Football (Soccer) Thread

[Josephus]

Be interesting to see if the Canada game gets played or postponed 24hrs.

It's not the cold that's the problem but field conditions at kick off. There will be a check, and game will be determined on the following conditions:

Pitch inspections for snow:
whether or not playing area is dangerous (ice/frost) KO time plays factor.
whether or not conditions are or could turn farcical.
existing playing condition in conjunction w/prevailing weather conditions.
Markings, ball can be seen at all times

I get that it all has to be approved by CONCACAF I guess, but Commonwealth Stadium is no stranger to live sports in November.  As I understand it the field has been tarped off this entire time.  It stopped snowing a couple of hours ago (I can literally see Commonwealth Stadium from my office right now) and I imagine they're already removing the tarp and snow.

It's going to be cold, but it'll be cold tomorrow.  The only difference would be that the wind should die down by tomorrow.

Can you watch the game from your office?

[Josquius]

Poor phrasing on my part.

There is a historical problem with US men's team home games where they would play Mexico in Dallas or Houston or LA or some big city with a large Mexican fan base and the Mexican fans would completely obliterate the few American supporters. It essentially turned US home games into away matches.

Maybe avoiding Latinos isn't the goal so much as getting the right Latinos.
Surely if there were a lot of central Americans in a place they'd be interested enough in football to go and cheering against Mexico too?  :p

[Barrister]

Can you watch the game from your office?

I'm about 1km away, but my office is only on the 6th floor, so I can't really see "in" to the stadium.  I'd be able to see the fans in the upper bowl is about it.

[FunkMonk]

Both gringo nations have destroyed Mexico. Rip Mexican soccer.

[Barrister]

Holy crap - Canada is now in first place in the World Cup qualifying pool.

Canada.  Ahead of Mexico and the US.

Amazing game.  To my untrained eye it seemed like Canada has it fairly in hand most of the game up until that 89th minute goal plus injury time (which was a nail biter).

[Admiral Yi]

Dang, i'm trying to watch canada mexico, but the announcer on my CBS highlight clip is killing me.

Youse guys have a clip with a canucklead announcer?

[Jacob]

Dang, i'm trying to watch canada mexico, but the announcer on my CBS highlight clip is killing me.

Youse guys have a clip with a canucklead announcer?

When I google it I find OneSoccer... not sure if that's what they're showing on CBS or not. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBb-_oas-yg

[Barrister]

Dang, i'm trying to watch canada mexico, but the announcer on my CBS highlight clip is killing me.

Youse guys have a clip with a canucklead announcer?

When I google it I find OneSoccer... not sure if that's what they're showing on CBS or not. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBb-_oas-yg

Those are the announcers I saw when watching live on Sportsnet.  It was... workmanlike.  Definitely a Canadian broadcast team.  OneSoccer is apparently an online soccer broadcast company, who sold the rights to some of these games to Sportsnet.

[Admiral Yi]

Much shorter than the one I watched, better announcing, and had the great advantage of taking place this year. 

[Josephus]

Holy crap - Canada is now in first place in the World Cup qualifying pool.

Canada.  Ahead of Mexico and the US.

Amazing game.  To my untrained eye it seemed like Canada has it fairly in hand most of the game up until that 89th minute goal plus injury time (which was a nail biter).

Yeah, your untrained eye is correct. This wasn't a fluke win. Canada dominated, Mexico were disorganized. Tables turned at the very end, but it was too late.
Canada WILL qualify for Qatar 2022; and I think they will be tough to beat. No one's saying they'll bring home the World Cup but they can compete.

[Maladict]

It would be pretty funny if Canada wins a WC before any other CONCACAF nation.

[Grey Fox]

I think we should start by scoring a goal.

[FunkMonk]

Canada is the best team in CONCACAF. The table doesn't lie, as they say.

[Josephus]

I think we should start by scoring a goal.

I think we should start by qualifying. We're not there yet.
Canada has some tough road games in Central America which are always in brutal conditions. They play away v. Honduras, El Slavador, Costa Rica and their last game v. Panama could be a crucial decider.
They only have two home games left, one of them v. USA is not a sure thing.
Neither is Jamaica.

That home draw v. Honduras may come back to haunt them.

So chickens hatched and everything.

They're in first place, but fourth place Panama is only two points behind.

[Barrister]

No, nothing is guaranteed at this point.  It's nice that Canada is master of their own fate at this point, not having to hope for other teams to lose, but still lots of games to play.

I do want to see that January game vs USA to be played outside though.  Doesn't have to be in Edmonton - I'm sure BMO Field would be fine.  I just loved the atmosphere of last night's game, including the players diving into the snowbank at the end.