Where did I express any unhappiness? Where did I mention TFC? But, yes, I am thrilled that we scored 4....,,a little less thrilled that we conceded 2.
The result met expectations. If we can squeeze a draw against either Honduras or Costa Rica, or at least not get beaten badly in the next two games and it should be enough to go through to the knockout round.
I want to beat Honduras. They seem to always be in our way and I am sick of them. Costa Rica and Honduras was very entertaining.
Don't expect our match against Costa Rica to be very entertaining. I strongly expect we'll be playing for a draw or keep a loss to only one goal. And yes, let's take it to Honduras.
So round one is done, no real upsets in this round unless you count the Panama drawing with the US. Tonight will be important in both games. Our match we'll need to minimise damage from Costa Rica. We drew them in 2015, which is positive but I think that CR is better this time around than last time, and we had a strong defence to rely on. Let's also hope that Honduras dones't get too great a result against French Guiana. Watching the other two groups and the potential third placers, Martinique got a two point victory as well, while El Salvador took a two goal loss, but those were the easiest and most difficult games, respectively, for those two.
They did better than I thought they would. I'm holding judgement until after the Honduras game. I so want that to be a win...
But Costa Rica didn't need to win that game in 2015. That was the game where Floro took off Osorio when we needed offense. Things will be different in that they'll be the ones attacking us.
I'm looking forward to tonight's game for two reasons. First, I think we have the potential to pull as surprise here and steal a point or three. Second, when evaluating our chances of moving on in this tournament I've penciled this game in as a loss. So it's almost like a free game. If we lose it isn't unexpected. If we tie or win, it's a big bonus.
It's more a question of how sizeable a loss. A one goal loss would keep us in a good position to advance. A loss of two or more puts considerable pressure on our game against Honduras. I think a draw is a distinct possibility. A win is quite unlikely, but I wouldn't count it out.
Nil nil at half time in the Honduran match....but regardless of how it finishes, it should be recorded as a 3-nil forfeit win for Honduras as Malouda started for French Guiana
Seems fine....turned his ankle, was moving pretty well after the match. Heart sank a bit in the 63rd minute......there are more than a few refs in the world that would have red carded Hoillet for that challenge.....guess we were reverse CONCACAFed there. Was only able to see the second half tonight but it looked a right good professional performance.....CR likely looked ever so slightly the better in that half but it was only slightly and we looked far more composed in possession than Canadian teams typically do and going forward we looked a real threat.
I think that we can be happy not with only the result, but also the overall performance. We're pretty much guaranteed to make the knockout round. The goings on by FG shouldn't have any effect on us, assuming that a Honduras win was a foregone conclusion. There's no way that we and Honduras can be tied in points. It may affect the third place teams that get through if we either beat or draw Honduras in the third game.
Two rounds done and no team has more than 4 points. We're in the running with the best of them. A draw tonight will mathematically secure our way through for sure, though even with a small loss we're likely to make it. In fact, if all teams were merged into a single table, we'd be #1!
Not the result we wanted, but good enough to go through. Next up Jul-20 against the second place finisher in group C (probably Jamaica, but could be Mexico or El Salvador). Of note: this is the first time we've ever finished second in the current format (since 2005).
I thought we played fairly well. Adekugbe was my man of the match, DeJong was solid on the left and had some decent strikes at goal. I would like to play either of Jamaica or El Salvador - feel we match up well with either.
In terms of going deeper, it would have been better to not be on the Mexican side of the bracket. However, the quarterfinal matchup is arguably easier. Panama is better than us but we're on par with Jamaica and better than El Salvador.
We did beat them once in 2000 when we won the Gold Cup I think but yeah, we can beat El Salvador or Jamaica but we'll be stopped by Mexico
We'd be favoured against El Salvador, but not by a lot. Jamaica would be the favourites against us, but again, not by a lot.