, but eventually fell apart in the 2nd half. They're just missing a good #9.
Think this shows once again how BAD our guys are if they aren’t our usual 15/16 players. Everyone was abysmal that game. I managed to only see the first half, but man I’ve seen better players here in the LA leagues. they gotta take notes from our beach NT, who beat Colombia IN COLOMBIA 5-4 after being down 3-0. Play with guts & skills & brains.
I mean what notes is there to really take? A coach who is largely left alone because people know almost now one will want that job. A batch of players that have practiced together for a better part of a decade so the chemistry has been seeped in and the competition for those spots is almost nonexistent. The fact they can practice with little to no distraction or obstacle by clubs, media, etc. I personally hate the comparisons because Gallo has had his share of failures but it gets often ignored because qualifying out of CONCACAF comes down to beating either Mex or US pending on the bracket. The only blips where the years in that CR (2015) and Panama (2017) put together a run to qualify well in the case of CR it was more park every bus they had but regardless. Remember they hadn’t qualified to the past three WC prior to 2021 and even then it ended up being the worst outing they’ve had in a long time since they didn’t win a game.
Now the issue with our players yes they suck which is why Hugo asked for consistent practices with the NT to which the clubs bitched about so that put the kibosh on that. Now with Alianza looking to renew players we have been begging to get out the complacency is the second biggest proponent to our NT never advancing the first being lack of discipline.
The comparisons for me are valid just bc of the long term equivalent of what many successful teams do. Yes, the beach soccer job is not fought for or looked at bc of the nature of it. The team is always competitive though. We’re either at the top or fighting for the top. And it speaks volumes when our players get some exposure to go abroad a la Portillo going to some tourneys in Europe. we’ve reached these lows bc we’re stagnating everywhere. I will say though, Hugo does take some blame bc some of the players that start/get called up are very questionable.
I mean right now with the players who are fined and suspended he has to scrape the bottom of the barrel. His USL guys aren’t panning out which we all knew was a temporary band aid and I’m assuming he doesn’t want to turn to the U20 kids just yet but he just might have to. Somewhere in my head I believe he hoped bringing in all those USL players in such a short period would light a fire on the local guys and push to leave the country. Instead we got the opposite they whined and moaned about it and eventually the clubs and media joined in.
Looking back into the Nicaragua game, why would our inexperienced manager put Kevin Reyes in RB position having two RB on the bench. Also I think Amando Moreno can be more productive as a winger as he plays with his club. He is being put as a 10 which he is not. He is a forward. Mayer Gil played a better game than his brother, and Harold Osorio should be our 10
Not sure we can call Hugo Perez inexperienced anymore. He’s done very well for the senior and U-23 sides. The result against Nicaragua was bad though.
Unfortunately for as much as I hate them currently they are the only club that pays its players on time. For example news has come out this week that Chalatenango (who often sells its foreign players to the CR league) is open to selling its spot in the first division so it can pay off debts.
It would be nice if the federation had adjusted an put a plan in place for 2026, like a solid plan that brings in all aspects of the national team in place so that ES can qualify and be part of the extended CONCACAF representation in the 2026 WC.. 3 open slots after the hosting nations… honestly where to we stand if we dont count US, MEX, and Can?
That’s complicated. Honduras had an awful qualifying, but they have some up and coming players. Panama did well and also has some good youngsters, but they are not exporting too much. CR had a decent WC (barring that first game), but a lot of their younger players don’t seem to have the talent that this generation has. Nicaragua look like they’re doing well, and Guatemala actually has had a great run of form. it will be interesting to say the least. I only hope we can keep up and finally see ES there.
Honduras has a chance because we are actually exporting players to 1st Division both MLS and Europe. Costa Rica is going to fall off imo they are going to have a massive generation change and the next one doesn’t look as good as the last, Panama look solid and would put them at #1 in CA for now.
I would fight tbh and say Guate might deserve it for RIGHT NOW based on form and what the other teams have looked like prior. Obviously we haven’t seen the UNCAF yet but Guatemala look really good. PAN is doing everything right, and even creating a 10 mil (?) dollar facility for all their sports. They’re headed in the right direction so let’s see what happens.
Guate looks promising but unfortunately we have a history of choking. Hopefully with Tena and some of the dual nationals we have things might change.