CONCACAF (soccer)

I see the US has it tough as ever

Uruguay to beat Canada or Jamaica in the play-off

Group 2 actually is a bit of a group of death.

I hear the British Virgin Islands are on fire at the moment

... quide liderally

The final line there should be "Haiti vs winner of Nicaragua v Netherlands Antilles", shouldn't it?

Yes. And the final line of Group 2 should be simply "Canada v St Vincent and the Grenadines."

Or, rather, every line should have "Winner of" in front of it just like the Canada line, since each of the three groups will consist of four teams when they get to the actual group stage.

(OK, that might be confusing without parentheses such as "Winner of Jamaica vs. (winner of Bahamas v British Virgin Islands)")

(Or have I misunderstood?)

I think it'd be cool if Canada could pull off qualification, if only for De Rosario's sake.

big game tonight

No takeout for USA fans.

I better keep a low profile when I pick up my cemita tonight.

Well, you people watching this?

i wish!

without cable i've got to figure out this live-tv-online thing

US scored a header, Mexico got the equalizer, US got another header all in the last 10 minutes ( minutes 30-40 of primer tiempo)

And now another goal from the US. But a flag!

se acabo. la pelota no juega mas

Some kind of glitch made the screen freeze on some studio shot.

I think I'm going to have to start watching this telenovela "Amas de Casas Desesperadas."

And Mexico gets the equalizer at minute two of segundo tiempo.

a draw

well played or disappointing?

The first half was great, the second had its moments. I'd say it was a fair draw in the end. USA's defense looked iffy a lot of the time. Altidore's goal (the second header) was a thing of beauty.

i'm still confused as to why dempsey's goal was disallowed. he looked completely onside to me and the univision announcers. (i couldn't handle the espn 3 screen cut outs to show the duke game)

I'm going to have to go to some bar somewhere to watch any of this. Freddy's??

ESC boys go to Stout, near Penn Station.

That could be hilarious.

Drew Moor = shit. Nice cross, but as far as I can tell his piss poor marking allowed two identical goals.

John Harkes kept talking about the youth and inexperience of the team, and for some reason gave Ramiro Corrales as an example. Hell, I watched Corrales lose his defenders eleven years ago when he started with the Metros, and he hasn't exactly gotten faster or smarter in the interim. As for his right foot: has anyone actually see that it's not, in fact, a prosthesis molded from cast iron? Once the Mexicans figured out he was exclusively left footed, they forced him to use his right foot to play the ball, and we got to see some very unusual trajectories.

Convey looked terrified most of the game. He doesn't have any idea how to figure out his passing options when counterattacking, which should be priority A for any USA midfielder.

Dempsey's non-goal was Bergkampesque. I guess he really was barely offside, but how did the ref not see the flag for fifteen seconds?

Totally undeserved 2-2 draw. Thank you Jozy and Tim Howard.

<3 Tim Howard

Kekeke was in work elevator with someone this morning who kept trying to explain to a basketball goon that he didn't really follow sports other than soccer. Goon kept asking, "So uh do you PLAY soccer? Not much going on for you this time of year, eh? Hey, are you gonna go out for the company softball team?"

Moor and the other outside back really did look terrible.

i only saw univision highlights but it looks like our boys lucked out

whatever happened to Freddy Edu? is he in the MLS?

Freddy Adu plays for Benfica. Maurice Edu plays for Toronto FC.

On October 24, 2007, Adu played his first UEFA Champions League game for Benfica against Celtic FC in a 1-0 victory in Lisbon. He became the youngest American to play in the competition when he entered in the 61st minute[

Freddy Adu plays for Benfica. Maurice Edu plays for Toronto FC.
and they both came on as subs last night.

Adu looked as scared against Mexico as he looks cocky at Estadio da Luz. The sight of Rafa Marquez hunting him down like a small, cute animal was, uh, memorable. That said, he ripped the right side of the Mexican defense a new one in the closing minute, and he hit a far nicer dead ball than Donovan, who seemed to take nearly every free kick or corner kick.

Edu: something about his obvious anxiety reminded me of the kind of basketball player known for alwaysmissing the front end of one-and-ones late in close games. Maybe that's what playing for Maurice Johnston will do to you.

what about Demarcus Beasley, was he playing last night or is he completely clapped out? one incredible season there for PSV it was a shame he had such a crappy World Cup.

btw a side note out of interest, who would you folks rate as the greatest american soccer player?

cobi jones

Beasley is injured right now, out for the season (w/ Rangers). He was missed last night.

cobi jones

seriously?

nah
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files_footballworldcup/LALAS_Alexi_19940220_GH_R.jpg

cobi jones
roffle

It's impossible for me to hear that dude's name without singing it to the tune of "Casey Jones".

"the greatest american soccer player?"

