CONCACAF Nations League Finals 2023 - General Thread - June 15th & 18th

[costarg]

10 hours ago, TOcanadafan said:

Mexico soccer culture, for all its passion and tradition, is at an ugly state right now.  You hear that players themselves have reservations about putting on the jersey.  From the vicious tabloid media, to the association’s greed, to the appalling fan behaviour.  But as long as it makes money…

Sounds a lot like the NHL.

[Ansem]

22 hours ago, costarg said:

Sounds a lot like the NHL.

Speaking of the NHL 🤣

 

[eramosat]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:15 AM, TOcanadafan said:

Mexico soccer culture, for all its passion and tradition, is at an ugly state right now.  You hear that players themselves have reservations about putting on the jersey.  From the vicious tabloid media, to the association’s greed, to the appalling fan behaviour.  But as long as it makes money…

Careful...you are close to glass houses' syndrome...doesn't Canada soccer also check any of those boxes?  I mean, there are threads flirting with this site's front page, pointing out how broken the relationship between players and the association is?  At the same time, we speculate as to what it takes to become a true soccer nation.

Just relax.

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

7 hours ago, eramosat said:

Careful...you are close to glass houses' syndrome...doesn't Canada soccer also check any of those boxes?  I mean, there are threads flirting with this site's front page, pointing out how broken the relationship between players and the association is?  At the same time, we speculate as to what it takes to become a true soccer nation.

Just relax.

 

It is proven you can have a disastrous FA, a hack media and other factors like violence and still be successful in the game of football. Or messy finances. At club level and national teams as well. Some clubs and countries, in fact, simply rise above and on the pitch they compete.

Mexico should be able to compete with their core level, as I see it, but it is clear they have some things to sort out. One they say, from what I've read, is that they are not handling their league well. They've effectively eliminated relegation, they discourage young players coming through, there are factors where they are not helping themselves with their own national league. I don't follow this closely.

There are other nations that used to have premium players and were very high rated, and have fallen: Hungary, Romania, two that come to mind. Both with free market economies now, still have leagues, decent teams and stadiums, but are no longer major competitive factors. 

Another thing that should be remembered: the US does far better against Mexico playing in the US. The line that "oh, the stadium was mostly Mexican fans", does not wash. The US drops badly outside its own borders overall; it plays Mexico and any Central American team better at home, even with a big visiting contingent. This is a huge advantage in Gold Cup and now in Nations League. 

[TOcanadafan]

9 hours ago, eramosat said:

Careful...you are close to glass houses' syndrome...doesn't Canada soccer also check any of those boxes?  I mean, there are threads flirting with this site's front page, pointing out how broken the relationship between players and the association is?  At the same time, we speculate as to what it takes to become a true soccer nation.

Just relax.

 

Canadian fans don’t chant homophobic slurs and throw objects at the players on the field in hundreds or thousands.  I was just throwing a few add-ons, where association member greed might be the only cross over with Canada soccer at the moment.

I’ll interpret the ‘just relax’ comment as similar to the ‘just shut up and play’ narrative whenever players call out racism or homophobia or comment on societal issues.

[InglewoodJack]

Canada soccer *culture*’s only issue is its size. Otherwise, we’re in a great state- zero issues with hooliganism, offensive chanting, lasers, throwing garbage, no real issues with singling out players for ridicule, fans overwhelmingly stand being the national team and its coach, fans gravitate quickly towards new players that enter the mix. If only our fanbase was bigger, we’d be as close to an ideal country in terms of soccer culture. 

[El Hombre]

10 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

...fans overwhelmingly stand being the national team and its coach... 

Agree except for this part.  Pretty sure on this website it's split 50-50 (if I'm being optimistic).

[InglewoodJack]

32 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

Agree except for this part.  Pretty sure on this website it's split 50-50 (if I'm being optimistic).

Not blind support for sure, but how many “anti-Herdman” fans actually want him fired and think he’s a detriment to our success? Some fans surely think this, but even if you compare it to how Americans see berhalter, it seems like the spectrum of Herdman opinions go from he’s great to “I think we could do better but he’s not the worst”

[Bison44]

^^Thats about right.  I cant stand Herdman, but cant argue with what the team has done with him at the helm and with an all be it "stronger" squad than we have had for the last few managers.  Plenty of managers get a lot out of the players without being likeable to the fan base, the 2 dont have to be linked together.    

