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CONCACAF World Cup qualifying Roundup: Whoa Canada

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Canada is in serious trouble.

There is no other way to put it after the Canadian national team dropped a 2-1 result against Honduras in Montreal on Saturday night. The loss left Canada with just one point from two home qualifiers in what is easily the toughest group in CONCACAF. Oh, and the Canadians must now travel to Mexico City Chiapas to face Mexico on Wednesday.

Ouch.

While the U.S. national team did enough to take three points from Cuba, Mexico continued on its path to the Hexagonal with a 3-0 thrashing of Jamaica. The win moved Mexico to six points, five ahead of Jamaica and Canada and three clear of Honduras.

Here is how the CONCACAF Qualifying standings look:

Group A

  1. USA (2-0)………………………6 pts
  2. Trinidad & Tobago (1-0-1)……..4 pts
  3. Guatemala (0-1-1)……………..1 pt
  4. Cuba (0-2)……………………..0 pts

Wednesday’s matches: Trinidad & Tobago at USA, Cuba at Guatemala

Group B

  1. Mexico (2-0)……………………6 pts
  2. Honduras (1-1)…………………3 pts
  3. Jamaica (0-1-1)………………..1 pt
  4. Canada (0-1-1)…………………1 pt

Wednesday’s matches: Jamaica at Honduras, Canada at Mexico

Group C

  1. Costa Rica (2-0)………………..6 pts
  2. El Salvador (1-1)……………….3 pts
  3. Haiti (0-1-1)……………………1 pt
  4. Suriname (0-1-1)……………….1 pt

Wednesday’s matches: El Salvador at Suriname, Costa Rica at Haiti

What do you think of the CONCACAF qualifiers so far? Think Canada is dead? What has surprised you? Impressed you? Disappointed you? Share your thoughts on CONCACAF World Cup qualifying in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. USA most disapointing team after Canada.

    Id love for Canada to get a win at La Cuna Azteca but Canadians just arent used to the smog pollution dirt and altitude the pervases the stadium.

    Oh well.

    Theres always the Hockey world championships.

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  2. Al17

    Honduras doesn’t have any players in Serie A this season and even when they did, David Suazo was the only playing regularly at Cagliari and in fact only became a starter there two seasons ago before transfering to Inter where he was placed at the bottom of the depth chart and barely played.

    Suazo is still a great player though.

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  3. Canadian players = very talented and have the ability to compete with anyone in CONCACAF, DeGuzman and DeRosario are among the best in the region.

    Posted by: mikey | September 08, 2008 at 08:42 PM

    Apparently talk is as cheap as the drugs north of the border.

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  4. I’m not an expert on Honduras but they’re definitely a much better team than many of you could imagine. Who on Canada’s team can stop David Suazo? Hell, USA and Mexico will have a hard enough time trying to do it when we play them. A few players from Honduras whom you damn well better remember – David Suazo (Benfica; formerly of Inter before Mourinho decided he didn’t want him), Julio Cesar de Leon (Parma), Edgar Alvarez (Pisa), Milton Nunez (Marathon), Oscar Bonieck Garcia (Olimpia). Those are the players whom I’ve seen play. Bonieck Garcia was on trial with PSG and the ONLY reason he didn’t make the squad is because he would have been playing in the same role as Makelele. I’m amazed that he still plays in Honduras and any MLS club looking for a good Defensive Midfielder who can also play on the defensive wing and get up field on the attack would be wise to sign him. Canada was never that good and never will be ’til they get a better coach, it’s a simple solution to a simple problem. How many players does Canada have playing and starting in Serie A? Non. This team has two and when Suazo was at Inter he played somewhat regularly coming off the bench and he scored a few goals for them.

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  5. i agree more blame should fall on Canadian players, they looked terrible against Honduras…as did the defensive strategy, though. However, I don’t think they are out just yet. Wins in Honduras and Jamaica are not out of the question…though difficult. Jamaica are much better than the 3-0 defeat in Mexico suggests. Jamaica-Honduras match should be good.

