football_world

Not going to complain after that performance. Overall it was all that we could ask for.
I just hope we score a goal next match.

I don't have a lot of time for any negative reactions to this game. Canada was better and football happened. 

Alphonso streaming on Twitch now: https://www.twitch.tv/thatboydavies19. I think somebody asked about his leg and Alphonso said it was "fine." He didn't go into more detail on it.  I am assuming from the TSN report on Alphonso that the injury isn't that severe and Alphonso is still expected to play in the World Cup.
Also, am I one of the few Canadians that follow and watch Alphonso on Twitch?  His Twitch chat has more international fans than Canadian fans. I encourage a few of you to come watch him on Twitch and participate in the Twitch chat when he streams, then I won't feel like the lone Canadian fan in the chat 🤣

He’s watching the Canada Soccer documentary series !  

Twitch this morning
He doesn't say much other than , “how’s the leg… not bad” at 6:40ish
https://m.twitch.tv/videos/1646839641

Just to make it easier to view 
 
 

I'm so happy that soccer is growing in popularity in Canada. To be honest, I'm not a die hard NHL or hockey fan. I enjoy the NHL and I enjoy hockey, and I always cheer for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics, but for me, I have always loved soccer more than hockey.
So it means that much more to me that Canada has qualified for the World Cup.  Because sadly, even if Team Canada wins a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in hockey, if you travel to countries in Africa, South America, or even Asia, nobody really knows that Canada won a gold medal in hockey at the Winter Olympics.  However, people around the world know that South Korea made the semi-finals at the 2002 World Cup.  Or that Japan also qualified for the playoffs in the 2002 World Cup.  People in Africa, South America, and Asia will know about this.  People from around the world will know about this.  And people around the world will take notice when Canada is in the World Cup this year.

That's what I was looking for.

Late to this thread, but got to say I agree @football_world's premise that there is a positive feedback loop between the success of the USMNT and success and level of play in MLS, and that a better MLS is good for Canadian footie.
I would acknowledge MLS is an America first league, and the Canadian teams and players are often second class citizens but the above remains true, and I don't think being a partisan CMNT fan is mutually exclusive with recognizing that we don't exist on an island and sometimes what's good for other teams can be good for us as well.
By the same token I am a fan of improvement of the level of other CONCACAF  national teams and the CONCACAF Champions league. Again I feel like these are tides that raise all boats, including and most importantly our own.
I also generally cheer for (most) CONCACAF teams to do well against national teams from other confederations because I think it enhances the reputation of CONCACAF generally, which ultimately is good for Canadian footie, and provides more opportunities for Canadian players abroad. Except Honduras... F@#% Honduras!

So hear me out.  I normally don't care if the US does well in sports.  Actually, in Olympic men's basketball, I find myself cheering against the US national team, because their Olympic men's basketball team is like Goliath and I like cheering for the basketball teams of other countries who are David, to beat Goliath.  But when it comes to soccer, I am constantly cheering for the US national team, except when they play Canada (of course I will cheer for Canada when they play the US).  The reasoning is, the better the US national men's soccer team performs, especially in the World Cup, this will help the MLS, and an improvement in the MLS will benefit Canadian players, thereby making our national team better.
I have dreamed of Canada to make the World Cup for the longest time.  It all happened sooner than I expected, so I am not complaining.  But there was no way we would make the World Cup again, and be competitive in the World Cup, unless our national players are playing with better players.  And I strongly believe MLS is making our players better, and also provide a decent salary for Canadian players that can't make it to Europe.  I remember when MLS first started in 1996, a lot of the MLS players were part time professionals, and had to do a part time job on the side, because their salary from the MLS was too low for them to make a living.  Gradually, things got better over time and now, most players in the MLS make enough money that they can focus on training full time with their team.  And then the DPs started coming into the MLS, starting with Beckham at first. Today, there are so many DPs in MLS, and the level of play in the MLS has risen substantially since 1996.  The rising level of play in the MLS, in turn, has benefitted our national team in Canada.
This goes back to why I cheer for the US national team (except when they play Canada).  When Americans see that the US national team does better in soccer, they in turn are more willing to go to MLS games,  spend money on MLS tickets and memorabilia, watch MLS on TV, etc.  MLS gets more revenue and the individual MLS teams can spend more on players.  MLS spending more on acquiring better players, allows our Canadians in the MLS to play with better soccer players from around the world, and therefore, improve faster. And of course, the MLS academies also help in developing players.  And the US national team will improve, just like the Canadian national team will improve, as the MLS gets better.  This is like a feedback loop -> US national team does well in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments -> more American fans watch the MLS and pay more for MLS tickets -> higher revenue for the MLS means MLS team gets better players -> better players in the MLS allows the US national team to do even better in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments.  And this will lift the Canadian national team up to.  Not to mention that a lot of Canadians tune into US media, so when soccer is at the forefront of US media because the US national team does well, it also helps to raise the profile of soccer in Canadian sports fans.
For better or worse, I think the Canadian national team's success is also tied to the US national team success. It's like the rising tide for the US national team will also lift Canada as well, through the MLS getting better.  And if the MLS becomes at top 5 soccer league one day, on par with the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A, I think both the US and Canada can be well positioned to finally win a World Cup.
For this reason, I find myself cheering for the US national team to do well in high profile soccer tournaments like the World Cup.  Our path to winning the World Cup is tied to the US path as well.  Are there other fans of the Canadian national team who also cheer for the US national team for this reason?
 

