Post-concussion syndrome kept him out for a looooooooong time this year. I'm guessing that made some European clubs nervous about taking a chance on him.
In the end this is Canada's version of the 1990 World Cup for us. The first World Cup they made in a very long time when not expected to when they are also hosting in four years. While I sure they would have liked to have done better, just like everything for the US was always pointing towards 2026, so is everything for Canada. They just need to keep growing their player pool and will likely have a much more favorable draw next time around as a seeded team. And the groups themselves should be weaker overall (though we'll have a better sense once FIFA decides on a format).
That's like asking what the wifi service was like in the middle ages. This Canada group is nothing whatsoever like where the US was in 1986. The NASL had collapsed. There was no league. The team that tried to qualify for the 86 World Cup was indoor and NCAA players. They didn't actually do all that badly with all things considered. But after failing to qualify, the coach had this famous comment: “This is one of the most frustrating days of my life,” said Panagoulias. “The boys played their hearts out. I’m very frustrated, very frustrated. I’m very disappointed. ... We created so many chances. The team deserved to win ... God is not an American. I am convinced of it now.” I think there's a whole generation of fans who don't fully appreciate just how dark the dark ages of US soccer were. After they failed to qualify for the World Cup, the indoor clubs refused to release players to the USMNT in 1986. The USMNT thus played only two matches in 1986!!!! HOWEVER, one of the two games in 1986 ended up being legendary. They had talent and weren't total garbage. New coach Lothar Osiander called up an NCAA team (mostly) for the two friendlies. One of the biggest results in US history that nobody talks about. USMNT 1 Uruguay 1 in Miami. That was a great Uruguay team, although they were without Enzo Francescoli. [They were Copa America Champions in both 83 and 87. Great squad.] That result was a miracle. You can argue that was a "miracle on ice" kind of result based on the backgrounds of the players. Goal by future Hall of Famer Bruce Murray, who at that time was at Clemson. Those NCAA players ended up being the core of the team that qualified for the World Cup in 1990. But anyway, Canada now is NOTHING even remotely close to the USMNT in 1986. Apples and oranges. There was no Alphonso Davies on the USMNT in that era. Not even in the ballpark. By the way, the other game in 1986 was against Canada. A 0-0 draw. !!! So the USMNT went undefeated in 1986. By the way, only played 3 games in 1987. Our only win was 1-0 against..............Thailand. So we went two calendar years wit only one win. If people wonder why older fans don't get as wound up as them when we ONLY make the Round of 16 at the World Cup..................this is why. The foundation of our fandom was completely different.
Great association, following both teams. This is the crossroads that the US was at in 1990 and a big opportunity for Canadian soccer.
I think the board continues to be a little too tough on Canada. Rewatch the game against Belgium. The USMNT was nothing like that in 1990. We were totally overmatched at that level. Canada is not. I'd say the cross-roads Canada is at is like the one the USMNT was in 1998. How to mold a group that can qualify for a World Cup into one that can do damage and make the knockout rounds at the World Cup. The US subsequently did in 2002 by beating Portugal. Canada's next step is that kind of Portugal result. They weren't too far from it this time against Belgium. [Note: In 1994 we finished third in our group. We advanced due to a legendary own-goal by Colombia.]
The squad was actually good. It had won the 1985 CONCACAF Championship which was the former "hex". That year it was "final 3" due to Mexico hosting the tournament Canada came close to qualify for the 1982 World Cup by 1 point - the 80s was a good decade overall The 70s was all about Mexico and Haiti As for the 90s, we missed the Hex in 1990 due to away goals with Guatemala (3-3). We lost in the intercontinental playoffs to Australia in 1994 and made the 1998 Hex but did poorly. In a nutshell, it went downhill as of 2001 until around 2019 after winning the Gold Cup in 2000. 2000 Gold Cup
If there were FIFA rankings in the 80s..............Canada would definitely have been ahead of the USMNT for most of that decade. One can pinpoint the exact day when the USMNT really started to take the sport seriously. July 4th, 1989. The day they were awarded the 1994 World Cup. BY the time the first FIFA ranking came out in 1993, the USMNT was ranked #22s (end of year 1993). We're now #16. In 30 years we've managed to barely move. There have been ups and downs, but that's generally the case. This is the NEXT challenge for Canada now that they've joined us in this tier. Yes, the USMNT has improved and improved and improved since 1993. But so have all the teams above us. Argentina, France, Brazil, Spain, Germany, and friends aren't going anywhere. They're getting better too.