OWEN HARGREAVES

Heheh some bookies apparently got a bit BURNT by their pricing of Nicaragua vs Netherlands Antilles -- offering in the vicinity of six to one on the Antilles ("well Nicaragua is a Proper Country innit"), not realizing that both teams are EQUALLY RUBBISH. (Yes NeAnt won 1-0, no this is not your regular aftertiming, I was not in on it at the time sadly.)

CONCACAF first round, first leg results:

Dominica 1 - 1 Barbados
Turks and Caicos 2 - 1 Saint Lucia
Bermuda 1 - 1 Cayman Islands
Aruba 0 - 3 Antigua and Barbuda
Belize 1 - 0 St Kitts and Nevis
El Salvador 12 - 0 Anguilla
Nicaragua 0 - 1 Dutch Antilles

1st legs still to be played:

Bahamas vs British Virgin Islands
Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic
Grenada vs US Virgin Islands (one leg only - USVI does not meet CONCACAF's very low threshold for an acceptable ground - what is it, an all-guano pitch?)
Montserrat vs Surinam

i thought hargreaves was a canuck

It bears mentioning that Montserrat won ie lost the last (I believe? not sure if it's been repeated) Other Final of the World Cup.

I'm have a vague, forboding feeling about the two-leg USA vs winner of Dominica vs Barbados. If we (being the US) don't win, no group stage.

What makes me worry isn't that Barbados may recruit Harewood, Ifill, and Boyce , but that I just noticed Dominica's goal scorer yesterday, Havant & Waterlooville's Richard Pacquette.

Is anyone watching this particular tournament this year?

canada look good!

I only saw the first USA match because my wife and I were gifted tickets, but I just saw that Haiti won all their games and their group, including beating Costa Rica, which is absolutely noteworthy imho.

I was surprised at how many of the Martinique players are home based. They gave Mexico a decent scare.

Excited to see if we can score our first goal since September 2018 tonight.

champions league semifinal tonight between LAFC and Club America was bonkers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgU3o6AZ45o

Just gonna keep posting this nonsense

CONCACAF a Soccer Odyssey.#LAFC #MLSpic.twitter.com/B6qP3OqStr

— Maximiliano Bretos (@MaxBretosSports) December 20, 2020

JFF President Michael Ricketts confirmed all of these players (except Max Aarons) listed + Michail Antonio have or are in the process of acquiring passports for Jamaica MNT

via @SportsMax_Carib 🇯🇲 #jff pic.twitter.com/MzIaZDPzO0

— chris bowerbank (@chrisbowerbank) March 3, 2021

Wild, what's the situation that led to this?

Brexit?

this is the great lengths some players will go to - to avoid Jamie + Rebecca Vardy

Puro CONCACAF

So…the Vice President of Suriname, who is 60 years old, is PLAYING in Concacaf League against Olimpia tonight, captaining the team he owns. pic.twitter.com/Ktij4FiOoZ

— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) September 21, 2021

Can the story get more CONCACAF? Yes, yes it can.

https://wired868.com/2021/09/23/concacaf-investigates-brunswijk-the-61-year-old-inter-owner-player-and-convicted-drug-dealer-for-potential-integrity-issues/

oh yes

i've been following canadian soccer since i was a kid. so, incredibly proud of canada. this is the best team we've ever had. and now leading the pack!

Top of the table! FULL TIME IN EDMONTON#Iceteca#CANMNT #WCQ #ForCanada pic.twitter.com/wPObqc2riK

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) November 17, 2021

Canada dos, USA cero

Canada reminds me of the US teams of the 00s

https://www.twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN/status/1487925951182815233

I know this is a much improved Canada team, but there's something hilariously US about starting to regularly beat Mexico again after years of futility against them only to now not be able to beat Canada anymore

they need to call Dike up again, nuff said

Crazy how Herdman took the women's team to this level and now he's doing it again. Such a positive guy.

this CONCACAF Champions league match between CF Montreal and Santos is embarrassing

Santos played Orlando last year and I was equally unimpressed by them then. yet Kamal Miller is such a shit defender that they managed a goal after all

Montreal meanwhile have a counter attack akin to playing FIFA on Playstation, where they just blast through balls long and hope their dude catches up to it, and he never does, or he's miles offside

This tournament is always disappointing for MLS teams in this phase.

The field for the El Salvador v US match just got a shout-out from the broadcasters as being one of those concacaf things you have to explain to folks who don't follow qualifiers etc here closely

it's a muddy mess btw

These Hot Nations League Nights

A Cinderella story. The Dominican Republic has qualified for the U-20 World Cup after defeating Jamaica 1-0. It is the first FIFA tournament at any level that the Dominican Republic has qualified for. Congratulations to them. The players are overjoyed in their celebration

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) June 30, 2022

That Concacaf lyfe

Referee Fernando Hernandez gets a 12 game ban for kneeing a Club Leon player in the junk during a Liga MX game. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner with the amount of ref swarming you get. Not saying what he did was right, but he was driven to this pic.twitter.com/wiJDCKHBvo

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) April 6, 2023

refs very much in character