Match Thread: World Cup Group F - Matchday 1 - Belgium v Canada - November 23, 2022 - 10pm local time / 2pm ET / 11am PT

[Yoginess]

Upon reflection. This kind of feels like the international stage version of out 3-2 loss to Haiti. We needed to be better finishing here, but the team will learn and grow

[Joe MacCarthy]

nm

Edited November 23, 2022 by Joe MacCarthy

[Kadenge]

Like everyone else I am gutted about the result. We deserved at least a tie, but I am mega proud of this team and all the players. What a performance. I'm not going to blame the defenders for allowing 1 goal. Anytime you limit a team like Belgium to a single goal you have a chance to get a result. Generated lots of chances but other than the penalty, didn't get clear cut chances. Tajon was stretching for the cross with a defender on him. Larin could have put a bit more power on the header and we blasted a few shots wide but that happens in most games.  Herdman got his lineup spot on again. We just didn't get any breaks today. We came to Qatar to earn respect and we got that in spades today. Nottingham Forest can go fuck themselves...sorry had to get that in.

[Kadenge]

23 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Listening to the Spanish RTVE broadcoast after the day, and quite a few said Belgium looked poor, we deserved far more. And a lot of Saint Courtois stuff.

Specifically, Julio Salinas, who had not yet seen detailed highlights, was bewildered we did not get a penalty for that back pass by Belgium that they called an offside for us.

If VAR reviewed that play for a penalty and called it, they would have overruled the offside no?

[JAVIERF]

2 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

If VAR reviewed that play for a penalty and called it, they would have overruled the offside no?

Thats why the ref cover his assistant becsuse he rsised his flag,  hutchinson should have pressed the ref...was a 2nd penalty!!!

[JAVIERF]

4 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

If VAR reviewed that play for a penalty and called it, they would have overruled the offside no?

Yes exacty it was a cover operation among them

 

Ref covered his assistant big mistake ,  var allowed the off side from main ref shameful

[jonovision]

10 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

If VAR reviewed that play for a penalty and called it, they would have overruled the offside no?

I'll admit I don't know all the ins and outs of VAR. The whistle had already (incorrectly) gone when Buchanan was fouled. Can they still review for a foul and penalty?

[ECW]

40 minutes ago, toontownman said:

And had it gone in they would have said the opposite lol.

I've no problem with Herdman sticking with his philosophy that has got the team to this point. Knowing this group it will likely only motivate them further.

Hard not to feel down. We deserved at least a draw. Silly not to see how far we have come and who we were playing. What a bright future this group of players have!

Bring on Croatia.

I prefer an experienced penalty taker, especially in incredibly high pressure situations. I think most do. It was a pretty badly taken penalty and that was not really shocking to me. But yeah, I’m sure Herdman would say, “Live by the sword, die by the sword” and that’s fair.

With the pace and guile of Davies, Laryea and Buchanan we are going to get our share of penalty chances. I want to see the guys with the best odds of succeeding in taking them.  

Bring on Croatia, for sure! What a pleasure (when it’s not painful!) to see us playing spirited and attacking football at the world cup! It’s been 36 years waiting for this and it’s difficult not to credit Herdman for it.

Edited November 24, 2022 by ECW

[Gian-Luca]

36 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Listening to the Spanish RTVE broadcoast after the day, and quite a few said Belgium looked poor, we deserved far more. And a lot of Saint Courtois stuff.

Specifically, Julio Salinas, who had not yet seen detailed highlights, was bewildered we did not get a penalty for that back pass by Belgium that they called an offside for us.

The most bewildering part of that is the linesman putting up his flag instantly for a back pass in a World Cup where linesmen are being told to wait until the play is over before raising their flag, which we've seen a billion times already in this tournament. So why the instant raise against Canada for a Belgian back-pass?

The Fox coverage in the US at half-time all agreed it was another PK. I've been checking out as much post-game coverage as far as I can tell, only Joe Fletcher on TSN has said that the non-PK calls were correct. According to twitter, a Swedish FIFA ref said during the Swedish broadcast of the match said that it doesn't matter if Vertonghen got the ball, you can't go through the player with a studs-up stomp, directly contradicting what linesman Joe Fletcher said on TSN.

And good to see that Bernadeschi is cheering on Canada & his club teammates:

 

[Gian-Luca]

 

[Rougeisthecolour]

Lots to like today! 

[frmr]

5 minutes ago, Rougeisthecolour said:

Lots to like today! 

Lots to like but still deeply unsatisfying.

[cornerkick]

I'm sure this was brought up in prior pages, but I haven't the time to scan all 20+ pages...

How bout the fans?  They were loud and clear on the TV and it was absolutely amazing to hear the support and love...

 

[The Ref]

Good old Herman had the wrong tactic today.  We needed the long and direct game.  Disappointed!

[Corazon]

Okay, what a 6 hours it’s been.  I cannot say enough how proud I am of our men out there today.  We just took it to one of the best teams in the world and deserved a tie or even a win.  Blown away by our performance today.  We put the world on notice and probably just became everyone else’s new favourite 2nd team.  On to Croatia and Morocco.

Borjan - Thought he did everything very well and look composed.  Not much he could have done on the goal.  

Vitoria - very solid performance but maybe was caught out with Kamal on Belgium’s lone goal.  

