Strange night of results in the CONCACAF region with Costa Rica really closing the gap between them and the top-three and giving their chances of a top four finish a massive boost.
Could Costa Rica gatecrash the automatic qualifying places and send Mexico or even the USA down to the playoff?
That draw from Panama is the big result of the night, particularly coupled with the Costa Rica win. After the match a few Panama players felt they panicked after the equalizing goal and even with 30 minutes left were trying to rush everything. I find that almost incomprehensible since Panama was down 2-0 in Honduras with less time left and found three goals to win. You would think that would give you the confidence to know that you can find a goal when you need it.
Canada has a few players who aren’t getting much club playing time, plus two suspensions and obviously still no Davies and it took us awhile to find some rhythm, but I felt like we were getting going and then were down to 10. It was good for us to face a hostile atmosphere like we did and we didn’t all respond well, but I think it was a good lesson. And we were great with 10 men. We had 72% of the ball in the second half, hit the bar twice, Navas made a couple of good stops. It was one of our better halves of the qualifying.
A few months back I felt that New Zealand would be better off facing Costa Rica. I still feel that way, but Costa Rica has changed some. They are starting to incorporate young players into the side. They have some wingers (Martinez and Torres) who are good on the ball and have some quality and two teenage wingers (Jewison and Suarez) who also look promising. That has allowed Joel Campbell to play up top. In the last window he had almost a free role and was their best player in two of the matches. When he’s on the wing, it has been easy for the game to pass him by. They’ve played Campbell as a 9 and he can get isolated there too. Costa Rica has also turned to a young defensive midfielder named Galo. The Costa Rican fans don’t seem to rate him, but I think he helps them. He doesn’t have the passing their other options do, but he can actually run.
By changing their lineup, they have essentially sat Ruiz, Borges and Venegas. Thursday Borges started and they sat the other d-mid Tejeda. And Borges has a great range of passing, tons of quality, but he needs some help if he’s going to play. He got the goal, but in the second half, Costa Rica subbed in Ruiz and Tejeda and had Borges in… and individually those are three pretty good players with experience and quality, but collectively that is a slow, old group. So the question is what do they do in a one-off playoff? Trust the old guard that frankly wasn’t getting it done in the first half of qualifying or start some of the new faces?
The other thing about Costa Rica in the playoffs is that they haven’t had their best rightback Cristian Gamboa during qualifying. He was finally uninjured and then caught covid. He would be an upgrade. They were also missing Duarte from Lavante and he’s their best central defender, but they have a lot of depth there, so less of a loss.
I’m not sure the U.S. should have gone for it as they did in Mexico. The Azteca is not what it used to be (even the air isn’t as shark), but it’s a hard place to play. Some of the most eye-opening results in qualifying (Jamaica 0 Panama 3; Honduras 0 Jamaica 2) have come immediately after the losing team had gone to the Azteca. There was a lot of debate in the U.S. about whether to start the best XI or not and there counter argument was against “conceding the points to Mexico” I think the U.S. could have rotated the squad and still gotten a result. I didn’t think it was a one or the other. The U.S. was already without its best player in qualifying (McKennie), plus Dest from Barca is also hurt. Now Yedlin and Weah are suspended. They’re going to have to use their No. 4 RB and most of their best players just played 90 minutes in altitude. It’s hard to imagine them losing to Panama at home, but there are a lot of very nervous American soccer fans around.
No one expected Panama to do anything in qualifying and then we’ve all been waiting for their results to trail off and they were starting to look like a team of destiny, but last window they dominated Costa Rica away and lost and then they have a lead at home to a poor and dispirited Honduras and blow it? I don’t have any faith in Panama putting together a performance to get a win in Orlando. I should mention, El Salvador is often a really hard place to play for teams. I think with them out, it shouldn’t be too intense of an atmosphere, but I don’t think Costa Rica getting three points in San Salvador is a fait acomplit.
The other thing is that it was noted upthread that the U.S. has never won in Costa Rica… even more than the Azteca, San Jose seems to be the hardest place for them to play. I find it very confusing. Costa Rica is usually pretty good, most CONCACAF teams are tough at home, there’s altitude, but the new national stadium has a track, it’s nothing like the crazy atmosphere of Saprissa Stadium… but the U.S. still struggled. They lost 4-0 in Costa Rica four years ago. They desperately do not want to need something out of that match.
