Copa America: Canada vs Venezuela - Friday, July 5th - 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific - Arlington, Texas

[Raven]

15 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

I'm drained.  The wife and kid finally got to see why I am always so excited, so committed to OUR TEAM.  I have told her the story of the 2000 gold cup and the coin toss and then the slow build up of confidence game by game, then unbelieving numbness on the golden goal and finally the pride that we won.  After the peru game i told her it was starting to feel like that, like we were getting some breaks (reds) and we had the skill to take advantage. 

So proud of the effort, all the individual duels the guys won against their opposite number (Johnsotn vs Soteldo was HUGE!!).  They never seemed rattled even with the deflating chip from damn near half, never lost faith, battled for each other....sounds corny but those guys make me proud to be Canadian.  And after the penalties, so articulate and genuine in their interviews.  WOW, just WOW.  Maybe tomorow I can complain about missed chances or players that didnt play well, but right now its all  love for this team.   If this doesnt win over a new generation of kids  and create CMNT fans for life like the 2000 gold cup did for me, I dont know what will.  

Waited soo long forCanada to do well on World stage…..see above.

[CanadaFan123]

2 minutes ago, PastPros said:

Does anyone think we have seen Canada at their best yet (in this tournament)?

To me, that's the most remarkable thing. To make it this far without playing our best.

100% agreed and there’s so many comments in this thread that are worthy of reply but this is what stands out to me. We haven’t played our best. What can we achieve if we do?

[rkomar]

This can't be their best with all those missed shots.  Also, it would be nice to win a few more balls in the air.  We got taken to the woodshed by Venezuela in the latter category, even by their short players.  However, we were as good as I've seen in many other areas.

[DeRo_Is_King]

2 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Our players are also set to be on a massive stage against you know who, lots of club eyes on them.  A good club won't make a transfer solely based on one game or even one tournament but it may start some new scouting and it may be the straw that broke the camel's back in a good way for others. 

 

Wishing France a little extra luck in the Euros.  That result gave us a seed of confidence I think. 

For sure. The exposure is huge. Like others have said as well, we have two more games regardless and two more chances to play amazing opposition. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

 

[jonovision]

In just over a month, this group of players will have played Netherlands, France, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina again, and then an opponent like Colombia or Brazil. That's more than a World Cup finalist's run worth of games, and against mostly World Cup calibre opposition.

[jonovision]

Earlier today I was chuckling to myself watching a guy clamber up onto his car with a ratchet set to remove the Portugal flag from the roof (not sure why it needed to be so secure). I should go by tomorrow and see if he wants a Canada car flag. 

[Borjans Sweatpants]

There’s the one I’ve been looking for

[Corazon]

I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight!  What a result.  What a game.  What a performance.

Copa America Semi Finalists!

Crepeau - Imo, partly to blame for the goal against.  But other than that, he’s the same Maxine Crepeau he’s been all tournament.  Two great saves in the shootout.  Someone get a still frame of his face after his saves.

Johnston - Another very good game for him.  Back to back excellent performances.  Had Soteldo in his pocket for most of that first half.

Bombito - Excellent performance again aside from gettied bullied on our goal against.  Has some moments that make remember he’s still only played a few dozen professional games.  Great penalty.

Cornelius - Another spectacular performance.  He has some incredible long balls as well.

Davies - One of his best performances for country ever in my opinion.  He looked like the superstar out.  Great penalty.

Laryea - Not his best performance again.   Clearly still trying to get going from the injury.  But had some important plays for us.

Osorio - Not a great first half but an improved second half.  Still impressed and surprised with his last couple performances.

Eustaquio - Looked a bit sloppy early on, but progressed with the game and had some incredible passes.  Works hard and wins balls.  Dreadful penalty though.

Shaffelburg - Absolute menace on the left side, especially in the first half.  Earned his goal.  Great performance and I expect another start.

Larin - Had another difficult game.  Not really involved much and missed his chances.

David - Really struggled in that first half but still so critical with his work rate.  Second half was much better passing and exceptional pass overtop to Tani.  Needs to be more clinical in front of net.  Solid penalty and glad he went first.

Millar - Wasn’t his best performance but worked hard defensively and had a nice chance with a rather spectacular save.  Unfortunate on the penalty as well.

Ahmed - I thought he struggled to get involved but also didn’t look out of step at all.  Poor finish on his chance created by David.

Tani - Created a lot once again.  Marsch hasn’t been afraid to make changes, I wonder if Tani has done enough to earn a start.

Kone - Looked very good and showed that his ceiling is very high.  You can see the confidence he has.

[Joe MacCarthy]

[ECW]

On Johnston, I think Charlie O’Connor-Clarke got this about right. Solteldo will always win a few but I don’t think we could have had anyone better against him:

”Alistair Johnston led the way for Canada with five tackles in the first half and eight total defensive actions, winning six out of seven ground duels. The Celtic fullback went head-to-head with the shifty winger Soteldo and largely got the better of him, as the ex-Toronto FC attacker won just one of his eight duels in the first 45 minutes.”

”The Venezuelans had adjusted well in the second half; they swapped Soteldo to play on the right side, trying to get him in behind Alphonso Davies. He still struggled to deliver into the box the way he wanted, but he did seem to find more space with the marking less tight to him on that flank.”

