goleafs67

As disappointing as it was to be right there and let it slip out of our hands, we need to keep some things in perspective:
1) We played away
2) We took the lead in extra time (have never seen that from us)
3) We fought to the end
4) We built some depth
Again, it got to be better. It feels like the Belgium match where a better team was there for the taking and we let them off the hook. That said, Ahmed, Bombito, Schaffleburg, JRR and Nelson got some valuable experience. 4 of those 5 got to play in a knockout match against the hosts. Each of them put out good showings. That points to a bright future. 
Now what's needed is for these guys to go back to club and keep growing. At least a few of them will end up filling out the tail end of our A selection very soon. For me Schaffleburg has to be a top that list, followed closely by Ahmed.

VAR hasn't been around very long but it is normally the practice that the VAR booth calls down during a stoppage in play. For the 2nd PK shout, they called down during the play and without waiting for a whistle to let the Ref know that there is such a blatant PK in the box that he needs to see it immediately - that's how incredibly 100% stone cold of a penalty it was. So what does the guy do? He looks at it and decides to give a foul for pushing that he chose to ignore the first time round. And if anyone argues that maybe he didn't see the shove the first time nor did he see the blatantly obvious PK, then it is grounds for asking what the fuck game he is actually watching. The guy missed three PKs on the field, two of them VAR had to catch for him. Even the one that we finally were awarded, no less than four Canadian players (some of whom were further away from the play than the Ref was) shouted immediately and simultaneously for a handball, while the Ref ignored it, and even after the ball went out of bounds he still wasn't planning to do anything about it even when Osorio ran up to him and told him to check for another handball he missed. Then in the last minute of injury time, Canada has an odd-man rush in our favour but one of our players (can't remember if it it was Brym or JRR), just to put the icing on the cake of shit officiating, is shoved off the ball from behind with a far more blatant two handed shove that what Bombito was called for, nullifying our break and sending the US the other way that ultimately gave them a dangerous last-minute free kick.
So yeah, not giving (what would have been a harsh) straight red to Cavallini notwithstanding, this Ref's undeniable inconsistency helped to thwart Canada. But what else is new when it comes to the Gold Cup matches against the US?

If McGraw had scored, would they have waved it off for that push? Of course not. Ref was looking for an excuse to get bailed out.

There you go.   Gold Cup in the US every time.  Getting homer calls.  AtibaWasOnside.  Fucking CONCACAF.  

Anthems are really Kaye's bread and butter.  If there was a way to have him in the starting lineup but not actually start the game, that would be ideal.

on the FS1 broadcast, Landon Donovan just confirmed that he was eligible to play for Canada (and that his Dad is probably cheering for us).
Other than that, this FS1 broadcast is just awful. For everyone calling Wheeler and OneSoccer homers... try living south of the border.

Truth is, as they just said, we have a real problem when we have no Eustaquio.  Given that, we can either wait for the next Eustaquio to appear, or we can train someone up to be the understudy.  Not ideal, but understandable.

I like that Bombito is starting, despite previous performance... and even if he sucks tonight.
Eye on 2026.

I have been a fan of this team for around 30 years. 
I hope we win Sunday but I think this specific team will probably lose.
In all likelihood, I have been wasting my time following this team as it has largely been an exercise in masochism.  But here I am.  

If we win, can you delete your account?
 

This baffles me, why do posters hate on a player who always answers the call and does a pretty solid job at a position of need? Regardless of his club situation he has been useful in this tournament, he picks some good passes and has been overall safe with the ball with a couple of exceptions, he also has a history of good sub performances vs the US, our first Nations Lg victory at BMO and the match in Hamilton come to mind!

And that pass from Fraser to Millar starting the play is why he is in the starting lineup over Loturi. Once in a while he pulls something like that out. Would rather see Loturi personally but Fraser occasionally shows talent like that.

C'mon now!
Do they know about him?
They probably need you to tell them that Lazar Stefanovic and Stefan Lazovic are different guys.

Yes, that was like a good old Concacaf away match with the heat, humidity and boisterous crowd, lacked the armed guards in the stands though!

No final ball and no one on the end of it who poses a multi-faceted threat to putting away any service that does get in to him.  So that's that.
We knew going into this tourney that this would be a goal shy side, so I don't think anyone should be surprised with that.  Laryea's sneaky acceleration on the dribble makes things happen down the right but otherwise we didn't generate anything consistently menacing.  Then, when they had one defensive breakdown late in the game, the technical limitations of the player receiving the ball turned a gilt-edged chance into a save:  brave keeping but Shaffelburg should have buried that one.
It's a team of supporting cast actors missing a leading man or two, especially in attack.  And though Guatemala worked hard, they also lack the quality needed to punish an opponent.  Seems appropriate:  this edition of the Gold Cup has more of the NIT tourney feel to it than a March Madness.