Canada will play a very strong side against Jamaica, but now that our unbeaten run is over I have a hard time imagining us playing our top players for 270 minutes in a week. If the Panama match doesn’t mean anything to us, I do think we’ll rotate the squad some. Ironically, winning would help us get into Pot 3 (I’m honestly not as fussed about that as most seem to, you can get a crap draw in Pot 3 and a great draw in Pot 4), but what would really help us get into Pot 3 is the U.S. either not qualifying or going into the playoffs. In fact that might be enough to move us up (if and who upsets in Africa is going to have more bearing than anything we do IMO). So in a weird way, losing to Panama could help our Pot 3 odds more than winning.
I am nervous for Sunday which is silly since we have a six point lead and an 11 goal lead on Costa Rica, but I really want a comprehensive win over Jamaica and big celebration.
Canada 4 Jamaica 0 - so Juneof86 and all those other Canadian football fans can start celebrating. Off to Qatar, their first WC since 1986 ie in 36 years
El Salvador 1 Costa Rica 2 in progress (HT) USA vs. Panama - one to watch Honduras vs. Mexico
Canada 4 Jamaica 0 El Salvador 1 Costa Rica 2 USA vs. Panama - just kicked off, Game to watch Honduras vs. Mexico - just kicked off
Costa Rica who host USA in their last game, now sort of in the box seat.
USA draw or even lose to Panama today, they are in trouble. So this game in Florida is huge.
Panama host an already qualified Canada in their last game. Could the Canucks send a B side to Panama, and if lose there see the Americans miss out on Qatar?? I'm sure Canadians find that prospect funny.
Panama in big trouble now at 3-0 down already after 30 odd minutes. Surely that's curtains for them.
Yes you'd think so.
So USA, Mexico or C Rica (most likely) for AWs.
USA already have a healthy +9 GD (+12 GD if win 3-0 today). Costa Rica is only +3. So is USA win today (go to 25 pts) & C Rica (22 pts) win their matchup in San Jose, USA should still avoid 4th on GD. Guessing it's GD decides positions not head to head.
But ideally we also want Mexico to win today (still 0-0 in Honduras)
Almost certainly looking like Costa Rica. Could be mexico if they only get 3 points from their final 2 games (Honduras - Currenly 0-0 at HT, and El Salvador).
Mexico beat Honduras 1-0, meaning its all but confirmed Costa Rica will be in 4th.
For Costa Rica to get ahead of USA or Mexico they need one of the following to happen on Thursday; 1: Costa Rica beat USA by 6 or more, or 2: Costa Rica beat USA and El Salvador beat Mexico with a combined margin of 5 or more
Under 1 USA will end up in fourth, under 2 Mexico will end up in fourth (unless something really outlandish happens like CR8:US0 and Mex0:ESal1)
we are going to get smashed against Costa Rica. Huge difference between playing Qualifiers in OFC and CONCACAF. I don't see any friendlies the All whites having in June making much difference.
we are going to get smashed against Costa Rica. Huge difference between playing Qualifiers in OFC and CONCACAF. I don't see any friendlies the All whites having in June making much difference.
Canada qualified - well done Maple Leafs ... deserved it and great scenes in Toronto with home fans celebrating 1st time in since 1986. US & Mexico almost through for 2nd/3rd automatic spots .. will be interesting to see how Costa Rica v US plays out on Thursday 2pm, hopefully a good Oceania final outcome resulted by then.
bollocks (and I know that’s childish)morgenstern12
we are going to get smashed against Costa Rica. Huge difference between playing Qualifiers in OFC and CONCACAF. I don't see any friendlies the All whites having in June making much difference.
we are going to get smashed against Costa Rica. Huge difference between playing Qualifiers in OFC and CONCACAF. I don't see any friendlies the All whites having in June making much difference.
We've beaten better teams in worse conditions, this game is in Qatar so no hometown advantage for them. We'll be well prepared and tough to break down.
you guys need to get a grip! We'll win this one and have a decent chance against Costa Rica, no game is ever easy but Hay will have done his homework and will put the right team on the field to do the job. Just quit with the "we so useless, we're going to lose bollocks" it's just plain dumb.
