Canada Pre-World Cup "friendlies" thread: news, gossip and speculation.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Reposting what @Admin wrote on Facebook so it reaches a greater audience:

"Still no word for public access to the men's upcoming friendlies. This is not an event run by Canada Soccer, our team is a guest. Canada Soccer have made repeated attempts with no response (yet). As soon as they know, we will get that information out to everyone."

[Alex]

WERE PLAYING JAPAN IN NOVEMBER 

[Alex]

 

[EJsens1]

This is great. A nice tune up that some other nations won’t benefit from.

[Gian-Luca]

I would have preferred a European team, but even so, still good prep and  nice to have a friendly announcement out of the blue.

[JamboAl]

12 hours ago, Sadiq Husain said:

NV Arena in St. Polten?

It’s the only place in Sankt Pölten to play.  I guess the organizers are trying to find venues for these friendlies which aren’t super expensive.  Wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of our friendlies is in Wiener Neustadt or Mödling.  The three other major stadiums in Vienna (the National Stadium, Rapid’s and Austria Wien’s) are larger and would not be cheap to rent.

[SoCalTransport]

I don’t understand why they couldn’t get a big European team to play them. Even a non WC team like Italy would’ve been a good test to prepare them for Belgium.

[frmr]

6 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

I don’t understand why they couldn’t get a big European team to play them. Even a non WC team like Italy would’ve been a good test to prepare them for Belgium.

Well, not to be blunt, but you're a civilian who has absolutely no connection to the CMNT, so how would you possibly understand something that you have no knowledge of?

[SoCalTransport]

7 minutes ago, frmr said:

Well, not to be blunt, but you're a civilian who has absolutely no connection to the CMNT, so how would you possibly understand something that you have no knowledge of?

You’re making assumptions about me, you don’t know who I am. I know what happened here, I’m just saying at some point Canada Soccer has to put up some cash.

[frmr]

2 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

You’re making assumptions about me, you don’t know who I am. I know what happened here, I’m just saying at some point Canada Soccer has to put up some cash.

Well, unless you work for the CMNT or are a journalist with connections, there would be a plethora of variables that you would not be privy to.

[Colonel Green]

23 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

I don’t understand why they couldn’t get a big European team to play them. Even a non WC team like Italy would’ve been a good test to prepare them for Belgium.

I would imagine that teams like Italy aren't interested in having salt rubbed into the wounds by traveling to the Persian Gulf to serve as training fodder for a tournament they were heartbroken at not qualifying for?

As far as the plans of the big European teams that did qualify, they don't exist at our convenience either.

[VinceA]

25 minutes ago, SoCalTransport said:

I don’t understand why they couldn’t get a big European team to play them. Even a non WC team like Italy would’ve been a good test to prepare them for Belgium.

You do know there's Nations League for the Euro teams. The only ones who might have been available were the ones who had their matches against Russia Cancelled. Even then they still had their other games in NL.

[SoCalTransport]

1 minute ago, VinceA said:

You do know there's Nations League for the Euro teams. The only ones who might have been available were the ones who had their matches against Russia Cancelled. Even then they still had their other games in NL.

I don’t know the schedule, but if they’re playing nations league games that close to the World Cup, I guess it can’t happen. The ideal situation would be to play a big European team to prepare.

[SoCalTransport]

5 minutes ago, Colonel Green said:

I would imagine that teams like Italy aren't interested in having salt rubbed into the wounds by traveling to the Persian Gulf to serve as training fodder for a tournament they were heartbroken at not qualifying for?

As far as the plans of the big European teams that did qualify, they don't exist at our convenience either.

Money makes everyone happy 🤑

[jhoops__]

Stadiums released for friendlies:

https://canadasoccer.com/news/canada-to-face-japan-as-part-of-final-preparations-for-the-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022/

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

2 hours ago, Alex said:

WERE PLAYING JAPAN IN NOVEMBER 

The JFA release confirms that it will also be broadcast on NHK so there should be many pirate streams for those outside Canada or those who don't have VPNs or are too cheap to pay for OneSoccer.

http://www.jfa.jp/news/00030479/

The JFA release also states that ticketing is TBD but they are looking into how it will work, so there is clearly a desire to make this match open to the public.

https://www.canadasoccer.com/news/canada-to-face-japan-as-part-of-final-preparations-for-the-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022/

[Ally McCoist]

On 6/21/2022 at 4:43 PM, Ally McCoist said:

Maybe the Canada vs Japan rumours had some weight to them?

Teehee

[InglewoodJack]

Ranked 24 in the world, that’s a pretty solid opponent right before the WC. Now that it’s all announced, Uruguay, Qatar, and Japan is pretty decent prep.

[Ally McCoist]

Japan faced Belgium in the last World Cup and almost defeated them (they were up 2-0 at one point and then lost 3-2). Belgium's squad hasn't changed much since then. Herdman 4D chess in the making?

Edited September 8, 2022 by Ally McCoist

[tminit]

Interesting that the Uruguay game is now being played in Slovakia. Now to wait to see if tickets go on sale. Would love to go see it. Unfortunately I can’t imagine too many Canadians will be coming for the match. 

[Joe MacCarthy]

2 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Ranked 24 in the world, that’s a pretty solid opponent right before the WC.

ELO Japan 29, Canada 30

[Joe MacCarthy]

Sorry for the ignorance, but how many subs will there be in the WC, five or three.  What is the rule now.

[EJsens1]

1 hour ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

Sorry for the ignorance, but how many subs will there be in the WC, five or three.  What is the rule now.

It’s 5

[Sadiq Husain]

https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/2022/09/07/canadian-men-to-face-japan-in-final-warmup-before-fifa-world-cup.html

The Canadians are slated to meet Qatar on Sept. 23 at Generali Arena in Vienna, followed by a Sept. 27 game against Uruguay at Stadion Tehelne Pole in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Uruguay match was also originally scheduled for Vienna.

[Sadiq Husain]

22 minutes ago, Sadiq Husain said:

https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/2022/09/07/canadian-men-to-face-japan-in-final-warmup-before-fifa-world-cup.html

The Canadians are slated to meet Qatar on Sept. 23 at Generali Arena in Vienna, followed by a Sept. 27 game against Uruguay at Stadion Tehelne Pole in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Uruguay match was also originally scheduled for Vienna.

I contacted Generali Arena direct and they have confirmed 2 things;

1) It is a public event

2) You can only purchase tickets directly at the stadium. No online sales.