There is a lot to like in this roster. This is a solid team with a good mixture of experience and youth. It's also good to know that there are a number of additional players who could step in without the team dropping off very much and that there are a whole bunch of young guys coming up behind them. I'm looking for something very lopsided against Aruba and 4-0 or better against Suriname.
The CSA has now announced the extra players who will train with the team at this camp but not be on the roster: https://canpl.ca/article/canada-soccer-announces-11-additional-players-to-train-with-canmnt It is eleven mostly younger guys who all play in MLS. Many already have small numbers of national team caps so they are on the edges of the program. I assume the reason they're all from MLS is that they are in form and close by for travel. Interestingly, both Luke Singh and Ayo Akinola are on this list. Neither is capped yet by anyone but both have played for the youth teams of other countries (T and T for Singh and the US for Akinola). They are both in the up-and-coming-potential category, so it would be great if we could get them to play for Canada, but a WCQ is not the time to play guys just to cap them. Glad to see them both get this invite, though.
Luke Singh is currently committed to Canada's pre-game camp and T and T's game squad. So he's going to practice with us but then, if he steps on the field, receive his first cap for another country? That's odd both ways. If he goes, he'll be the second player in recent times (after Ryan Telfer) who could have played for Canada but instead went to T and T.
Here are tomorrow's start times in USA Eastern, all of which can be watched at https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/concacaf-qualifiers-road-to-qatar/ if you pay: Turks and Caicos vs. Haiti at 3:00 P.M. Bahamas vs. Trinidad and Tobago at 5:00 P.M. British Virgin Islands vs. Curacao at 5:00 P.M. U.S. Virgin Islands vs. El Salvador at 7:00 P.M. Anguilla vs. Panama at 8:00 P.M. Aruba vs. Canada at 8:00 P.M.
A 7-0 win. We brought our A team but didn't start our A line up and still pummeled Aruba. There is no glory in it but it was a necessary job successfully completed. Tonight a Suriname team that will look nothing like its 136 FIFA ranking would suggest. We should still win and playing a stronger opponent will be good for us. Anyone else still have that old-school NT feeling where in the back of your mind it is difficult not to wonder if we will somehow mess this up?
AmericanPyramidBlog @APyramid_Blog 4h Big CONCACAF WC Qualifying games coming up. Curacao v Guatemala for 1st place. Cuba in a must win vs St Vincent. St Kitts can go anywhere from 5 to 7 pts up with a game against TnT. Puerto Rico can take second with a win over Guyana. Then Suriname v Canada with 1st on the line.
The memories of 8-1 in Honduras and against Haiti at the 2019 Gold Cup QF come up whenever a decently winnable game comes up. Today is one of these games.
https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/haps-debut-emblematic-of-suriname-s-progress is titled "Haps debut emblematic of Suriname's progress." It starts by saying "Ridgeciano Haps grew up playing street football in Amsterdam." He played in Ajax's academy, 77 games for AZ, and scored 5 goals in 71 games for Feyenoord, which is his current club. Haiti vs. Nicaragua starts at 5:00 P.M. Eastern, so you will know who play if you advance before you start. @Polygong Can you take "format announced" out of the title?
Haiti just beat Nicaragua 1-0 and win Group E. Haiti will host the first leg in the home-and-away series.
Canada needs to win tonight and march to Haiti and win there. I've been here since 86... i'm here tonight. Go Canada.
Tough break for Guatemala, eliminated because they only beat Cuba 1-0 while Curacao beat Cuba 2-1 Next round: Haiti v Canada Panama v Curacao St. Kitts and Nevis v El Salvador
Your first leg will be Saturday at 5:00 P.M. Eastern, and your second leg will be in Bridgeview on Tuesday at 9:05 P.M. with the same stadium and time as last night.
Great to see us come through with the solid win and I was actually happy to see that Suriname gave us some challenges. Suriname could easily have scored two and the better teams we'll face going forward will bury those chances. For once it was Canada with the better finishing. Separately, as they develop, can Onesoccer please find a better play by play guy? I don't mind a bit of pro-Canada bias from our broadcaster but he's supposed to be commentating the game, not watching as a fan. Bring on Haiti!
Upcoming schedule: https://www.concacaf.com/en/world-cup-qualifying-men/schedule-results-world-cup-qualifying-men/
I get tired of Wheeler's Constant yelling and screaming when Canada do something good. He needs to be more professional.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/art...-men-excited-world-cup-qualifying-test-haiti/ is titled "Herdman: Canadian men excited for World Cup qualifying test in Haiti." The game starts at 5:00 P.M. Eastern, which is in about six hours.
https://www.concacaf.com/world-cup-...iar-foes-haiti-and-canada-set-to-duel-in-wcq/ is titled "Familiar foes Haiti and Canada set to duel in WCQ." https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/nccamerica/matches/match/400154934/#match-lineups is FIFA's page for today's game.
Watching the game in french on Youtube. The field is so "CONCACAF" Field has so many pellets in the pitch it looks like black snow when the ball is rolling.
https://www.concacaf.com/world-cup-...out-to-lock-things-down-against-hungry-haiti/ is titled "Canada out to lock things down against hungry Haiti."
It was scoreless at halftime, but Haiti scored an own goal in the 46th, Larin scored in the 74th, and Hoilett scored in the 89th to win 3-0 and win the aggregate 4-0. The announcer said the final whistle of you reaching the Octagonal was something Canada was waiting for for over 20 years. It was on December 15, 1996 that the Semifinals ended with you in first, and you clinched a spot in the Hexagonal on October 27, 1996.
Here is your Octagonal schedule according to Wikipedia. It goes by month with the dates to be determined: September: Honduras (H), USA (A), El Salvador (H) October: Mexico (A), Jamaica (A), Panama (H) November: Costa Rica (H), Mexico (H) January: Honduras (A), USA (H), El Salvador (A) March: Costa Rica (A), Jamaica (H), Panama (A) The Hexagonal had a rotation where you played opponents on Matchdays 1 and 6, 2 and 7, 3 and 8, 4 and 9, or 5 and 10. The Octagonal will not have a rotation. If you host games and allow fans, where do you want to host Costa Rica and Mexico in November?