On the CPL side, one of the league best CB who was called once by Canada - Dominick Zator signs with Poland D1-side Korona Kielce. He could add depth at the position for Canada SigningDominick Zator completes his move to Korona Kielce #Canucks_Abroad #CanMNT https://t.co/59jC0HEd4x— Canucks Abroad (@Canucks_Abroad) December 14, 2022 Also, 18 years old Canadian International Tiago Coimbra signs with Halifax Wanderers from Brazil's Palmeiras. He was born in Brazil but represented Canada U20. 🌊✍ SIGNING: 'Canadá' is coming home 🍁The Halifax Wanderers have signed Canadian U-20 international forward Tiago Coimbra through the 2024 CPL season with a club option for 2025 🤝Details 🔽🔽🔽#TogetherFromAways #COYW— Halifax Wanderers FC (@HFXWanderersFC) December 14, 2022
The question I have is if Canada shows poorly in the Copa America in 2024 (assuming it happens), does Herdman lose his job?
That's a great question. I think he should be expected to show progress now. In reality, I think he is pretty untouchable given what he's accomplished.
Canada is far more talented than our '86 or '90 squad. But the rest of the comparison syncs. They had a tough group, but I really think a lot of the reason they didn't come away with any points rests on Herdman. I think that Belgium game really messed up his plans in a lot of ways -- coming out with 0 points BUT with perhaps an overrated sense of how good they were led to a massive mistake in gameplanning against Croatia. They tried to play them literally the worst way possible. After that, whatever, you were done. This doesn't mean he can't learn. It was just a very tough lesson.
I thought it was the players who coming out of the Belgium match had an inflated sense of how good they were. They were a bit over-ambitious and undisciplined in subsequent matches.
I'm not sure it was just the players. Herdman's tactics against Croatia didn't make the slightest bit of sense. Naive at best. People on this board act like Canada won that game against Belgium. No, they lost. They played well...........and lost. Moral victories don't count at the World Cup. Herdman's job SHOULD'T be safe if they underperform this year in the Nations League and Gold Cup. Cuz the expectation now isn't moral victories. The expectation should be actually making a final. Canada has won only 3 of their last 10 games. At some point you say.............hmmm: Is that meeting expectations now for Canada in 2022? Two of those wins were against Curacao and Qatar. Canada fans seem to be in "Thrilled to just be at the World Cup this time!" mode. I don't blame them! But now that it's over, its back to setting objectives and expectation for this upcoming cycle. And I'm not sure Herdman is up to the task of taking them to the "next level." Gotta beat Honduras in March in the Nations League (after losing to them on the road). Honduras is the most schizo team in CONCACAF right now.
They're definitely way more talented than we were in 86 or 90, but in a similar place in terms of their progression soccer wise. In many ways it's a credit to them that they don't have as far to go as we did after the 1990 World Cup. Herdman has done an incredible job there so far. But the question for me is whether he's the guy to take them on the next part of their journey. It's one skillset to take the team from what it was and get them to the World Cup. It's a different to take the team and get them to the place where they can make a run at a World Cup. Herdman may or may not be the guy for the latter. I think how Canada does at the Copa America in 2024 is good first test of that. If Canada does poorly at that tournament that might lineup with the availability of Ancelotti as well.
Another CB in Europe - Derek Cornelius signs with Malmo in Sweden Välkommen till Sveriges finaste förening, @d_cornelius13!— Malmö FF (@Malmo_FF) December 15, 2022
I would imagine yes. But lets be clear here. Canada's World Cup was this in terms of xG (which is what matters if you're trying to extract who performed and who didn't, not simply results): Belgium .94 Canada 2.55 Croatia 2.65 Canada .72 Canada 1.00 Morocco .62 That's their World Cup in terms of performance. This wasn't a US in 1998 (well, other than the Iran game) kind of World Cup, or hell even our Confed Cup Group Stage in '09 (where we got anninhilated until matchday 3). Canada played one terrible game, and 2 excellent games. They just didn't get the results to match their performances in their two quality games. They're a fine team, easily top 15-20 in this tourney in my view, they ended up in the group of death AND they didn't finish their chances (especially against Belgium), and Croatia beat the piss out of them. That's the story. They'll be back, Copa America will be very interesting though it's a shame its probably in the US in terms of competition.
That's we asked about Klinsmann. Everybody always said "hell no" and then we fired him anyway. Anyway, let's see how they do this summer. It's a moot point if they continue their progress. US fans have what psychologists would call "calamity thinking" on these boards. They spend forever expecting disasters and formulating "what ifs" on negative scenarios. This cycle none of the negative scenarios they've obsessed about actually happened. A total waste of emotional energy. Canadian fans thankfully don't have the same issue yet.
USSF has significantly more financial resources though than Canada Soccer. It’s a pretty stark difference. This is why they did the CSB deal and why they’ve had fights with the players over compensation. US Soccer also got a massive massive windfall from the 2016 Copa America, which very much helped cushion the financial blow of firing Klinsmann. As of their most recent financial statement, Canada soccer has total assets of 19 million Canadian dollars, and their total revenue for the year was 33 million Canadian dollars against 28 million Canadian dollars in expenses. By comparison US Soccer, over the same period, had total assets of 157 million dollars, total revenue of 60 million dollars and total expenses of 73 million dollars (though they made up almost all of their shortfall via return on investments of their assets).