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  6. Canada is toast, and I feel pretty dang bad for our brothers to the north. The team is too talented to be in this position. Though, to that end, I have to ask: I know the CSA has a ton of shortcomings, but are these results really their fault? Isn’t the Canadian roster good enough to do better against Honduras and Jamaica at home, regardless of what the Honduran:Canadian ratio in the stadium was? It’s not that I think the lack of support doesn’t hurt, it’s just that I think the team as currently constituted should still be able to get at the VERY least 2 points out of those two games at home. I know the CSA is an easy target right now, but some of the blame has to go toward the players themselves, no?

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  7. Maybe Canadian players just suck. You can hire Jose Mourinho and it wouldn’t matter.

    They have one good player. That’s it. You can’t qualify for the World Cup with one good player.

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  8. For Group A:

    It seems like it’ll come down to the Guatemala-Trinidad and Tobago match for the second slot, as expected. I think T & T not having Kenwyne Jones will hurt and Ruiz will single-handedly propel Guatemala to the final round…I think after two road games for the USA to have six points and potentially wrap up a spot in the final round after five games (if my math is right) is a great, great feeling. Substance on the road, style (hopefully) and substance at home for the USA is a great combination for World Cup qualfication. U-S-A!

    As for Canada, I thought they would qualify for the World Cup, what with their Euro experience and their skill in the Gold Cup…they have talent, but Honduras is peaking and Mexico is Mexico, so it looks like the draw is no good…I mean, if they swapped with El Salvador in Group C, they’d likely cruise into the final round…Canada has their work cut out for them, that’s for sure.

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  9. Canadian players = very talented and have the ability to compete with anyone in CONCACAF, DeGuzman and DeRosario are among the best in the region.

    Canadian coaches = utterly pathetic and are actually quite embarrassingly out of their league.

    CSA = needs to be folded/overhauled completely! NOTHING works in it all. They’ve had enough chances it’s time to put them to sleep.

    Canadian fans in Montreal = joke!

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  10. Group C also has El Salvador as a decent team. They outplayed Costa Rica in Saprissa and played good vs Haiti. It will be Costa Rica and El Salvador coming out of group C.

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  11. I have to agree with OMY. Take a look at Ives’ CONCACAF abroad posts. Canada’s got a surprising number of players at Colaship level or above teams, plus players in Greece, Norway, Germany, Spain, etc.

    The talent is there to be a team that makes the hex on a regular basis. Maybe it’s not there to have a lock on the third guaranteed qualifying place, but the fact that Canada hasn’t been in the hex since France 1998 qualifiers, is somewhat surprising.

    Plus, Canada always seems to do better in the Gold Cup than in the WC qualifiers. Some of that has to be the coaching, but it could just be an issue of not getting strong home support. Having Toronto FC helps on the latter, but it sounds like Montreal was a disaster.

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  12. @paul Lorinczi

    The typical maxim for these tournaments where half the teams advance is “win at home, draw on the road.” So, if you’re averaging 2pts. per contest, you should be in, unless there’s one team that gets crushed, home and away, leaving three teams with more points.

    In other words, with six games to play for each team, 12 pts. is almost always good enough to advance. There are certainly scenarios where less than that is sufficient though.

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  13. I don’t know how anyone can defend the group seeding. Looking at the last three WC qualifying tourneys, you have to say that Jamaica and Honduras have outperformed El Salvador, and Canada has been at least on par with them. Haiti and Suriname are not even on the radar. How could they have come up with these groups?

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  14. Im glad Canada is doing poorly. Serves you guys right after booing our u20 team last year and booing our national anthem at the mls all-star game this year. Losers lol.

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  15. I don’t understand why people are surprised about Canada losing at home. It’s a tough group, and honestly, Canada has the least talent in the group.

    That’s not a knock on Canada, but more of a statement on the strength of the group.

    Canada would probably finish third in Group A behind the US and T&T and would definitily qualify out of Group C, but they are simply less talented right now than Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica.

    To be fair, Julian DeGuzman is a lock for an All-CONCACAF XI and easily one of the best players in the region, but the rest of the team is not at his level.

    One of the problems is the administration of the CSA, for many well-documented and discussed reasons.

    The biggest problem is youth development. The U.S. isn’t exactly churning out multi-million dollar teenagers every week, but we have a better system than Canada.