I think the success of the US national team is good for the region, which ultimately is good for us in a all tides rising sort of way, not sure that's the proper way to word that analogy. However, I think our success, and the USMNT's success is more tied to the increase in MLS' popularity. I am not saying we won't improve if MLS stagnates but our NT will improve a lot quicker if the popularity of the league continues to increase. A strong MLS will encourage more kids to stick with the sport and they will strive to reach the top not unlike what the Raps and the NBA did for Canadian basketball talent.   

So hear me out.  I normally don't care if the US does well in sports.  Actually, in Olympic men's basketball, I find myself cheering against the US national team, because their Olympic men's basketball team is like Goliath and I like cheering for the basketball teams of other countries who are David, to beat Goliath.  But when it comes to soccer, I am constantly cheering for the US national team, except when they play Canada (of course I will cheer for Canada when they play the US).  The reasoning is, the better the US national men's soccer team performs, especially in the World Cup, this will help the MLS, and an improvement in the MLS will benefit Canadian players, thereby making our national team better.
I have dreamed of Canada to make the World Cup for the longest time.  It all happened sooner than I expected, so I am not complaining.  But there was no way we would make the World Cup again, and be competitive in the World Cup, unless our national players are playing with better players.  And I strongly believe MLS is making our players better, and also provide a decent salary for Canadian players that can't make it to Europe.  I remember when MLS first started in 1996, a lot of the MLS players were part time professionals, and had to do a part time job on the side, because their salary from the MLS was too low for them to make a living.  Gradually, things got better over time and now, most players in the MLS make enough money that they can focus on training full time with their team.  And then the DPs started coming into the MLS, starting with Beckham at first. Today, there are so many DPs in MLS, and the level of play in the MLS has risen substantially since 1996.  The rising level of play in the MLS, in turn, has benefitted our national team in Canada.
This goes back to why I cheer for the US national team (except when they play Canada).  When Americans see that the US national team does better in soccer, they in turn are more willing to go to MLS games,  spend money on MLS tickets and memorabilia, watch MLS on TV, etc.  MLS gets more revenue and the individual MLS teams can spend more on players.  MLS spending more on acquiring better players, allows our Canadians in the MLS to play with better soccer players from around the world, and therefore, improve faster. And of course, the MLS academies also help in developing players.  And the US national team will improve, just like the Canadian national team will improve, as the MLS gets better.  This is like a feedback loop -> US national team does well in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments -> more American fans watch the MLS and pay more for MLS tickets -> higher revenue for the MLS means MLS team gets better players -> better players in the MLS allows the US national team to do even better in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments.  And this will lift the Canadian national team up to.  Not to mention that a lot of Canadians tune into US media, so when soccer is at the forefront of US media because the US national team does well, it also helps to raise the profile of soccer in Canadian sports fans.
For better or worse, I think the Canadian national team's success is also tied to the US national team success. It's like the rising tide for the US national team will also lift Canada as well, through the MLS getting better.  And if the MLS becomes at top 5 soccer league one day, on par with the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A, I think both the US and Canada can be well positioned to finally win a World Cup.
For this reason, I find myself cheering for the US national team to do well in high profile soccer tournaments like the World Cup.  Our path to winning the World Cup is tied to the US path as well.  Are there other fans of the Canadian national team who also cheer for the US national team for this reason?
 

Americans could join hands along the border from Seattle to Bangor and shit quarters for 40 days and 40 nights, and some ideologically entrenched posters on here would be mad at them for littering. 
 

Fact check: TFC started investing heavily in their academy program long before CanPL was even in the planning stage.
https://www.torontofc.ca/news/downsview-become-academy-home 

Excellent point. The "USA sucks" crowd should have fun with it. 

The Montreal Olympique and the Toronto Metros joined the NASL in 1971: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Soccer_League_(1968–1984). 15 years later in 1986, Canada qualified for the World Cup.  It just takes time to develop players.
Having said that, MLS gets credit, CPL gets credit, and other foreign teams outside Canada (ie. European teams) that developed our players get credit for this World Cup qualification. 

You bring up a lot of points. But it's a chain reaction that led to the formation of the CPL, starting with the success of the MLS.
Of course the success of TFC helped MLS succeed.  But your exact quote was, "'I'd like to give way more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs than the league."  I don't even understand the logic of such a quote.
The credit for the formation of the CPL was due to a lot of factors, including MLS and the resurgence of soccer in Canada/US being one of the factors.  Why would you give more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs?  The 3 Canadian clubs wouldn't exist without the MLS in the first place.  And the MLS may not exist and could have gone bankrupt, if the US hadn't made that run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup (read this article on how the US run in the 2002 World Cup was a factor that helped the MLS survive - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/04/12/mls-folded-for-a-few-days-in-2001-and-somehow-kept-it-a-secret-until-now/ - albeit, there were other factors that helped the MLS survive as well).
So a lot of factors contributed to the formation of the CPL.  Saying something like, "'I'd like to give way more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs than the league," makes no sense and is kind of looking at a very warped lens of history.

