WCQ: Honduras vs Canada - Thursday, Jan 27, 8pm EST / 5pm Pacific - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

[sstackho]

1 hour ago, Miche said:

One soccer for sure. They tend to stream it live on YouTube, though I think everyones watching the panama match.

Really wish that they showed the presumed post-game huddle on the pitch, but it could very well be that it wasn't covered by the broadcaster. 

[Cblake]

Johnny called it right "Victory"

 

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, jonovision said:

Does Kamal Miller have the world's slowest healing hand injury?

He's a latter-day Cowboy Bob Orton. Watch out when he comes off the top turnbuckle when the referee's back is turned!

[EJsens1]

25 minutes ago, Cblake said:

9 down, 5 to go. Top of the table !!

The big aspect here as well is our goal differential.  +10 and we’ve either had a clean sheet or given up only 1 goal in every game. Playing with a lead the last 3 games makes such a difference.

[DeRo_Is_King]

20 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

It’s about goddamn time.  I smile every single time I think about some Honduran footy fan screaming at his TV when Borjan gets another cramp.   That’s karma you son of a bitch.  How do you like them apples?!? 
 

All those times I cursed the T.V. and wondered how in the hell they got away with it. We finally gave them a taste of what it's like, and you know, we didn't really even waste that much time. The reason? We don't really need to. With our quality, there are many more beatings to come. Don't worry. 

[The Beaver 2.0]

22 minutes ago, rkomar said:

I'm happy we won, but I'm going to rain on our parade a bit here.  With our quality, I didn't think we should be on the back foot for the entire last third of the game.  I think our players got a bit rattled and just started playing defensively, without a thought to managing the game.  We kept a clean sheet, but they came so close to scoring multiple times.  I think we were lucky to get that scoreline.  We need to work on our composure when the momentum swings away from us.

I don't think we were rattled, but I DO think we needed to keep the ball a bit better. I feel we managed the game really well, had a few moments were we needed to be better with balls whipped in from the wing, but otherwise had a professional road win in a tough environment.  The good news: this team can still get better.  

[EJsens1]

[Joe MacCarthy]

1 minute ago, SthMelbRed said:

He's a latter-day Cowboy Bob Orton. Watch out when he comes off the top turnbuckle when the referee's back is turned!

I thought the same thing in the last game I saw him, I didn't notice it tonight because I was too busy trying to figure out what the Czech broadcaster on my stream was saying. 

I'll bet you when the ref's back is turned he "loads" the cast.

[Bison44]

4 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

He's a latter-day Cowboy Bob Orton. Watch out when he comes off the top turnbuckle when the referee's back is turned!

I was thinking Sheik Adnan Al Kassi, you knew that bugger had his cast loaded up with a steel rod.  

[Cblake]

Match highlights to relive the amazing moments of Thursday night.

 

[pod818]

6 minutes ago, EJsens1 said:

hard to tell...but looks like MAK is not even dressed for the game? Is he injured?

[JAVIERF]

6 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

I don't think we were rattled, but I DO think we needed to keep the ball a bit better. I feel we managed the game really well, had a few moments were we needed to be better with balls whipped in from the wing, but otherwise had a professional road win in a tough environment.  The good news: this team can still get better.  

Yes that's good and Doneil Henry is a defender I really rate didn't play.  You had depth now which maybe wasn't in the past.  Buchanan grew in this qualies from the guy who gave a penalty away and was hooked off in matchday1 to here in matchday9. 

Kennedy and Miller both similar good players but they have to work more on their week foot.  Defenders need to kick and pass both feet

[Cblake]

Wow, can we just take a moment to admire Richie Laryea's gotch (  :

[Gian-Luca]

2 minutes ago, pod818 said:

hard to tell...but looks like MAK is not even dressed for the game? Is he injured?

You can only officially dress 23 players, we had 25 in camp (except Eustaquio isn't there, so that makes 24). I suspect MAK & Staq start against the US, assuming the latter has flown out to Canada.

[narduch]

3 minutes ago, pod818 said:

hard to tell...but looks like MAK is not even dressed for the game? Is he injured?

Odd man out I think.

Saving him for US game maybe?

[Joe Keeper]

Bloody brilliant. I've watched us lose more than a few down there; I'm extatic with this result.

The David goal, the pass from Miller and the two Borjan saves were just top class. If Cavallini could have gotten one for 3-0, I would have lost it (after what he went through in the 2012 loss).

The sweetest thing might be the fact that the Honduran own goal was the game winner.

That being said, we looked like a team that hasn't played together in a while. We made that harder on ourselves than it needed to be. Possession was sloppy with far too many give aways, especially in midfield.

We definitely looked weak in the center of the park and middle of defence at times. The CBs did just enough but overall will need to fight for more ariel balls and work on proper clearances. I'm a bit concerned. We need to try to keep the ball and pass it around with more pace and confidence. The team is so good when we can do this. The pitch was heavy a tore up easily to be fair.

All this needs to be cleaned up against a much tougher American team. It was worth trying Hoilett at center mid. I'm proud of the team and coach for having the guts to be flexible when needed. Hopefully Eustaquio is ready to go and that Piette is healthy too. We need all the help in the centre we can get. We should have called a bigger roster to cover this but here we are.

I love what we have on the wings and at forward, including some players that aren't here right now. I felt for Tajon. He is a capable wing back or attacking fullback or even pure midfield winger but he is built for the final third and flair attacking. He looked frustrated tonight but did well. I really liked Adekugbe too. He is growing slowly but surely. Larin will rise up again for the next game as will others. 