    We have Bradenton. We have ODP. We have the Development Academy. We have thousands of kids in NCAA and NIAA programs. We have the majority of the players in MLS and in the club’s academies. It’s not ideal, but it’s more than what Canada has right now.

    Like someone said above, TFC is about all Canada has right now in organized player development, and that just isn’t enough to compete with the soccer culture of Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica.

    I want to make it clear that I’m not bashing Canada. I’d like to see them do well, especially against Mexico. I just don’t think they are at that level right now. Jamaica and Canada should be angry about Groub B, because either one of them would be a lock to finish second in Group C.

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  16. I want Adu and Altidore to get first team action as well as Spector once he returns from injury. Hopefully a few other prospective young players (e.g., Feilhaber, Szetela, Wynne, etc.) will get a look as well.

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  17. Canada’s main problem is coaching. The CSA isn’t willing to shell out money to overhaul it’s coaching at all levels. I watched both Canada games and what I saw was a team with good to excellent individual talent, but completely clueless tactically, and that can only be attributed to poor coaching.

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  18. I stand corrected on Honduras in ’82. I still think it’s hard to bet against Costa Rica, they always seem to be there in the end ..

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  19. ok so are we really onl gonna talk about Canada’s poor performance? can some of you atleast give Honduras SOME credit for coming back to win being a goal down? geez! no to mention we held Mexico at home for 70+ mins

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  20. Granted Canada played like garbage in a group where anything less than a win is bad news but i do hope the CSA is held accountable. God i wish they would just pull the plug on that so we can start again a la Australia. Canadian development has honestly been left up to TFC, Mont and Van as well as numerous private schools. Pathetic.

    Id also like to know who sorted the seeding on this one.

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  21. I have to chuckle about the waste of time comment. The only thing that’s a waste of time here is the time it takes to write unintelligent comments on a blog. You play the games because you never know – after all, everybody handed Mexico the WC entry in 82 against El Salvador and look what happened.

    As for the CSA, well… no comment.

    As for all the complaints about the CONCACAF draw – look at it this way – at least they seed the top 3 teams separately. Otherwise you really could have a group of death for which you could complain about with the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, & Honduras for example. Seriously – complain all you want about it but it just makes you sound stupid.

    Finally, to answer your question, Ives, I think the qualifiers are going true to form at the moment. The top seeds in the groups all have 6 of 6 points & the 2nd tier seeds in Honduras and T&T both have respectable 2nd places along with a surprising El Salvador squad who knocked off Panama still contending well.

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  22. Canada & Jamaica – way over rated in general in US land. Have little idea why.

    Honduras – Under rated this cycle. El Foldo is doubtfull this time.

    The Hex is gonna be tough and nervy for the US. Especially with BB conservo ball. We will struggle.

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  23. The most important result for Canada on Wednesday might not be in Mexico City. Honduras getting a win puts a lot of points between them and the Canadians. A draw in that match is probably the best result to hope for and try to pick up a point in Mexico if Canada can.

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  24. Group C is a joke but only because of Haiti and Suriname. Costa Rica and El Salvador are more threatening then people give them credit for, they won’t be pushovers in the Hex

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  25. Costa Rica won’t sniff the World Cup this time to the poster above. They have way way way too many problems right now. Honduras if they can get through this group will take their place, with T&T 4th.

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  26. I believe the game is in Cancun not at Azteca.

    Canada never does well in qualifying because of the dysfunctional CSA. Right away when I saw the group I knew they were done.

    Now the big question. Jamaica or Honduras?

    Honduras has played better the first two matches but they have a tendency much like Canada to underwhelm when it matters.

    I personally believe Honduras has the talent to win CONCACAF outright much like Costa Rica did in the hexagonal for 2002. But typically they fold when they need to- maybe this cycle is different.

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  27. IIRC it was El Salvador not Honduras back in ’82.

    Anyway, does anyone else think this is all a waste of time? It’s gonna be US, Mexico, Costa Rica, and maybe TnT again in the end..

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  28. I do give props to the Canadian players they did put up a good fight like always, this was by no means a cake walk, but there was a point in the game where you could hear the ” ole . . . ole . . ” lol I love it when we play that way

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  29. Ives, sorry to say but I told you so! Honduras was gonna beat Canada @ home, Gentleman please lets stop sleeping on Honduras’s talent, we will make it to the Hex, ( God willing ) lol and hopefully earn the 3rd spot to SA 2010 its our time Catrachos lets do it !

