The Canadian Men's Soccer Team Thread

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Kinda sad to hear that the crowd higher up was not into it. We were in the first couple rows of the supporters section and it was absolutely rocking. The smoke was coming from the guy directly behind me.


The guy with the mega phone was kinda weak but everyone down low was into it.

It was hit or miss all game. Some chants caught on. Others didn't.

There were a few different guys on the megaphone, one of which (guy with the cowboy hat) did the same at Cavalry games up until a month ago. I heard some of the Edmonton supporters got on the megaphone for a bit and it sucked the life out of the section.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Any word on the location, for the January break? Vancouver?

Yes, i think Vancouver is the only option, must be indoors.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by shermanator

It was hit or miss all game. Some chants caught on. Others didn't.

There were a few different guys on the megaphone, one of which (guy with the cowboy hat) did the same at Cavalry games up until a month ago. I heard some of the Edmonton supporters got on the megaphone for a bit and it sucked the life out of the section.

They just need some more experience.

With Canada qualifying for the next 3 world cups there will be plenty of chances to rehearse the songs and chants

[Slava]

The truth is some of the songs and chants on their page (Voyageurs), are just way too ambitious. There’s no way to make some of those work, even if you had weekly games.

I thought the atmosphere was pretty awesome last night. It’s really too bad that bicycle kick didn’t score, because that would’ve been incredible. Canada looked really good overall, and it was good to get the win. Mexico will be interesting, as we should be riding high and kind of have nothing to lose at this point.

[troutman]

I imagine there will be plenty of Mexican support - Edmonton and Calgary both have over 4,000 with Mexican origins.

[DeanOMac]

Sky Sports: "How Canada Became a Football Force"

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...try-has-united

The article is essentially an interview with Herdman after the Costa Rica game. Talks about his whole career including his time with the women's program.

A couple of things that stuck out to me. One, is how important Davies is to the program as a whole, not just on the pitch:

"He also helps us learn. I remember him telling us about his preparations for the Champions League final. He is there giving us a list of the processes that Bayern went through. He told us what worked and what did not work. I ended up with three pages of notes."

And, the scope of the mess he inherited with the men's program:

In his first two camps in charge, there were fights. "I am not talking tough tackles," says Herdman. "I am talking groups of guys getting after each other in big scuffles. They were really getting into it. I was like, 'Holy ****, what have I got into here?'

"The Scottish lads went one way, the Hispanic lads went the other. We have Colombians, Uruguayans, Scottish, Serbian, Jamaican. All sorts. That is the beauty of Canada, that diversity. It is our greatest strength but at that moment it was our greatest weakness.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Kinda sad to hear that the crowd higher up was not into it. We were in the first couple rows of the supporters section and it was absolutely rocking. The smoke was coming from the guy directly behind me.


The guy with the mega phone was kinda weak but everyone down low was into it.

We were into it, it was just to hard to hear anything at all. Good time none the less.

[Enoch Root]

Great result for Canada, though it was a bit of a dud of a game. And I blame the field and weather for that.

I get that they want the weather to be a home advantage, but it ruined the game IMO. And it is going to be around -10 and possible snow for the game Tuesday. The field will be ice and the ball will be a rock.

It also sucks for fans. Three hours outside at -10 is absolute torture. It detracts from the experience and minimizes the greatness of the event.

What a waste.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Great result for Canada, though it was a bit of a dud of a game. And I blame the field and weather for that.

I get that they want the weather to be a home advantage, but it ruined the game IMO. And it is going to be around -10 and possible snow for the game Tuesday. The field will be ice and the ball will be a rock.

It also sucks for fans. Three hours outside at -10 is absolute torture. It detracts from the experience and minimizes the greatness of the event.

What a waste.

50,000 fans think different.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Great result for Canada, though it was a bit of a dud of a game. And I blame the field and weather for that.