There was always going to be a bill to pay after leaning so hard on the brotherhood guys for so long. The advantage is those guys got really familiar with each other. The drawback is very few outside it have been properly incorporated. If we can weather the Cuba game, get to a quarterfinal, and keep it close against Jamaica/USA, I would consider that about as successful as you could expect given roster quality and the complete lack of familiarity the new guys have.

This feels exactly like a WCQ match from 20 or 30 years ago.

Herdman always makes me feel better after watching him speak. Class act with a mission to leave the program better than he found it. Some may question his tactics, but he's the ultimate professional and just oozes integrity - no wonder he's such a great leader. We are lucky to have him. 
NL Rant
I think people have been harsh on his comments post NL defeat, especially the comments about putting in a good performance, but for me he's looking at the game from a different lense - don't know what to call it, a bigger picture view perhaps?
I agree with KJ and others when they disagree with Herdman about the performance, and call it lackluster, uninspired, etc., but I agree with Herdman's interpretation of the game as well. The stats back up his view about the game. We had some good moments, breaking lines and bending without breaking against a USA team that could "run you over" as he put it. As I have said before, it's an away final against a superior (on paper) opponent, in a country we haven't won against at home since 1950-whatever, and against an opponent galvanized by pummelling their biggest rivals, which arguably was emotionally bigger than winning the final against us. Combine that with a lack of prep and the niggles we had and the end result of 2-0 is to be expected, if not a respectable showing from us. I get that nobody wants to call it "respectable", but taking a bigger picture, holistic view of the situation, you can see it that way. It may require you to see it as a neutral though, which I am not sure many people on our side have been doing (understandable).
There is a good reason why the American fans have given us credit for the effort we put up, more than we give ourselves, and that's because they see the bigger picture, or at least are not viewing it from a Canada-centric perspective. 
I don't think he is making excuses. I think he's being realistic about where the program is. 

What I meant was more that we played in a group with 3 teams in the world top 15, which is crazy, but in reality, we played 3 teams in the world top 10 which is even crazier. I don’t buy that Belgium was ever the second best team in the world (or 5th for that matter), but the point is that we had to play in a group with a top 5 team and two top 10 teams, and yet we’re pissed because we should’ve won one of those games and had a chance to draw another. That’s crazy.

and for those that say that we failed at the WC, because  we should have at least got a point in the 3 group games, take note:
Belgium is ranked #5, Croatia #6 & Morocco # 13
 

This is exactly what I expected this side to look like without our top four or five players. Exactly the Canada I followed for  all the previous incarnations of Canada during my lifetime. Uninspiring, uneven, lacking in every dimension including cohesion and confidence and, most certainly, not a powerhouse in our confederation.
Somewhat sadly, it's all very familiar to me.
Fortunately this is a one off, mostly inconsequential tournament and, while not here at the moment, we DO have those half dozen players of true class. So we move on.

I keep seeing these takes but what quality in our starting 11 are you referring to? 
We have serviceable guys who play in MLS or in mid-level European leagues in our starting 11. In our subs we have guys in low-level European leagues or guys out of contract/struggling for playing time. 
You take the game breakers out of this roster (who stayed home) and it's not so different from Canada 6 years ago where drawing or losing to Guadeloupe or Martinique wasn't that far-fetched. 

There is a fall-off in talent yes; but it is exacerbated significantly by a fall-off in experience and teammate familiarity in this particular case. I'm not sure what the modern-day record is for a national handing out 1st caps in, not just a meaningful match, but one that is technically a continental champsionship - or rather, what it was, because I think we must have broken it tonight with 5. I think this is why I am perhaps not as down as some, because frankly I don't know what expectations to have for this tourney - usually when the Gold Cup is a B-team tourney for the big teams, we aren't one of the big team and we're sending an A-minus team to compete. Not this time - this is the most decidedly B team I think we have sent to the Gold Cup in a very long time, if ever. I think we should expect to get out of the group and hope that performances improve as this particular B team gains some familiarity & experience to close some of the massive gap from the fall-off, but after that...

It's exactly like it used to be

Exactly this. Change for the sake of change is stupid, and akin to throwing shit at a wall. If there is someone who is clearly better, who is willing to work within the financial constraints which Herdman has mostly excelled in, who is available and willing to make the move, and who is willing to work with the dumpster fire that is Canada Soccer, then by all means. But I don't think that person exists. The managers that we want, we can't get. The managers that we can get are going to be lateral moves if we're lucky.
I mean, we didn't have success at the World Cup in the group of death, and we lost a final to an excellent USA. That's not grounds for dismissal.