[Official] Canada's Men National Football Team (Soccer)

[StanleyCupOneDay]

On 4/1/2022 at 2:00 PM, Jaimito said:

I'm not much of a soccer fan in general, so I really don't know how Canada will match up.   The seeding is determined today for most teams, so that schedule is set.

 

According to the media I have watched, they said internationally Canada haven't played Croatia. But Canada have played Belgium and Morroco in the past, and have lost every match.  Last one was 4-0 loss vs Morroco, not sure how many yrs ago though. 

 

I think the best way to think is that this is alll new Canadian team, and historic records don't matter since they were so poor in the previous decades.   So it's possible Canada can beat them, but World Cup is huge stage (bigger than Olympic soccer) and you don't know how the current group will perform until they get there.  My expectations is that they can compete, and at least score a goal and not get shutout 3 times like in 1986.  Can they win a match or two, and make it to next round?  I hope so. But that's the appeal of this to me. You don't know how good they are, especially if they are completely healthy in Nov (their best player Alfonso Davies hasn't been playing this last window, and they lost two games). 

Close, but not quite, they did get a draw one time against Morocco for an all time 0-2-1 record vs them. I agree with all the rest of your post though. For myself I’m hoping for a goal and a win. Trying to keep my expectations in check. It’s such a huge accomplishment just to qualify and we should celebrate the end result for Canada regardless of if we score or win.

[UnkNuk]

Okay, so our group with rankings is:

 

Belgium  #2  

 

Croatia #16  

 

Morocco #24 

 

and, of course

 

Canada #38  

 

So, on the face of it, according to the rankings, Canada is a clear underdog in this group.  But the thing is, Mexico is ranked #9 and the US is ranked #15.  And we handled  both of them.   So either Mexico and the US are considerably overrated or Canada (in its current form) is considerably underrated.  I like to think it's the latter.  If so, we've got a legitimate shot at getting out of this group.

 

 

 

[Alflives]

12 minutes ago, UnkNuk said:

Okay, so our group with rankings is:

 

Belgium  #2  

 

Croatia #16  

 

Morocco #24 

 

and, of course

 

Canada #38  

 

So, on the face of it, according to the rankings, Canada is a clear underdog in this group.  But the thing is, Mexico is ranked #9 and the US is ranked #15.  And we handled  both of them.   So either Mexico and the US are considerably overrated or Canada (in its current form) is considerably underrated.  I like to think it's the latter.  If so, we've got a legitimate shot at getting out of this group.

 

 

 

Belgium is ranked 2nd!  That tells us right there these pot rankings are soccer stupid.  We should get at least second in this pot or it’s a fail.  

[Down by the River]

13 hours ago, UnkNuk said:

Okay, so our group with rankings is:

 

Belgium  #2  

 

Croatia #16  

 

Morocco #24 

 

and, of course

 

Canada #38  

 

So, on the face of it, according to the rankings, Canada is a clear underdog in this group.  But the thing is, Mexico is ranked #9 and the US is ranked #15.  And we handled  both of them.   So either Mexico and the US are considerably overrated or Canada (in its current form) is considerably underrated.  I like to think it's the latter.  If so, we've got a legitimate shot at getting out of this group.

 

 

 

The pots are quite heavily based on historical performance and not just the last 10-20 games. 

 

That said, I think reasonable expectations for Canada are to score a goal and draw a game. Anything in excess of that is a bonus for me. Canada is unlikely to shock the world in the Fall. The real victory will be in giving kids around Canada the belief in soccer as an alternative to hockey. Youth soccer is still overpriced, but it is cheap in comparison to hockey in Canada, which has basically become a sport for rich kids. 

[Bruce Boudreau]

6 hours ago, Down by the River said:

The pots are quite heavily based on historical performance and not just the last 10-20 games. 

 

That said, I think reasonable expectations for Canada are to score a goal and draw a game. Anything in excess of that is a bonus for me. Canada is unlikely to shock the world in the Fall. The real victory will be in giving kids around Canada the belief in soccer as an alternative to hockey. Youth soccer is still overpriced, but it is cheap in comparison to hockey in Canada, which has basically become a sport for rich kids. 

Yeah Canada needs to focus on sports the entire world actually gives a $&!# about. Let's put that money into soccer and basketball.

 

Hockey will always be there...

[Bruce Boudreau]

On 4/1/2022 at 2:00 PM, Jaimito said:

I'm not much of a soccer fan in general, so I really don't know how Canada will match up.   The seeding is determined today for most teams, so that schedule is set.

 

According to the media I have watched, they said internationally Canada haven't played Croatia. But Canada have played Belgium and Morroco in the past, and have lost every match.  Last one was 4-0 loss vs Morroco, not sure how many yrs ago though. 

 

I think the best way to think is that this is alll new Canadian team, and historic records don't matter since they were so poor in the previous decades.   So it's possible Canada can beat them, but World Cup is huge stage (bigger than Olympic soccer) and you don't know how the current group will perform until they get there.  My expectations is that they can compete, and at least score a goal and not get shutout 3 times like in 1986.  Can they win a match or two, and make it to next round?  I hope so. But that's the appeal of this to me. You don't know how good they are, especially if they are completely healthy in Nov (their best player Alfonso Davies hasn't been playing this last window, and they lost two games). 

Without Davies in form and healthy Canada's only hope is to draw.

