CNL: Canada vs Panama - Thursday, June 15th - 7pm Eastern / 4pm Pacific - Las Vegas area

[beachesl]

Borjan had a good match, though he gave me worries when he threw the ball forward in a play out at about 80 when  he was quite far from  the net. 

[The Beaver 2.0]

Incredible, too, to think we've gotten to the point that we won't send our best side to the Gold Cup. No cap, bruh!

[The Beaver 2.0]

1 minute ago, beachesl said:

Borjan had a good match, though he gave me worries when he threw the ball forward in a play out at about 80 when  he was quite far from  the net. 

let's hope that was his requisite brain fart for this tournament.

[EJsens1]

7 minutes ago, gator said:

Good to get the win to put us in the final, we cleaned things up with the passing in the last half hour and after their red we comfortably saw this out I think I saw enough positives to think we should be able to get it together and have a chance to beat a much better team than Panama!

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. The last 20 minutes looked much better, as we utilized our speed pretty good on the wings. Good build up leading to Sunday. Glad we played first.

[DeRo_Is_King]

6 minutes ago, VinceA said:

It ended up being pretty cordial at the end when both teams came together. Looked like a bunch of Panama players were congratulating Atiba.

Also Godoy and Johnston having a laugh was nice to see.

They must realize Laryea did nothing to deserve getting punched in the back of the head. Apart from that incident, it wasn't a super scrappy game. 

Edited June 16, 2023 by DeRo_Is_King

[Corazon]

It wasn’t pretty but our quality was th e difference tonight .  I hope we move to a 3 man midfield on Sunday.  We’re so much better in that formation.  I’ll give Herdman the benefit of the doubt because of rotation for some key players that can’t start back to back.

Borjan - I thought he was solid despite the few with pitchforks for him.  Made some good saves and perhaps should have had better footing on the free kick he bobbled.  Still enjoy his leadership there at the end keeping Vitoria and Laryea from getting needless cards and in the huddle after the game.

Miller - Thought he was one of the best players on the pitch.  Solid defensively and great assist on David’s goal.

Vitoria - sound game.  Nothing special but that’s always a positive as a CB.  His lack of speed was not exposed at all.

Johnston - Typical strong performance for Johnston at the back.  Like all players, had a few misplaced passes.

Adekugbe - Thought he was okay but wasn't his usual dynamic self.

Laryea - Slow start but I thought he was much better in the 2nd half especially once Tajon left the field.  They weren’t clicking together tonight.

Eustaquio - A little sloppy to start and was beat a little too often but came on strong and was fantastic breaking up play and controlling the midfield.  Needs to hit the target on that late chance.

Kone - Thought he started well but drifted in and out like we’ve noticed he does often.  Has some absolute glimpses of brilliance still though.  Once he gets it all together, gonna be great.

Tajon - Aside from that cross to Larin, he was quite poor all game.  Not a lot else to say.

Larin - Aside from that one header from Tajon’s pass, he too was quite poor all game as well.

David - Top performance by him.  Passes weren’t always there like the rest of our guys but great finish and great assist to Davies.

Davies - Only played a 3rd of the game but arguably Man of the Match performance anyways.  Gave Panamanian defenders trouble all night.  Needs to lift his head up and he’s gonna get a lot more assists.

Osorio - Not a great game but again our play changed significantly once he came on and made a 3 man midfield.

Kennedy - He had an alright cameo but also tasked with playing out of position on the right where he clearly lacked the passing and confidence he does on the other side.

Hoilett - Did fairly well.  Always brings something different to the team when he’s on the field.

Hutchinson - Didn’t look out of play and played well with a 3 man midfield as well.

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Corazon

[Acid-Tone]

Well done.  We held serve.

 

Goal scorers keep adding interesting data points to this upcoming summer of potential moves. 

 

[The Beaver 2.0]

KJ just claiming on the post game show that David is perhaps our best player at the moment, and I am not sure I disagree. Perhaps Davies in top form is our top guy, but David's intelligence, work rate, the goal, the assist, the defensive work--come on, this guy is a gem. I love a smart footballer!

[The Beaver 2.0]

3 minutes ago, Corazon said:

It wasn’t pretty but our quality prevailed in the end.  I hope we move to a 3 man midfield on Sunday.  We’re so much better in that formation.  I’ll give Herdman the benefit of the doubt because of rotation for some key players that can’t start back to back.

Borjan - I thought he was solid despite the few with pitchforks for him.  Made some good saves and perhaps should have had better footing on the free kick he bobbled.  Still enjoy his leadership there at the end keeping Vitoria and Laryea from getting needless cards and in the huddle after the game.

Miller - Thought he was one of the best players on the pitch.  Solid defensively and great assist on David’s goal.

Vitoria - sound game.  Nothing special but that’s always a positive as a CB.  His lack of speed was not exposed at all.

Johnston - Typical strong performance for Johnston at the back.  Like all players, had a few misplaced passes.

Adekugbe - Thought he was okay but wasn't his usual dynamic self.

Laryea - Slow start but I thought he was much better in the 2nd half especially once Tajon left the field.  They weren’t clicking together tonight.

Eustaquio - A little sloppy to start and was beat a little too often but came on strong and was fantastic breaking up play and controlling the midfield.  Needs to hit the target on that late chance.

Kone - Thought he started well but drifted in and out like we’ve noticed he does often.  Has some absolute glimpses of brilliance still though.  Once he gets it all together, gonna be great.