The Costa Rica win over Panama was huge. If only Jamaica could have held or beaten Mexico.

We should be going for the jugular against the US and El Salvador.

On we go lads, just finish the job.

 

 

[Gian-Luca]

Well done to the boys, I remember watching the 1-0 win over Honduras in 1985 on a George Pakos goal set up (IIRC) by a Randy Ragan interception from Ramon Maradiaga over-running the ball out of his own end, didn't think it would take this friggin long to see another win by Canada in that country!

Face of the night goes to the huge grin on Osorio's face as he points to (presumably) Liam Fraser for the pass - you can see it clearly on one of the replays on the goal.

[dyslexic nam]

One thing we need to keep in mind when assessing the aesthetic of tonight’s game was the sheer number of changes forces on us (I really do have a talent for stating the obvious).  Missing the two players who are probably the most important guys on the team sheet, losing Piette with most of the game left, MLS guys out of season - and we still went down and gave them the business. Amazing 

Edited January 28, 2022 by dyslexic nam

[shorty]

4 minutes ago, Cblake said:

Wow, can we just take a moment to admire Richie Laryea's gotch (  :

Not to mention Milan’s roller derby spandex…

[jonovision]

5 minutes ago, Joe Keeper said:

All this needs to be cleaned up against a much tougher American team. It was worth trying Hoilett at center mid. I'm proud of the team and coach for having the guts to be flexible when needed. Hopefully Eustaquio is ready to go and that Piette is healthy too. We need all the help in the centre we can get. We should have called a bigger roster to cover this but here we are.

I agree we should have called a bigger roster but I don't think we left anyone off the list who really could have helped in the centre of midfield. I don't think Russell Teibert or Michael Baldisimo or Ralph Priso or Noble Okello are solving any of those problems.

In the previous two 3-game windows Canada's performances and cohesion improved with each match. I don't know if that's enough to beat the USA, but it gives us a chance.

Edited January 28, 2022 by jonovision

[Cblake]

1 minute ago, shorty said:

Not to mention Milan’s roller derby spandex…

This things you notice when you are on a victory of a high LOL

[JAVIERF]

4 minutes ago, Joe Keeper said:

Bloody brilliant. I've watched us lose more than a few down there; I'm extatic with this result.

The David goal, the pass from Miller and the two Borjan saves were just top class. If Cavallini could have gotten one for 3-0, I would have lost it (after what he went through in the 2012 loss).

The sweetest thing might be the fact that the Honduran own goal was the game winner.

That being said, we looked like a team that hasn't played together in a while. We made that harder on ourselves than it needed to be. Possession was sloppy with far too many give aways, especially in midfield.

We definitely looked weak in the center of the park and middle of defence at times. The CBs did just enough but overall will need to fight for more ariel balls and work on proper clearances. I'm a bit concerned. We need to try to keep the ball and pass it around with more pace and confidence. The team is so good when we can do this. The pitch was heavy a tore up easily to be fair.

All this needs to be cleaned up against a much tougher American team. It was worth trying Hoilett at center mid. I'm proud of the team and coach for having the guts to be flexible when needed. Hopefully Eustaquio is ready to go and that Piette is healthy too. We need all the help in the centre we can get. We should have called a bigger roster to cover this but here we are.

I love what we have on the wings and at forward, including some players that aren't here right now. I felt for Tajon. He is a capable wing back or attacking fullback or even pure midfield winger but he is built for the final third and flair attacking. He looked frustrated tonight but did well. I really liked Adekugbe too. He is growing slowly but surely. Larin will rise up again for the next game as will others. 

The Costa Rica win over Panama was huge. If only Jamaica could have held or beaten Mexico.

We should be going for the jugular against the US and El Salvador.

On we go lads, just finish the job.

 

 

Buchanan has some movements robbed from Thierry Henry he needs consistency.  The Cavallini Jonathan David partnership could work out if Canada changes to 4-4-2.  Larin is a good goalscorer and as Irish John Aldridge is a fox in the box.  But for hassle and get the defenders upset and awkward Cavallini is better suited with David roaming around.  You are creating something special.

 

But I insist this is the triumph of the Canadian football fanbase you have built this nat team team for the last 20 or so years.  U are collecting the fruits now

[frattinator]

 

The MLS Extra Time guys (Matt Doyle, Andrew Wiebe, and David Gass) spent the first half of the podcast on Canada and were very very effusive in their praise (Doyle basically said congrats guys you are going to Qatar). 

[LeoH037]

Fuck. Yes.

[Joe Keeper]

1 hour ago, jonovision said:

I agree we should have called a bigger roster but I don't think we left anyone off the list who really could have helped in the centre of midfield. I don't think Russell Teibert or Michael Baldisimo or Ralph Priso or Noble Okello are solving any problems.

At the very least it is highly debatable, I would agree.  We are forming cohesion with many of the same players over the last few windows.

I would also like a bigger roster not just to cover CM but really any position due to injuries, covid, cards etc. We are at the business end of the business end now.  Plus, we have the depth and could give some guys valuable experience.

Harry Paton has been mentioned by some at his club as now being a box to box midfielder or having that be his real strength.  I would have liked to see him called for one. I'm curious to see what Jay Chapman can do now he is at Dundee.

Overall, CM, especially attacking CM is something we need to start bringing a few more guys through on the national team in the next few years.

I would be interested to see if Tajon could play that position (or as a withdrawn but central deep sitting forward dropping in and out of the box and upper mid) with his playmaker ability in a game someday.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe Keeper