You bring up a lot of points. But it's a chain reaction that led to the formation of the CPL, starting with the success of the MLS.
Of course the success of TFC helped MLS succeed.  But your exact quote was, "'I'd like to give way more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs than the league."  I don't even understand the logic of such a quote.
The credit for the formation of the CPL was due to a lot of factors, including MLS and the resurgence of soccer in Canada/US being one of the factors.  Why would you give more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs?  The 3 Canadian clubs wouldn't exist without the MLS in the first place.  And the MLS may not exist and could have gone bankrupt, if the US hadn't made that run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup (read this article on how the US run in the 2002 World Cup was a factor that helped the MLS survive - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/04/12/mls-folded-for-a-few-days-in-2001-and-somehow-kept-it-a-secret-until-now/ - albeit, there were other factors that helped the MLS survive as well).
So a lot of factors contributed to the formation of the CPL.  Saying something like, "'I'd like to give way more credit to the 3 Canadian clubs than the league," makes no sense and is kind of looking at a very warped lens of history.

So you are saying Blatter demanded the creation of the CPL for Canada to co-host the World Cup with the US and Mexico? If Blatter demanded the creation of the CPL for Canada to co-host the WC, you can also thank the MLS.
Like I said before, interest in forming the CPL from the Canadian owners was from the resurgence of soccer in Canada/US. The resurgence of soccer in Canada is owed to the resurgence of soccer in the US, primarily through the MLS and the performance of the US national team at the World Cup.  Without the MLS, you don't have a resurgence in soccer in Canada/US.  Then you don't have the CPL. 
I can't imagine any scenario where the CPL is started without the Canadian owners of the CPL seeing the success of the MLS first.  Just go back to the period between the fall of the NASL and the first introduction of Canadian MLS teams. There was no interest from business owners in forming a league like the CPL between the fall of the NASL up to the introduction of the Canadian MLS teams.

There is one key difference though between Brazil and Argentina, and Canada.  Soccer (or should I say, futbol), is a main part of the culture in Argentina and Brazil.  In Canada, it’s not.  Hockey is our culture.
The bottom line is, we probably won’t win a World Cup until soccer becomes a main part of our culture, like it has in other countries that have won the World Cup.  
And I can’t see soccer becoming a main part of Canadian culture unless MLS becomes a top 5 league in the world.  We’ve seen what Canadian soccer looks after the NASL folded up to the introduction of TFC, CF Montreal, and the Whitecaps - Canadian soccer was just depressing in the years between the folding of the NASL to the introduction of the Canadian MLS teams.

I will cheer for all the CONCACAF teams at the World Cup, yes. And I want to play them in the knock-out rounds and thump the living poop outa them.  
I want the CONCACAF nations to show the rest of the world that we can play.  
But all I really want is an excellent overall performance from out lads, maybe get out of the group and play Germany in the R16.

The MLS has been a big help to Canadian Soccer, and if it wasnt for MLS and maybe  the success of TFC  we would not see CPL(Maybe thats a bit of a stretch). MLS is a decent league not the greatest  and it has given the likes of OSO, Larin , buchanan, etc a place to play 

Indeed.   You cant get the WC unless you have some sort of domestic league.  The US got the WC in 1994 but they made the exception at the time by agreeing to the condition that it would be created soon after.  Which it did, in 1996 MLS was launched.    
That said,  I am fine with calling MLS a domestic league.  Its the clubs that count and how will funded they are that counts for me, and we have three of those.   Can you produce environment that competitive and grows the game by attracting new fans?  MLS has done done that and provided good paying opportunities for some Canadians.  As for whether there is club in this city or that city is really secondary to me.  And neither does where the head office is located.   

If we want to win the World Cup, we need our most talented young Canadian athletes choosing soccer as their profession, that's why.  And that won't happen unless soccer becomes immensely more popular in Canada.  I honestly think soccer needs to become the #1 sport or #2 sport in Canada, for us to produce the talent to win a World Cup.  Maybe #2 might not be enough. Soccer might have to become the #1 sport in Canada for us to win the World Cup.
A lot of our young athletes, especially young teenagers around 14 to 16 years of age, often choose other sports, other than soccer, as their profession.  An example is Steve Nash.  Steve Nash was very talented as a soccer player and basketball player in his teenager years.  Unfortunately for the Canadian national soccer team, Steve Nash chose basketball as his profession, over soccer.  Who knows how good Steve Nash could have been in soccer if he chose soccer over basketball.
When soccer becomes the #1 sport in Canada, young talented Canadian athletes in their teens, who are talented in multiple sports, will have more incentive to choose soccer.  This will give us a wider talent pool, and a better talent pool, to choose from for the national team.  For soccer to become the #1 sport in Canada, I think the MLS will need to become a top 5 soccer league in the world, on par with the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesligue, and Serie A.