Miller - Very strong game against an incredible attacking team.  Perhaps caught out on the line goal with Vitoria.

Johnston - Had a few poor giveaways early but settled in and contributed to an incredible defensive performance by our back line.

Laryea - Absolutely everywhere again today.  Great to see him with another solid performance for us.  Hard to imagine dropping him after that performance.  Also should have maybe drawn a penalty.

Davies - Had an exceptional game aside from the poor penalty took.  Looked very dangerous driving forward.  Overall gutted that he didn’t score that penalty but I also question why he took the penalty in the first place.  The World Cup isn’t the tournament to do that.  Give the penalty to the best penalty taker.  Period.

Eustaquio - An absolute stud once again.  Hang that nutmeg on De Bruyne at the Louvre.  Cannot stress enough how important he is for us.  I anticipate a move to a bigger club soon.  Along with several other Canadians to be honest.

Hutchinson - Almost 40 and he puts out a performance like that vs one of the best teams in the world.  So happy for him and so glad he was fit because I don’t think Piette would have been up for today and Kone looked raw.

Hoilett - Did not stand out like his last friendly but I think he had an overall strong game and I think his inclusion in our lineup has been crucial to our performances over the past week.

Tajon - Gave the Belgians trouble all night.  A bigger club is on the horizon for him.  He does need to work on his finishing to become an all around threat.

David - Not his best performance.  Shots weren’t great but by no means did he have a bad game.  Should have taken the penalty in my opinion, if not Vitoria.

Kone - Probably the biggest disappointment and I almost forgot he was playing for periods out there.  Still so young but these big moments have caught up to him at times.

Larin - Thought he looked very good when he came in and had a couple decent chances.  Linked up fairly well as well.  Hard to argue with the lineup Herdman put out but I’d be okay with Larin coming off the bench for 30 minutes in these games.

Adekugbe - Put in a solid 20 minute performance.  Probably the biggest shock omission from the starting lineup but once again hard to question Herdman with the way we played out there.

Osorio - Not a lot of time to impress but perhaps he would have linked up better with David had he had more time.  We looked gassed by the time he entered.

Millar - Surprised with the call to bring in Millar but I’ve loved the energy that he’s brought off the bench for us in recent friendlies.  Not a lot to go off like Osorio but looked good for the short cameo.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Corazon

[Copes]

Well... the first World Cup game Canada has played in my life time is in the books. I have a lot of thoughts and emotions. 

Moat important, I think we earned some respect today. Fans of all nations are talking about how Canada deserved more. That means something. People took notice of how we played. I love that. 

I was scared when I saw Davies step up. He is my favorite player, but I would have preferred David as well. But, who knows how the boys were feeling in that moment. An incredi lying high pressure Pen. I hope Davies scores before the tournament is over. 

I have every belief we can win against Croatia and Morocco. We can still go on. That keeps me happy. 

I thought we could best Belgium. I still think we could if we played them 10 times we would win more of those games. Unfortunate result but a performance to be proud of.

[cornerkick]

Bernardeschi felt there should have been another PK awarded:

 

[Gian-Luca]

 

[Gian-Luca]

So, I saw on twitter someone making a joke post about Kevin De Bruyne being named MOTM. I assumed it was by the sporting equivalent of Beaverton News or the Onion, etc.

Nope, apparently he actually was named man of the match, which even he doesn't know why.

 

[RS]

12 minutes ago, The Ref said:

Good old Herman had the wrong tactic today.  We needed the long and direct game.  Disappointed!

Did @SpecialK hack your account?

[gwsmith63]

1 minute ago, Gian-Luca said:

So, I saw on twitter someone making a joke post about Kevin De Bruyne being named MOTM. I assumed it was by the sporting equivalent of Beaverton News or the Onion, etc.

Nope, apparently he actually was named man of the match, which even he doesn't know why  

I can only assume the sponsor of the game, who probably picked him, wanted a signed KDB shirt and not one of the five or six Canadian ones he could have had. 
 

🤦🏻‍♂️

[A_Gagne]

6 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

So, I saw on twitter someone making a joke post about Kevin De Bruyne being named MOTM. I assumed it was by the sporting equivalent of Beaverton News or the Onion, etc.

Nope, apparently he actually was named man of the match, which even he doesn't know why.

 

Damn.

A frank, but IMO accurate assessment.

[ECW]

From Total_TFC:

Richie Laryea vs Belgium:

74 minutes

4 chances created

1 big chance created

2 shots

30 touches

12/17 passes

3 recoveries

2 tackles

1 block

One of the standout performers for Canada, and created the joint-most chances (equal with De Bruyne).

[Stryker911]

Was anyone else's heart pounding during the game? Fortunately I'm in decent shape and in my 30s. If I was older I feel like I would have had a heart attack.

[kacbru]

The thing that impressed me the most was the relentless press.  In the first 10-15 minutes, I thought it was good, but I thought we would switch tactics and back off.  But we persisted.  I thought we would tire, but we persisted.  They got their goal through a long ball over the top, but we persisted.  It created all kinds of chances.  The reason it worked - complete team commitment.

If only we had a bit more composure, taken a split second more on finishing, we would have won 3-1.  I expect we will get something from Croatia and will have it all to play for vs. Morocco.

I'm not used to, and a bit uncomfortable with this optimism.