September and October 2024 friendly matches (plans, speculation, rumours etc.)

[Mihairokov]

Good, so when CMNT play at Saputo we can have Canada Soccer staff surveying people at the gate : DO YOU LOVE CANADA? Y/N?

[JamboAl]

14 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Interesting post. I would like to see a ven diagram of separatists and CF Montreal fans. How many are out there?

Edit: Another question - by the way you make it sound, wouldn't Canada playing against CF Montreal actually be a good idea from the perspective of Canadian nationalism, since there is a big need for the city to see Canada play, given there are separatist elements in the city (supposedly)?   

In my opinion, it would not be a good idea to play CFM.  There are founding members of the 1642MTL group, who are also Voyageurs because they do not have to choose between the two.  Why would we create friction where none currently exists?  There are also significant numbers of members of the same group and other groups who do not support Canada not because they are sovereignists but because they are not Canadian citizens.

 

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

In my opinion, it would not be a good idea to play CFM.  There are founding members of the 1642MTL group, who are also Voyageurs because they do not have to choose between the two.  Why would we create friction where none currently exists?  There are also significant numbers of members of the same group and other groups who do not support Canada not because they are sovereignists but because they are not Canadian citizens.

 

Appreciate that. Good points and all very fair. However, is it really anything more than just an awkward situation for some people? If you are a voyageur and part of the 1642MTL group, both of your teams are on display, but it could change the way the support gets delivered, or maybe it doesn't have to. Awkward but that would be the situation playing any domestic club.

Playing a Ligue 1 or Serie A club would be better from this perspective, maybe Bolonga, but what kind of team would they be sending? What kind of team will Valencia be sending to Mexico? 

[ahmedou]

49 minutes ago, Wasp said:

If they decide to play a game in Montreal, which is long overdue, I hope they don't end up playing CF Montreal. As someone who lives in Montreal, there's still a hesitancy to fully embrace the Canadian identity and despite being a largely federalist city (vs. Quebec City which is more nationalist/separatist) there is still a lot of provincial and Quebecois pride. Having Canada play against Montreal's only other major professional sports team other than the Canadiens will not do any favours for Canada to broadly try and grow national team support in Montreal and Quebec.

Really hope they can find another international opponent for that match as I don't think playing CF Montreal is a good idea at all.

I'm ok to make a friendly game of Canada Soccer vs CF Montreal in Montreal. 

It's the job of Canada Soccer and CF Montreal to sensitize the Quebecois and the Canadians. And Canada Soccer and CF Montreal are doing a pretty job about that. 

We've a huge group of Voyageurs in Montreal.

The Canada Soccer Women's National Team are always well welcomed in Montreal. It'll be the same with Canada Soccer Men's National Team. 

There's Quebecois that are fans of Canada Soccer Women's National team because they're proud to have Quebecoise soccer players representing Canada Soccer, or because they love soccer, or because we've a good national team.

There's Quebecois that are fans of Canada Soccer Men's National team because they're proud to have Quebecois soccer players are playing with Canada Soccer, or because they love soccer or because we've a good national team.

We've Quebecois soccer players from thare proud to represent Canada Soccer (Piette, Kone, Bombito, Sirois, Saliba, etc).

We've Quebecois medias that are covering Canada Soccer because of they're proud to have Quebecois soccer players that are playing with Canada Soccer or because they love covering soccer.

And of course there's Quebecois soccer fans that are only fans of Montreal Impact or CF Montral and not Canada Soccer. And that's normal. 

Soccer unite Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians in Quebec. Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians are brothers because of soccer. 

Quebec soccer fans are Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians that are supporting Montreal Impact or CF Montreal together.

Montreal Soccer Ultras are Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians that are supporting Montreal Impact or CF Montreal. The rule #1 for Montreal Soccer Ultras is it's about soccer - no place to politics.

In Quebec, there's no place for politics when it's soccer. It's soccer only. The favorite sport of Immigrants in Quebec. And it started to become the favorite sport of Quebecois.

[Obinna]

23 minutes ago, ahmedou said:

I'm ok to make a friendly game of Canada Soccer vs CF Montreal in Montreal. 

It's the job of Canada Soccer and CF Montreal to sensitize the Quebecois and the Canadians. And Canada Soccer and CF Montreal are doing a pretty job about that. 

We've a huge group of Voyageurs in Montreal.

The Canada Soccer Women's National Team are always well welcomed in Montreal. It'll be the same with Canada Soccer Men's National Team. 

There's Quebecois that are fans of Canada Soccer Women's National team because they're proud to have Quebecoise soccer players representing Canada Soccer, or because they love soccer, or because we've a good national team.

There's Quebecois that are fans of Canada Soccer Men's National team because they're proud to have Quebecois soccer players are playing with Canada Soccer, or because they love soccer or because we've a good national team.

We've Quebecois soccer players from thare proud to represent Canada Soccer (Piette, Kone, Bombito, Sirois, Saliba, etc).

We've Quebecois medias that are covering Canada Soccer because of they're proud to have Quebecois soccer players that are playing with Canada Soccer or because they love covering soccer.

And of course there's Quebecois soccer fans that are only fans of Montreal Impact or CF Montral and not Canada Soccer. And that's normal. 

Soccer unite Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians in Quebec. Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians are brothers because of soccer. 