I get that they want the weather to be a home advantage, but it ruined the game IMO. And it is going to be around -10 and possible snow for the game Tuesday. The field will be ice and the ball will be a rock.

It also sucks for fans. Three hours outside at -10 is absolute torture. It detracts from the experience and minimizes the greatness of the event.

What a waste.

It wasn’t even cold on Friday. I had a toque and mitts and never once considered putting them on (in hindsight, mitts for the end of game flare/smoke might’ve been a good safety precaution but I was unscathed!)

I guess Tuesday might be another story, but the Cavalry game a few weeks ago was much, much colder than Friday.

[SebC]

If we make the World Cup, Jon Herdman should be made an honorary member of the Order of Canada.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Slava

It wasn’t even cold on Friday. I had a toque and mitts and never once considered putting them on (in hindsight, mitts for the end of game flare/smoke might’ve been a good safety precaution but I was unscathed!)

I guess Tuesday might be another story, but the Cavalry game a few weeks ago was much, much colder than Friday.

Yep. All I wore was a dryfit long sleeve shirt, then a soccer jersey on top with toque. I brought winter gear, but there was no need.

Tuesday seems like it'll be a completely different experience

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Great result for Canada, though it was a bit of a dud of a game. And I blame the field and weather for that.

I get that they want the weather to be a home advantage, but it ruined the game IMO. And it is going to be around -10 and possible snow for the game Tuesday. The field will be ice and the ball will be a rock.

It also sucks for fans. Three hours outside at -10 is absolute torture. It detracts from the experience and minimizes the greatness of the event.

What a waste.

"absolute torture"


Ease up there a bit.

[Ozy_Flame]

-10 and the trail ends of a snowstorm.

So in other words, a normal Grey Cup experience.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Great result for Canada, though it was a bit of a dud of a game. And I blame the field and weather for that.

I get that they want the weather to be a home advantage, but it ruined the game IMO. And it is going to be around -10 and possible snow for the game Tuesday. The field will be ice and the ball will be a rock.

It also sucks for fans. Three hours outside at -10 is absolute torture. It detracts from the experience and minimizes the greatness of the event.

What a waste.

I dont know about that. People attended the Winter Classic and it was a lot colder than that.

And that was just a regular season game.

[PeteMoss]

We will see how the Mexico game goes but I'm sure they picked Edmonton to make Mexico uncomfortable and give Canada the strongest home support over Mexican supporters.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

We will see how the Mexico game goes but I'm sure they picked Edmonton to make Mexico uncomfortable and give Canada the strongest home support over Mexican supporters.

Edmonton makes everyone uncomfortable.

Hopefully the crowd is loud & supportive. It was pretty good on Friday but for 48,000+ people, I thought it would have been louder. Would be great if the fans could really "build a fortress", as Herdman puts it.

The turf was noticeably rough on Friday as well. I'm curious how the snow and colder temps will have an effect on the play, but with the ball rock hard & bouncing around wildly it's hard to think it will give anyone an advantage.

[MillerTime GFG]

I think fandom will be a process in this country. The majority of people literally don't know how to be soccer fans. There were so many hockey jerseys at that game, it was rather comical. The only chants that caught on were hockey chants, ie - "LET'S GO CANADA, DA DA DA DA DA!" Toronto fans have TFC, so they know how to be soccer fans for the most part. I've heard chants caught on better for the games held there, so no surprise.

This drive for the WC is creating a lot of new fans, and that's what it's all about. The CMNT has been less than an afterthought for decades now, as we were completely irrelevant. It's no surprise that fans maybe weren't as loud as expected, but this is a process, and I'm loving it.

I'm going up for the game tomorrow with about 25 others. It is going to be unreal, no matter the weather.

[Slava]

I think that you have to give people a pass for the jerseys. They're red (largely) and easy to throw on over a jacket or whatever.

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that you have to give people a pass for the jerseys. They're red (largely) and easy to throw on over a jacket or whatever.

Also the cost of stuff there was damn crazy.