2-0 Canada at halftime. Goals from Akindele and Larin. Supporters of the national team are getting pretty excited about the Larin / Akindele partnership, and with good reason.
Ricketts was absolutely stoned by the Dominica keeper as well and nearly scored a screamer from 30 yards out before halftime. Someone almost chipped the keeper from half early on, not sure who that was exactly.
Now, cap tie Mallan Roberts and I couldn't be happier.
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peaking ahead, Canada will be seeded for the 3rd round draw. The 6 winners of these matches will advance to the semifinal round joining Costa Rica, Mexico, USA, Honduras, Panama and T&T.
One of:
Jamaica (85)
Haiti (117)
Canada (122)
El Salvador (127)
Guatemala (134)
St. Vincent (134)
vs
One of:
Antigua and Barbuda (149)
Puerto Rico (155)
Belize (162)
Barbados (169)
Nicaragua (175)
Curaçao (182)
Curaçao knocked out Cuba!
Curacao is good, their ranking is deceptive - Canada would be unlucky to draw them. They called up a ton of pros from really good leagues in europe and are coached by Kluivert... I think they could beat anybody in the next round and go quite a ways in qualifying. When you look at their team on paper they can can field a starting 11 of first team Eredivisie guys
Puerto Rico got knocked off by Grenada tonight so it's Grenada also in the potential opponents.
IMO - basically want to avoid Curcacao - hopefully Jamaica gets them. Nicaragua would be a pretty hostile away match too though their team is terrible. Anybody else should be a cakewalk.
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4-0 final. Goals from Akindele, Larin, and 2 from Ricketts. Edgar was stopped on a penalty, but it was really inconsequential.
I know these are games against minnows, but 4 wins in a row, 4 clean sheets, in row and 10 goals for in the last 4 games is just good stuff. Remember this is a team that went winless in 16 and were scoreless in 10 games in a row during that stretch. This team didn't even win 4 in a row against minnows last qualifying round.
And, FWIW I wouldn't be too concerned about Curacao. They knocked off Cuba, but the Cuban national team is firmly in minnow status, regardless of their FIFA ranking.
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So what are the chances of Canada making a 2018 appearance?
Not great. It's a very young team, sort of a changing of the guard as several older players have retired or are being phased out and some new blood is being introduced. A realistic goal for the team is making the hex (the last 6 teams in the region).
We should get through the next round which is a two game set against a team such as Antigua and Barbuda which puts us into a four team group which the top two advance from. For that stage we'd be up against one of USA/Mexico/Costa Rica and one of Honduras/Panama/Trinidad & Tobago in addition to one other qualifier from the current stage. Most likely it comes down to whether we can finish ahead of the team from that second group - Honduras or Panama will be tough, T&T should be possible.
If we do reach the hex we'd need to finish in the top four to have a shot at 2018 (3 qualify automatically and the fourth has to playoff against one of the other regions).
IMO there's 0 chance Canada makes Russia 2018. There is an outside chance they make the Hex, but it would really depend on the draw they get for the fourth round. If they drew, for example, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and a current qualifier they COULD get to the Hex.
IMO there's 0 chance Canada makes Russia 2018. There is an outside chance they make the Hex, but it would really depend on the draw they get for the fourth round. If they drew, for example, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and a current qualifier they COULD get to the Hex.
If they draw that group they could win it. Really having Mexico or the US in the group doesn't change anything as those teams are likely to beat whoever else in the group. Finishing second is good enough. Regardless, it's still probably no better than 50/50 to make the hex, maybe a 1 in 50 chance of making the World Cup.
If they draw that group they could win it. Really having Mexico or the US in the group doesn't change anything as those teams are likely to beat whoever else in the group. Finishing second is good enough. Regardless, it's still probably no better than 50/50 to make the hex, maybe a 1 in 50 chance of making the World Cup.
No chance of beating Costa Rica right now. Most of their 1st team are playing in strong European leagues.
2018 would be very lucky to get to the hex and a miracle to get to the World Cup.
Also, as far as I know there is no rule against playing an official FIFA game on turf. As an example, the Faroe Islands play all their home games on turf.
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