Quebec soccer fans are Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians that are supporting Montreal Impact or CF Montreal together.

Montreal Soccer Ultras are Quebecois, Immigrants and Canadians that are supporting Montreal Impact or CF Montreal. The rule #1 for Montreal Soccer Ultras is it's about soccer - no place to politics.

In Quebec, there's no place for politics when it's soccer. It's soccer only. The favorite sport of Immigrants in Quebec. And it started to become the favorite sport of Quebecois.

All of this can be summarized as "there is nothing to worry about with Canada playing CF Montreal". And I would agree with that. Short of some potentially awkward internal feelings affecting a limited number of people, what is the big deal?

[ahmedou]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

All of this can be summarized as "there is nothing to worry about with Canada playing CF Montreal". 

Abrege frere!

Time saved: 10 seconds

[Wasp]

5 hours ago, Obinna said:

Interesting post. I would like to see a ven diagram of separatists and CF Montreal fans. How many are out there?

Edit: Another question - by the way you make it sound, wouldn't Canada playing against CF Montreal actually be a good idea from the perspective of Canadian nationalism, since there is a big need for the city to see Canada play, given there are separatist elements in the city (supposedly)?   

Maybe I'm way overthinking it, but I just don't see a lot of CF Montreal fans, who I would assume would also make up a lot of the national team supporters in the city, wanting to go and cheer against their home squad in favour of Team Canada. My fear would be that it would reinforce the "Montreal/Quebec vs. Rest-of-Canada" perspective, since it literally would be that just in soccer match form.

I think having Canada play against another country in Montreal would be much better than playing against CF Montreal is all I'm saying.

[Obinna]

4 minutes ago, Wasp said:

Maybe I'm way overthinking it, but I just don't see a lot of CF Montreal fans, who I would assume would also make up a lot of the national team supporters in the city, wanting to go and cheer against their home squad in favour of Team Canada. My fear would be that it would reinforce the "Montreal/Quebec vs. Rest-of-Canada" perspective, since it literally would be that just in soccer match form.

I think having Canada play against another country in Montreal would be much better than playing against CF Montreal is all I'm saying.

For me there is no reason to worry because.....why should we hide it if that's the reality? Why not just let it be? I am not sure this match will have much of a reach beyond the soccer-sphere anyway, if that's your concern. 

I see this game being more of a celebration rather than a competition over who has more red or blue in the stands. And even if there is more blue in the stands, it should be expected, as this is Montreal's home turf in every respect. 

For context I don't live in Quebec, so maybe I don't appreciate these sensitivities in the same way a Montrealer or Quebecer would. It literally didn't cross my mind until it because a talking point in this thread. 

[EJsens1]

 

5 minutes ago, Wasp said:

I think having Canada play against another country in Montreal would be much better than playing against CF Montreal is all I'm saying.

I don’t think anyone is really disputing that in general, but I think playing Montreal over say St Kitts as an example, is a more compelling matchup to watch, not to mention financially a better option in selling tickets in Montreal’s backyard. It’s something different and between now and ‘26, our options will be limited during international breaks until teams are either eliminated from qualifying or qualification is complete 

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, EJsens1 said:

 

I don’t think anyone is really disputing that in general, but I think playing Montreal over say St Kitts as an example, is a more compelling matchup to watch, not to mention financially a better option in selling tickets in Montreal’s backyard. It’s something different and between now and ‘26, our options will be limited during international breaks until teams are either eliminated from qualifying or qualification is complete 

It's a novel idea to play CF Montreal and it's definitely more intriguing, but playing St. Kitts would have been better in terms of getting CONCACAF and FIFA points. The latter doesn't matter right now but getting CONCACAF points does because it bolsters our chance of a favorable QF draw in the Nations League.

[Mihairokov]

14 minutes ago, EJsens1 said:

 

I don’t think anyone is really disputing that in general, but I think playing Montreal over say St Kitts as an example, is a more compelling matchup to watch, not to mention financially a better option in selling tickets in Montreal’s backyard. It’s something different and between now and ‘26, our options will be limited during international breaks until teams are either eliminated from qualifying or qualification is complete 

I don't mean to be pedantic but Concacaf countries like St. Kitts are not available as they're playing two Concacaf NL matches in the October window. IIRC our options internationally are incredibly slim, especially given what others have said in that we're less than a month out to book travel, hotels etc.

Edited 19 hours ago by Mihairokov

[EJsens1]

7 minutes ago, Mihairokov said:

I don't mean to be pedantic but Concacaf countries like St. Kitts are not available as they're playing two Concacaf NL matches in the October window. IIRC our options internationally are incredibly slim, especially given what others have said in that we're less than a month out to book travel, hotels etc.

It was just a hypothetical example. The point is St Kitts or whatever concacaf team outside of the perceived top 10 you slide in there is not moving the needle for an extra game during this international break. I feel Montreal gives a better match up 

[Mihairokov]

3 hours ago, EJsens1 said:

It was just a hypothetical example. The point is St Kitts or whatever concacaf team outside of the perceived top 10 you slide in there is not moving the needle for an extra game during this international break. I feel Montreal gives a better match up 

Agreed on that part. I don't have any issues with CMNT playing an MLS side given the circumstances, outside of our manager's current MLS affiliation-in-title.