Edited Saturday at 05:33 AM by ECW

[Bigandy]

6 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

We had help because of red cards and played fairly poorly at times against both Peru and Chile.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I’m not sure why me saying that we shouldn’t be scared of Venezuela because they scored 6 goals is getting ahead of ourselves.  I’m not commenting on cmnt being better or playing fantastic, but surely we don’t need to overestimate Venezuela. 

[Bison44]

4 minutes ago, jonovision said:

In just over a month, this group of players will have played Netherlands, France, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina again, and then an opponent like Colombia or Brazil. That's more than a World Cup finalist's run worth of games, and against mostly World Cup calibre opposition.

And young guys, the guys that will carry that on for the next 10 years of the program, JRR, Tani, AHmed, BOOOMBITO!!!!  They are all just getting started with the program, they'll never know the bad old days eh???   I wonder if Jebbison or how many other duals are watching this??  

[BearcatSA]

Massive performance.  

Could have collapsed after that deflating tying goal but kept their nerve and delivered.

I thought the captain was excellent at LB, while Cornelius has really come into his own.

We should have put this out of reach but poor decision making or poor finishing kept them in the.match.

Well done, lads!!!

Edited Saturday at 02:38 PM by BearcatSA

[BearcatSA]

12 minutes ago, Corazon said:

I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight!  What a result.  What a game.  What a performance.

Copa America Semi Finalists!

Crepeau - Imo, partly to blame for the goal against.  But other than that, he’s the same Maxine Crepeau he’s been all tournament.  Two great saves in the shootout.  Someone get a still frame of his face after his saves.

Johnston - Another very good game for him.  Back to back excellent performances.  Had Soteldo in his pocket for most of that first half.

Bombito - Excellent performance again aside from gettied bullied on our goal against.  Has some moments that make remember he’s still only played a few dozen professional games.  Great penalty.

Cornelius - Another spectacular performance.  He has some incredible long balls as well.

Davies - One of his best performances for country ever in my opinion.  He looked like the superstar out.  Great penalty.

Laryea - Not his best performance again.   Clearly still trying to get going from the injury.  But had some important plays for us.

Osorio - Not a great first half but an improved second half.  Still impressed and surprised with his last couple performances.

Eustaquio - Looked a bit sloppy early on, but progressed with the game and had some incredible passes.  Works hard and wins balls.  Dreadful penalty though.

Shaffelburg - Absolute menace on the left side, especially in the first half.  Earned his goal.  Great performance and I expect another start.

Larin - Had another difficult game.  Not really involved much and missed his chances.

David - Really struggled in that first half but still so critical with his work rate.  Second half was much better passing and exceptional pass overtop to Tani.  Needs to be more clinical in front of net.  Solid penalty and glad he went first.

Millar - Wasn’t his best performance but worked hard defensively and had a nice chance with a rather spectacular save.  Unfortunate on the penalty as well.

Ahmed - I thought he struggled to get involved but also didn’t look out of step at all.  Poor finish on his chance created by David.

Tani - Created a lot once again.  Marsch hasn’t been afraid to make changes, I wonder if Tani has done enough to earn a start.

Kone - Looked very good and showed that his ceiling is very high.  You can see the confidence he has.

I agree totally with your assessments here.

[jonovision]

Both of Canada's goals and several of their biggest chances have been combinations between Shaffelburg and David. Not sure what point I'm trying to make here, but I would not have expected this going into the tournament.

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[The Beaver 2.0]

Though we didn't finish as many good chances as we should have, I am pleased to see we are indeed creating plenty of chances while giving up very few high quality chances against solid competition. 

Davies played one of his smartest, and best, games with the NT tonight. Alistair struggled in the earlier matches but is growing and growing, which leads me to believe he could play at a higher level than the SPL. Kone came on with purpose and energy and poise. Great to see! I thought the subs all handled themselves well under tough conditions, and we created all the good chances after Venezuela equalized.

Super proud of this group!

 

 

[Bison44]

Jeepers, a lot of sour grapes from the ESPN crew.  

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[The Beaver 2.0]

7 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Jeepers, a lot of sour grapes from the ESPN crew.  

Tell me about it! Who shat in Keller's Shreddies this morning? I mean, he's right in so much as we need to finish one of those chances, I'll give him that. (I guess the ESPN crew is playing to their Latino audience.)

 

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[kungfucious]

5 hours ago, Wayverider said:

Hey, for all of you watching the Euros and Copa on TSN I found this incredible feature on my tv which totally enhances the viewing experience. It’s called a volume control, and if you turn it to ‘mute’ you don’t have to listen to those two moronic know-it-alls Kevin Kilnane and Stephen Caldwell. Totally worth the value of purchasing this feature for your TV. 

i know u are critiquing the colour guys, but just curious if u rather that loser garreth calling the PxP over luke?

[narduch]

15 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Jeepers, a lot of sour grapes from the ESPN crew.  

I noticed the USA were semi finalists at the 2016 Copa they also hosted.

They really believe they should be there instead of us.

This really burns them.

[74 Whitecap]

54 minutes ago, Corazon said:

I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight!  What a result.  What a game.  What a performance.

Copa America Semi Finalists!

...

Davies - One of his best performances for country ever in my opinion.  He looked like the superstar out.  Great penalty.

....

Tani - Created a lot once again.  Marsch hasn’t been afraid to make changes, I wonder if Tani has done enough to earn a start.

Great summary, I have little to add, other than to really agree with the comments on Davies, possibly the best game he has played for us, and that is saying something - really showed his class all over the pitch. And while I agree about Tani creating a lot, I don't think he should start.

What a game, one to remember and savour, that is for sure!