cornerkick

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather face Tunisia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, UAE, and NZ in the group stage than Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Poland, Korea.  There won't be any easy matches, but I think there's a quality bump between pot 3 and pot 4.

Because they were afraid of getting bitten!

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather face Tunisia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, UAE, and NZ in the group stage than Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Poland, Korea.  There won't be any easy matches, but I think there's a quality bump between pot 3 and pot 4.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather face Tunisia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, UAE, and NZ in the group stage than Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Poland, Korea.  There won't be any easy matches, but I think there's a quality bump between pot 3 and pot 4.

Yes, but it's probably gonna be Peru rather than UAE, and we can't draw NZ since that's the CONCACAF/OFC playoff spot. I still agree that being in Pot 3 is probably better, but it's really close.

yeah, i agree...those teams, plus Croatia feel more winnable than Denmark, Germany, or the Netherlands. 

For me, I would like to play either Uruguay or the Swiss from pot 2. Uruguay would be fun as it gives our team experience against a south American side which isn’t Argentina or Brazil.

this was such a good program!  over 1.5 hours, zero ads, great interviews from past and present... highly recommend it

Devin is the goto guy at CBC for curling, and I was impressed by his reporting of the olympics and paralympics, including a story on paralympic athletes not getting any compensation for medals won (this policy has since changed). 
Hoping CBC will dispatch him to Qatar for the WC.  

this was such a good program!  over 1.5 hours, zero ads, great interviews from past and present... highly recommend it

You will want to hear John Herdman speak to how the team was built. Begins at the ~75 minute mark. Starts with "(Team members) were fighting" and spends a couple minutes talking about players like Larin and the engagement with the team. "Pedagogical leader" comment shows the depth he and his coaching team goes to optimize his performance in order for the team to reach and exceed their maximum performance. Osorio follows the Herdman interview, first topic w/ Osorio is about "a man with a plan". Would recommend the LeBlanc interview at ~60 minutes too.
 

I could see Larin getting minutes, maybe not starting, for the record chase.  

Anyone following the Panamanian team?  Based on what I’m reading, their manager was quite emotional after being eliminated yesterday, and wants to commit to Panama for another cycle.  Salary negotiations being the main obstacle…
 
https://panamagol.com/la-sele/entre-lagrimas-christiansen-asegura-que-quiere-renovar-con-panama/
i think they will be prepared and give a professional effort on Wednesday.

Awesome photo I found for those who want to save or frame etc.

I was 14 when we last made the World Cup. It has been tough being a fan of our national team for the past 36 years. I remember attending a WCQ match at Swanguard where us Voyageurs were out numbered 5 to 1 by the fans of the opposing team (Honduras, I think).  But there's been a core group of fans who've never given up on our program, most of us dwelling here to share opinions, organize our chants, bolster our spirits, and otherwise keep fanning the flame of hope that someday we'd have the sort of program that might just make it to the hex.
And here we are, brothers and sisters, bearing witness to a transformation that we could only dream of, a transformation that was several years in the making, but in many respects happened over the past 12 months.  
Kudos to all you Voyageurs, especially those who've been around for longer than Atiba has been in the program. (Yes, that long!) I don't mean to overstate this, but without doubt we've played our role in this team's success.  The players know this, Herdman knows, the media knows this, and now we should all take a moment to reflect on how we've done our part to support this team over the years.
We're going to Qatar!!  
 

Devin is the goto guy at CBC for curling, and I was impressed by his reporting of the olympics and paralympics, including a story on paralympic athletes not getting any compensation for medals won (this policy has since changed). 
Hoping CBC will dispatch him to Qatar for the WC.  

Is Pot 3 still within grasp for Canada, provided we win on Wednesday?

I think we still need 2 'upsets'

Devin is the goto guy at CBC for curling, and I was impressed by his reporting of the olympics and paralympics, including a story on paralympic athletes not getting any compensation for medals won (this policy has since changed). 
Hoping CBC will dispatch him to Qatar for the WC.  

Oh Canada, Oh Baby, Let the emotion out, let it sink it, the tears flow, the dream is reality Canada is going back to the World Cup after 36 years, you heard it right the ticket has been punched to Qatar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What’s with the fireworks during the anthem?

I guess you could say parts of the pitch look........... "all yellow"??? 
 
 
....... I'll show myself out
 

Difficult game…I can’t see CR making wholesale changes to their playing style, yet grinding it out and giving Canada 60% possession for 90 minutes won’t exactly give them a great shot at winning, which they need to do. 
Canada can be patient.  
 
 
 
 

A lot of the clips are pretty much cold blooded murder. People that are passed out being curb stomped by multiple offenders - it's really awful to watch. 

Atiba vs Balotelli in today's game..
 
 

Order of Canada?   More than a few athletes have been recipients… not many who can say they’ve answered the call for their country for almost 2 decades , apart from Sinclair