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  30. we are being betrayed by the CSA up here in canada. between the ridiculous ticket situation in montreal, and the substandard hiring of our head coach, this game was doomed from that start.

    i chalk the ticket situation up to the canadian condition.. limit honduran supporters? heavens know! that would not be PC of us!! more the merrier!! of course it doesn’t help having the game in a province known to have a severe seperatist desire. yeah thats a good idea.. lets allow as many away supporters in as possible and hope that the 50% of the province that doesn’t hate canada shows up.

    tactically.. ::sigh:: i know i always think the best way to come from behind is to make zero changes at all. aside from switching one target man for another. of course that will make a world of difference.. i guess dale mitchell figured our midfield just didn’t feel like giving ali gerba service. right.

    honestly, dale mitchell needs to be replaced, and the CSA needs to look outside of canada for a replacement. we do NOT have the coaching credentials to properly utilize the talent base available to us. the guy is sticking to a formation that obviously does not work, and even worse, refuses to make mid game adjustments. the dude is either really arrogant and blames the players/ref for being down a goal, or he just has no other ideas. in a way i feel bad for dale mitchell, he never should have been put in this situation.. he was doomed to fail. what else can we expect when the CSA is running the show though.

    CSA: please remove tab A (your head) from slot B (self explanatory).

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  31. I’m tired of hearing the Group B & C complaints. Group C would be stronger if Panama hadn’t choked, and it’s not like Honduras, Jamaica, or Canada have had much success in the past decade. For all the “Group of Death” talk, all you have for WC Qualifying is Jamaica in 1998, Canada in 1986, and Honduras in 1982.

    Yeah, I wish one team could be traded out between B&C, but the imbalance is overhyped.

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  32. I too hope Canada does well. I’m American, but I hope MLS goes to Canada for all the remaining MLS teams. The fans of Toronto are incredible, and with Canada’s talent, I really don’t understand how they could be that bad.

    Granted, they are in a hard group, but I imagine the fans expect more. CSA must really suck.

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  33. The Group is a joke. Costa Rica’s group is comical to say the least… thus the 7-0 thrashing of Suriname. Canada is getting screwed having to play 2 of the top 3 teams in the region. (Sorry Costa Rica but Honduras has passed you by).

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  34. MagicWong is right, the game is in Chiapas.

    Though playing in the hot, steamy conditions of southern Mexico can’t be a whole lot easier.

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  35. Really uphill battle for Canada.

    A point in the Azteca may be near impossible. Then you have (don’t have the order in front of me) Mexico at home, and Jamaica and Honduras on the road. They have to win at least two of their last three games to even have a fighting chance. Honduras’ inconsistency at home in previous qualifying campaigns notwithstanding, I just don’t see how Canada can do it.

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  36. Quote: “From what I’ve read, the Canadian Soccer Fed is basically the U.S. Soccer Fed circa 98. It doesn’t really care (or cares more about the women’s team), and is in need of a major overhaul.”

    BINGO!

    Proof of this being the CSA (Canadian Soccer Assoc.) offered the OPPOSITIONS FANS 2 for 1 tickets…. so they literally asked the competition’s fans to turn it into a home game for Honduras…. who does that? right… the CSA!

    Little things like that that PROVE, without a doubt to myself or any other true Canadian footie fan, that they care about AD REVENUE, TV REVENUE, and TICKET REVENUE…. NOT THE PRODUCT THEY PUT ON THE PITCH!!!!!!!!!!!

    And here we are, the fans, insulted and mad. Something has to give!

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  37. From what I’ve read, the Canadian Soccer Fed is basically the U.S. Soccer Fed circa 98. It doesn’t really care (or cares more about the women’s team), and is in need of a major overhaul.

    That roster should be competing for the Concacaf crown in the final hex, not languishing at HOME.

    Their organization is just backwards. So sad.

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  38. Groups B & C are just ridiculous.

    Basically, B goes 4 deep, while Costa Rica is the only decent team in group C.

    I don’t know which criteria they used to seed the draw, but it was obviously quite flawed.

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