[VinceA]

Doesn't look like CONCACAF is showing the third place or the finals on Youtube.

[blueseeka]

3 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Doesn't look like CONCACAF is showing the third place or the finals on Youtube.

Watching it on Onesoccer. Mexico up 1-0 early but Panama has had more chances then they had against Canada.

 

Crowd looks empty

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Doesn't look like CONCACAF is showing the third place or the finals on Youtube.

It's on One Soccer.

Probably wised up and geo blocked it

Edited June 18, 2023 by narduch

[beachesl]

US-Canada is on normal ESPN cable feeds outside of  North America, but not 3rd place match.

Edited June 18, 2023 by beachesl

[kacbru]

The Pan-Mex game is working for me in NZ here: https://www.concacafgo.com/ , so assume it will also be good for the final.

[narduch]

Godoy ties it up

[Floortom]

What a goal by Godoy. Would love to see Panama pull this one out 

Damn: slightly offside and called back

Edited June 18, 2023 by Floortom

[beachesl]

32 minutes ago, kacbru said:

The Pan-Mex game is working for me in NZ here: https://www.concacafgo.com/ , so assume it will also be good for the final.

Depends on the country. Blocked in Argentina.

[narduch]

[BearcatSA]

Really liked the #8 for Panama.

[red card]

USA/CAN was most streamed non-UEFA match on P+. Big % increases in average minute audience, households and minutes streamed. But no numbers provided.

On Univision/TUDN, 2.2m watched the Final. Most watched match on US tv for the week was 2.3m for USA/MEX semi on Univision/TUDN. 1m watched CAN/PAN on Univision/TUDN which was 4th most watched for the week.

831k watched UEFA Nations League Final on FOX.

 

[eramosat]

On 6/18/2023 at 10:35 AM, TOcanadafan said:

Canadian fans don’t chant homophobic slurs and throw objects at the players on the field in hundreds or thousands.  I was just throwing a few add-ons, where association member greed might be the only cross over with Canada soccer at the moment.

I’ll interpret the ‘just relax’ comment as similar to the ‘just shut up and play’ narrative whenever players call out racism or homophobia or comment on societal issues.

Nope, Canadian fans don't throws things on the field, not chant slurs, in any numbers that get much press coverage.

what you did say is this:  You hear that players themselves have reservations about putting on the jersey.  From the vicious tabloid media, to the association’s greed, to the appalling fan behaviour.  But as long as it makes money…

So lets go through your ideas about why Mexico soccer is in such a bad state, as compared to Canada soccer.

player have reservations about putting on the jersey:  well...I see few facts here.  let's call it a wash.  Although Canada players did actually boycott the playing of a serious friendly just last summer...

Vicious tabloid media:  Mexico has a rabid soccer culture jumping on everything that happens.  Whatever in this day and age.  Good or bad depending on how you view it.  Canada has Rick Westhead dragging the CSA however he can, and one private fans board that's pretty tame overall.  

Association's greed: I also see no facts here.  Both associations are vilified for their incompetence by some.  Mexico has a legacy of very good World Cup success, less of late.  Canada does not, in any time period.  Who knows how the association's greed really plays out.

Appalling fan behaviour:  Mexico get's a nod here.  I would say, in Mexcio's defense, that (a) they have about 10,000x more real soccer fans than Canada has, which makes everything they do that much more impactful...you know, a real soccer nation and (b) the appalling homophobic slur they employ seems more like a playground taunt than a serious assault on homosexual rights.  it doesn't hold a candle...IMHO... to the much more serious racist taunts employed throughout the soccer world, such as the ones Borjan saw in the World CUp.  IMHO.

If you want more evidence, just research how hard the Mexico soccer association has tried to tamp out their fan behaviour, going back many years, in both domestic and international settings.  From tv campaigns to ticket messaging to Twitter campaigns, you name it.  They are on top of the problem, and trying very hard to tamp out unwanted fan behaviour.

So "relax"?  How you should interpret it is, shut your own big mouth as there's simply no need to drag Mexico's soccer association, for any reason, especially when compared to Canada's association's track record.  Period.  You can stan hard for the perceived homophobia attitude...but it won't convince me at all.