Overall, we beat Canada 4-3. Over two legs, they had 14 shots on goal to our 12, we had 8 corner kicks to their 7, and possession was 50/50. The Swiss beat us much more convincingly.
This team needs to find a groove. I don’t think we will have a semblance of a team identity until we get into WCQ. For that reason, I’m a bit worried about our qualification. We have the most skilled team we ever had, but we have no idea yet how they will react to adversity. Will they forge into steel or become brittle and break? Also, it would have been a good reason to have prioritized the Gold Cup because that would have helped this team learn who they are. But Berhalter ball decided to favor the shorter time together for his main guys.
No. Its because American fans continue to disrespect Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and Jamaica. I don't know where this hubris comes from. Certainly not based on results. There's a reason Canada are ranked 7th in CONCACAF. Its because Canada DOES NOT beat those teams in games that matter. So they will not finish "easily" as the 3rd best team in the region. For the last decade its been talk, talk, talk, talk, talk about Canada. And yet they always choke like dogs. Like clockwork. They've been to one semifinal at the Gold Cup since 2000. The last 5 Gold Cups have been a mess for Canada. Getting knocked out by Caribbean teams like Martinique and Haiti. They've literally finished bottom of 4-team groups twice during this stretch. Failing to win ANY games. Anyway, post made me sound anti-Canada. I hope they do great. They have good players, but so do these other teams. I mean............Leon Bailey of Jamaica scored 15 goals in the Bundesliga this season. He's 23. Do I take him over Jonathan David? Yes actually, I do. He scored more goals this year in a better league than Jonathan David did.
Jamaica looks good. But on paper, Costa Rica and Honduras look bad. I know they punch above their weight, they do great at home, and they have been an Achilles heel to our youth teams. But at the same time, it’s not like Bryan Acosta or Randall Leal would be close to a USMNT call up. Is it hubris? Maybe. I get not just dismissing them. But losing to Costa Rica or Honduras is on the same level as England or France losing to us. And I’d say that Canada look like Switzerland or Denmark of European competition.
My prediction for the Ocho: 1. USA 2. Mexico 3. Canada 4. Jamaica 5. Honduras 6. Costa Rica 7. Curaçao / Guatemala 8. Montserrat / St. Kitts and Nevis (Looks like El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago could both be knocked out)
So Canada has only lost two of their last 46 games in a row like Denmark ? (both defeats against Belgium)
So Denmark is as good as England or France (and Belgium)? Or are you saying that Denmark is right below that line of the top teams in Europe?
Lets see, Denmark beat England 1-0 on the road and tied them 0-0 at home to finish in second place behind Belgium but ahead of England in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, France they have tied 0-0 and Germany 1-1 at home and 1-1 away in the games I mentioned.. Here is the present Elo and FIFA rankings : https://www.eloratings.net/UEFA https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/#UEFA
There's a New World Order in soccer and many have not noticed. These days Denmark and Switzerland may be scarier than Germany and Italy.
Well, I'm not saying that Denmark are winning most of the games against the top nation, just that they are not losing to any of them, except to Belgium. But the teams close below Denmark in the ranking like Wales, Sweden, Poland and last but not least Austria (4-0 away win in the WC-22 qualifiers), Denmark have no trouble beating.
Like I was saying, they’re in that tier where they’ll be dangerous against anyone they play against; but no one should think they’re the favorite to win.
When a country have only lost to Belgium in their last 46 games in a row, they are most surely also not the favorite to lose
I like your confidence. We’ll see. I believe Denmark will be a hard team but I don’t see them making it even to the semifinals.
I think we saw last night why: A) the Olympic result doesn't mean anything. B) the Olympic result wasn't a reflection of what's going to happen in WCQing. The "best" Olympics roster would have been............... ------------Sargent------------ Pulisic------------------Reyna -----McKennie-Musah------ ------------Adams------------ Robinson-McKenzie-Richards-Dest -------------Garcia----------------- And by the way, the bench would have been stacked. Aaronson, Weah, Dike, Cannon, de la Torre, etc. etc. We sent a "C" U23 team to the Olympic qualifying because we had to. And we beat Costa Rica's "A" U23 team..............lost one goal games to Mexico and Honduras. And people acted like it was a sign of the apocalypse. No actually, it was a measure of the depth in the USMNT program that we could dip so far down our pool and still have talent.
literally no one is saying we dont want the point since we wanted all three, and yall are confusing hubris with expecting to be at least a little bit better than we were 40 years ago with a bunch of semi pros and college kids.
Yes, but it doesn't matter. Back to the original point of this thread. The Olympic team wasn't a harbinger of the WCQers...........................because how many players involved in the Olympic qualifiers were on the field against El Salvador? Zero. Just two completely different player pools and coaching staffs.