Solomon Islands have played less games and are very good attacking side so they will fresh and ready. The only way we beat them is to park the bus like the Olympics game against Sth Korea and hope for a quick counter. Scoring from corners should be the AW strength as the Sol/Island squad are not very tall but make up for it in speed and skill.
Solomon Islands have played less games and are very good attacking side so they will fresh and ready. The only way we beat them is to park the bus like the Olympics game against Sth Korea and hope for a quick counter. Scoring from corners should be the AW strength as the Sol/Island squad are not very tall but make up for it in speed and skill.
go back to the '80's with your park the bus attitude, the Solomons might be a sterner test than PnG or Tahiti but they are on no way going to be any real challenge for the AW's. We'll dominate possession, they'll try and hit on the counter we'll win by one or two.
Solomon Islands have played less games and are very good attacking side so they will fresh and ready. The only way we beat them is to park the bus like the Olympics game against Sth Korea and hope for a quick counter. Scoring from corners should be the AW strength as the Sol/Island squad are not very tall but make up for it in speed and skill.
This a piss take? They’re a bunch of amateurs ffs.
Solomon Islands have played less games and are very good attacking side so they will fresh and ready. The only way we beat them is to park the bus like the Olympics game against Sth Korea and hope for a quick counter. Scoring from corners should be the AW strength as the Sol/Island squad are not very tall but make up for it in speed and skill.
The US unveiled a ‘QUALIFIED’ banner after the game yesterday despite not technically having qualified. Would absolutely love to see them lose 6-0 in the last game now, despite the implications for NZ. Strong ‘Mission Accomplished’ vibes.63024E34-4738-47A1-AD89-DFC4F7113175.jpeg222.11 KB
The US unveiled a ‘QUALIFIED’ banner after the game yesterday despite not technically having qualified. Would absolutely love to see them lose 6-0 in the last game now, despite the implications for NZ. Strong ‘Mission Accomplished’ vibes.63024E34-4738-47A1-AD89-DFC4F7113175.jpeg222.11 KB
Actually watched last 60 mins of that game in a Panamanian bar, sleepy surf town Pacific Coast. Already 3-0 US at that point. Very subdued downcast atmosphere. Players in tears post game, their WC dream over. For USNMT Pulisic was on fire
And yes a touch early from the Yankees to roll out that banner.
It’s a shame NZF couldn’t hang on to Herdman any longer than they did, but something tells me Des could do for us what Herdman’s done for Canada if NZF can snatch him back from CFG
I will wait until it’s official before I bore you with a few hundred words of my thoughts on Costa Rica, but you shouldn’t fear the Ticos. They’re a solid side, they have a world class keeper, they have a lot of players with immense experience and they’re kind of old, slow and have a lot of trouble scoring goals. If New Zealand defends their set pieces well, this match fairly screams 1-0 and could go either way.
I didn’t get to see the US Panama match, but it feels like Panama just collapsed after giving away the penalty. So much for the US having a hangover after Azteca and feeling it in their legs. I still can’t decide if Mexico isn’t getting the most out of their players and it’s bad management or if they just aren’t very good. But it looks like they will limp into Qatar.
Panama really hurt themselves with that draw Thursday. Canada was introduced at half time of the NBA match in Toronto tonight and half the squad looked very hungover. I am tempering any expectations for the performance away to Panama on Wednesday, but that could have been an easy three points for Panama, but now it doesn’t matter.
And celebrate we did coochiee! When I imagined us finally qualifying I never expected it to be in a match when we were already mathematically in, playing a bunch of Jamaican reserves and absolutely bossing it with an extra match to spare. There was no drama, once we got the early goal it was just a great chance to soak in the atmosphere and think about the journey it has been to get here. It was also obnoxiously cold for March 27. I got windburn on my face. A lot of people felt it was colder than the Iceteca match against Mexico in Edmonton, but I think we were all really ready for that cold, the cold in Toronto caught us off guard because it was only -4 or something, but it was -15 with the windchill and it was right in your face. We play well in the snow though… it snows in November in Qatar, doesn’t it? :)
It’s a shame NZF couldn’t hang on to Herdman any longer than they did, but something tells me Des could do for us what Herdman’s done for Canada if NZF can snatch him back from CFG
I managed to work along side John as an assistan when he coached Southland football woman's national league team in 03-04 I think. Being in my early 20s at the time he blew me away with his coaching. Hadn't seen anything like it. Made me realise how rank average my coaches were in my youth.