Tajon - Aside from that cross to Larin, he was quite poor all game.  Not a lot else to say.

Larin - Aside from that one header from Tajon’s pass, he too was quite poor all game as well.

David - Top performance by him.  Passes weren’t always there like the rest of our guys but great finish and great assist to Davies.

Davies - Only played a 3rd of the game but arguably Man of the Match performance anyways.  Gave Panamanian defenders trouble all night.  Needs to lift his head up and he’s gonna get a lot more assists.

Osorio - Not a great game but again our play changed significantly once he came on and made a 3 man midfield.

Kennedy - He had an alright cameo but also tasked with playing out of position on the right where he clearly lacked the passing and confidence he does on the other side.

Hoilett - Did fairly well.  Always brings something different to the team when he’s on the field.

Hutchinson - Didn’t look out of play and played well with a 3 man midfield as well.

 

Good stuff, expect David is MOTM by a country mile tonight.

[Neil R.]

One win away from a trophy! 💪 💥

[EJsens1]

2 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

KJ just claiming on the post game show that David is perhaps our best player at the moment, and I am not sure I disagree. Perhaps Davies in top form is our top guy, but David's intelligence, work rate, the goal, the assist, the defensive work--come on, this guy is a gem. I love a smart footballer!

It’s a reasonable debate but they are such different players, but Davies explosiveness would still give me the edge to him as Panama had no answer 

[solsous]

7 minutes ago, EJsens1 said:

It’s a reasonable debate but they are such different players, but Davies explosiveness would still give me the edge to him as Panama had no answer 

It's extremely important for an attacking player to get behind a defense on the dribble.  Davies is one of the handful of players in the world that does that consistently. 

[Stoppage Time]

59 minutes ago, Jedi Ram said:

ATLIBA !

New Guy?  : )

[Gian-Luca]

First, I would like to blame the CSB for this victory, they are clearly to blame.

Important game though, for the team’s mentality. We were the clear favourites and we won comfortably as favourites should. I don’t know if that has happened in a knockout game for us before.

I really don’t like the way that ball was bouncing constantly on that turf, I think it adversely affected the quality of play for both sides.

[ECW]

Watched some of the replay of our Honduras match… really made it clear how rusty, sloppy we are now. Not that we ever seemed we were going to lose tonight but it would be good to see us sharper on Sunday! 

[eramosat]

well done!

Sunday's game will be a different match entirely.  Canada is likely to be on the back foot even more, possession-wise, and maybe that will encourage them to treat their offensive  opportunities more seriously.  Tonight, they muffed 75% of their chances at first challenge, and had mostly crap decisiveness when near the goal.  But when they DID get decisive, and made accurate first touch passes, and developed their spaces, it worked well.

As for the dee...it will be challenged.  But I also expect the best 11, in the best set-up, to start.  Exciting!!!

Two more days of practice....<chef's kiss>...it's gonna be a good Sunday night of international Canada footie!

 

[JamboAl]

2 hours ago, nfitz said:

Gareth says it's hot there. I thought the stadium was air conditioned. Did they announce the temperature?

 

It was not hot!  In fact, it was extremely comfortable in the air conditioning.

[Kadenge]

Poor game by Canada but they get the win like good teams do even when  not at their best. 2 moments of magic conjured by the 2 best players and job done. Watching the US v Mex game. We gotta raise our level and work effort significantly on Sunday.

[lamptern]

So far I can see from 2nd semifinal, It’s a level higher than Canada’s game.

[jonovision]

7 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Poor game by Canada but they get the win like good teams do even when  not at their best. 2 moments of magic conjured by the 2 best players and job done. Watching the US v Mex game. We gotta raise our level and work effort significantly on Sunday.

I have not been impressed by either USA or MEX so far. The goal was a result of a series of defensive plays from Mexico that were sloppier and scrappier than anything on display in our match.

[solsous]

3 minutes ago, jonovision said:

I have not been impressed by either USA or MEX so far. The goal was a result of a series of defensive plays from Mexico that were sloppier and scrappier than anything on display in our match.

The US midfield is solid, but like Mexico, they don't have one dynamic player between them.  Canada has at least two.

[Metro]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

First, I would like to blame the CSB for this victory, they are clearly to blame.

Important game though, for the team’s mentality. We were the clear favourites and we won comfortably as favourites should. I don’t know if that has happened in a knockout game for us before.

I really don’t like the way that ball was bouncing constantly on that turf, I think it adversely affected the quality of play for both sides.

The other ones I can think of was Costa Rica in last Gold Cup and Guatemala in ‘07, right before the screw job match.

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, solsous said:

It's extremely important for an attacking player to get behind a defense on the dribble.  Davies is one of the handful of players in the world that does that consistently. 

As quick with the ball as without.  That's something you can say for 2% of top flight players out there today and you'd be hard pressed to name another who could match Davies quality & pace.

Canada looked rusty today, but they also looked like they were coasting. To my eye at least.  They KNEW how today was going to end.  It was never in doubt.  Warms my heart to see it.

[Metro]

54 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

It was not hot!  In fact, it was extremely comfortable in the air conditioning.

Not sure how Gareth would know: He was calling the game from the one soccer studio.

Which begs the question: One Soccer paid for Petrillo and Jack to go to Vegas, but kept Wheeler and Brennan behind to call the game from the studio?

[eramosat]

With USA up 2- 0 in the 47th minute, would be surprising not to face them Sunday.  Bring it on...