 

Davies is their talisman. He is like Neymar was to Brazil without him they lose that special quality that is critical against big time opponents and clutch situations.

[Bruce Boudreau]

USA vs England and Mexico vs Argentina the most interesting matches from a Canadian stand point imo. 

 

Lot of African and Asian countries in while seemingly left behind are some European nations with much more quality.

[Bruce Boudreau]

On 4/2/2022 at 3:44 PM, Master Mind said:

You're massively underestimating our opponents.

 

It's a major accomplishment just to even make the WC. If we don't make it to the round of 16, sure we'll be disappointed that the run is over, but it's by no means a failure.

1000 percent correct.

 

Canada has to prove itself to be taken serious as a soccer nation no... true "footballing" nation on the come up like the U.S has been trying to do.. albeit with about a decade and a half head start.

 

Don't forget Canada's men's basketball team has still to even qualify for an Olympics much less win a game despite this clearly being Canada's golden generation.

[UnkNuk]

4 hours ago, Chip Kelly said:

USA vs England and Mexico vs Argentina the most interesting matches from a Canadian stand point imo. 

 

 

USA versus Iran has a political shade of interest to it.

[c00kies]

20 hours ago, Chip Kelly said:

Yeah Canada needs to focus on sports the entire world actually gives a $&!# about. Let's put that money into soccer and basketball.

 

Hockey will always be there...

To be fair, hockey is only behind Soccer and Cricket for worldwide audience. 

 

I think soccer would be an amazing thing for Canada to focus on developing, so maybe their appearance will inspire future youngsters to put on cleats.

[UnkNuk]

2 hours ago, c00kies said:

To be fair, hockey is only behind Soccer and Cricket for worldwide audience. 

 

I think soccer would be an amazing thing for Canada to focus on developing, so maybe their appearance will inspire future youngsters to put on cleats.

When I read "Cricket" I thought "That can't be right."

 

Turns out, it is:

 

https://www.ballerstatus.com/2021/01/06/top-10-most-watched-sports-in-the-world-today/

 

Who knew?

[Alflives]

5 hours ago, c00kies said:

To be fair, hockey is only behind Soccer and Cricket for worldwide audience. 

 

I think soccer would be an amazing thing for Canada to focus on developing, so maybe their appearance will inspire future youngsters to put on cleats.

We should get out of our pot of four.  If not, then people at home will consider the team a fail.  Our women at tops.  

[Mj2345]

Great to see Alphonso Davies returned to play for Bayern Today

[Bruce Boudreau]

On 4/4/2022 at 1:28 PM, c00kies said:

To be fair, hockey is only behind Soccer and Cricket for worldwide audience. 

 

I think soccer would be an amazing thing for Canada to focus on developing, so maybe their appearance will inspire future youngsters to put on cleats.

I had no idea cricket had such a large following still with modern attention spans and with younger generations. We all know about how MLB is trying to tweak and modernize the game to have greater appeal to attract more new fans and convert the casual fans into more invested customers.

[StanleyCupOneDay]

On 4/4/2022 at 3:58 PM, UnkNuk said:

When I read "Cricket" I thought "That can't be right."

 

Turns out, it is:

 

https://www.ballerstatus.com/2021/01/06/top-10-most-watched-sports-in-the-world-today/

 

Who knew?

1.4 billion people in India and that’s basically their national sport. Cricket is like the overseas non-North American version of baseball with some differences. It’ll likely never catch on here though because of that.

[Alflives]

9 minutes ago, StanleyCupOneDay said:

1.4 billion people in India and that’s basically their national sport. Cricket is like the overseas non-North American version of baseball with some differences. It’ll likely never catch on here though because of that.

Watched parts of some of those IPL (is that the league in India?) games on the Internet.  Kind of a cool game.  Batters seem to wear more protective gear than the catchers.  

[thedestroyerofworlds]

On 4/9/2022 at 8:43 PM, Chip Kelly said:

I had no idea cricket had such a large following still with modern attention spans and with younger generations. We all know about how MLB is trying to tweak and modernize the game to have greater appeal to attract more new fans and convert the casual fans into more invested customers.

If there was just test cricket, you'd be right to be puzzled.  Those matches take forever.   The development of T20, which the big pro league in India play, has a lot to do with it.  Don't ask for elaboration as that is about all I know.

[thedestroyerofworlds]

So it may happen after all.  

 

 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/vancouver-joins-list-of-cities-vying-to-host-2026-world-cup-games/

Vancouver joins list of cities vying to host 2026 World Cup games

[Grape]

On 4/2/2022 at 11:46 PM, Alflives said:

Belgium is ranked 2nd!  That tells us right there these pot rankings are soccer stupid.  We should get at least second in this pot or it’s a fail.  

Belgium and Croatia were semi-finalists in the last World Cup (with Croatia making it to the final). They are powerhouses with world class players at every position (especially Belgium), while we truly only have one on the team.

 

Soccer is a really random sport so it won't take a miracle to beat either, but we are nowhere close in quality. It would be like Russia vs Austria in hockey or something, but with more variability since again, soccer is really random (even more so than hockey).

Edited April 15, 2022 by Grape

[Gnarcore]

On 4/2/2022 at 8:46 PM, Alflives said:

Belgium is ranked 2nd!  That tells us right there these pot rankings are soccer stupid.  We should get at least second in this pot or it’s a fail.  

You are aware that Belgium is one of the best teams in the world right now right?