I will wait until it’s official before I bore you with a few hundred words of my thoughts on Costa Rica, but you shouldn’t fear the Ticos. They’re a solid side, they have a world class keeper, they have a lot of players with immense experience and they’re kind of old, slow and have a lot of trouble scoring goals. If New Zealand defends their set pieces well, this match fairly screams 1-0 and could go either way.
I didn’t get to see the US Panama match, but it feels like Panama just collapsed after giving away the penalty. So much for the US having a hangover after Azteca and feeling it in their legs. I still can’t decide if Mexico isn’t getting the most out of their players and it’s bad management or if they just aren’t very good. But it looks like they will limp into Qatar.
Panama really hurt themselves with that draw Thursday. Canada was introduced at half time of the NBA match in Toronto tonight and half the squad looked very hungover. I am tempering any expectations for the performance away to Panama on Wednesday, but that could have been an easy three points for Panama, but now it doesn’t matter.
And celebrate we did coochiee! When I imagined us finally qualifying I never expected it to be in a match when we were already mathematically in, playing a bunch of Jamaican reserves and absolutely bossing it with an extra match to spare. There was no drama, once we got the early goal it was just a great chance to soak in the atmosphere and think about the journey it has been to get here. It was also obnoxiously cold for March 27. I got windburn on my face. A lot of people felt it was colder than the Iceteca match against Mexico in Edmonton, but I think we were all really ready for that cold, the cold in Toronto caught us off guard because it was only -4 or something, but it was -15 with the windchill and it was right in your face. We play well in the snow though… it snows in November in Qatar, doesn’t it? :)
Good luck to the All Whites in the OFC final.
How long have you been a world football super power? Less than a year? If you’ve been a football fan a while this must be such a sweet time.
A world football superpower? I'm pretty sure you have to beat someone outside of CONCACAF at some point before we get to that. We haven't even played anyone outside of our region since we lost a closed-door B friendly to Iceland just before the pandemic. There are a lot of new Canadian supporters (which is great) who are talking about round of 16, quarter-finals.... I just hope we score a goal!
I don't live anywhere where Canada would play a home match, but I've been going to Canada matches since the 90s. It's been a long journey. I've met some amazing people along the way and being with them Sunday made the day even more special. I'm sure you can relate being in a country where football is not the most popular sport, but I think that makes the community of supporters stronger and a little different than it is in other places.
Was learning to surf a few days ago here in Panama, with a couple mid forties Canadian brothers. One is a diplomat here and wife of the Canadian ambassador. His military brother visiting from Edmonton. Couple of big units.
We got onto talking about football. Yes they were classic 'new football supporters'. Hockey guys through and through. The Edmonton one knew more about your team, the one based here almost nothing. However he was looking forward to his free ticket & gratis booze, for the dead rubber game here on Thursday.
A world football superpower? I'm pretty sure you have to beat someone outside of CONCACAF at some point before we get to that. We haven't even played anyone outside of our region since we lost a closed-door B friendly to Iceland just before the pandemic. There are a lot of new Canadian supporters (which is great) who are talking about round of 16, quarter-finals.... I just hope we score a goal!
I don't live anywhere where Canada would play a home match, but I've been going to Canada matches since the 90s. It's been a long journey. I've met some amazing people along the way and being with them Sunday made the day even more special. I'm sure you can relate being in a country where football is not the most popular sport, but I think that makes the community of supporters stronger and a little different than it is in other places.
One of my early football memories as a kid was watching Canada take France to the wire in Mexico in 1986. Papin had an absolute mare and missed sitter after sitter, and the Canadians ran themselves into the ground - was gutting when they conceded right near the end. They gave a decent account against the USSR and Hungary too, but were facing well-drilled professional teams.
Very different context and potential for you this time round!! Going to be awesome to see, and definitely deserved on merit.
