Qualifier playoffs for final 6 spots starts with games March 26 and ends on March 31
I be cheering very much for Italy. Also for Sweden, Denmark, and Jamaica
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Good win by Italy. Was worried during the first half but they won the second half. Two good non set piece goals
Nice wins by Denmark and Sweden as well
I see Swedenâs 3 goals scored by same player
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Italy will face Bosnia-Herzegovina for the right to face Canada in the opener.
Beat Wales in penalties 1-1 (4-2)
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If Italy makes it, it will be the only situation where 2 of my top 10 teams are in the same group.
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and Jamaica gives me 4 for 4 in todays games that mattered to me.
In the good things that collide department. I have been looking forward to 2 things coming this summer for the last couple of years. World Cup, and a 3 week road trip to Ottawa and back that my family is going to make. Seems I get to watch the group stage and round of 32, then on the road for the rest. Just the way our timing worked out. sigh
The union workers where my wife works might be on strike at that time which means my wife as a manager would not be able to go on vacation. A very small silver lining would be getting to watch the rest of the games. Did I ever mention that I hate striking unions. I expect that international players are not unionized. That would really suck
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i want nothing to do with that world cup garbage
FIFA are utter scoundrels that canât be trusted and Trump has turned it into even more of a self-serving circus. also, there will likely be violence and ICE raids and even more gross human rights violations.
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Beyond those issues in the US, I have not been happy about this watered-down format, simply to have more games and to afford an effective participation trophy for all the top teams in the knockout round, for 32 of 48 teams in the World Cup will advance after group play as opposed to the previous 16 out of 32 teams.
Once a team wins their first game in group play, much like in previous years, there is little to no incentive to continue to play for a win after a certain point in the second match or in especially in the third match.
If I had my way, in a format of group play if not also all all tournament play, teams would get zero points for a 0-0 draw such that they must continue to play to score and to win.
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In other news, I might pick up some solid work associated with the local presence for the FIFA World Cup, so I am going to find out more on that front starting next week.
Working live events, as I have done before, sometimes can lead to connections and leads that you wonât come across otherwise as well, so I would do it for that reason as well beyond the solid temporary pay.
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oh boo. Lost Italy and Jamaica today.
Didnt see the first half of Italy game but with a one nothing lead, they got red carded and a man down. They played well in spite of that giving up only 1 goal in the last 80 minutes of play. Then they sucked in the shoot out.
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No Italy, no problem: Canadaâs FIFA World Cup opener still a massive draw
âBy Wednesday afternoon, there were 55 listings for the Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina game on StubHub Canada, starting at C$2,515 in the âCanada supporters value tierâ and leaping up to $130,766 for a pitch-side seat.
Those numbers would have climbed even higher if Italy had won the playoff matchup, said Ervil DiGiusto, founder of ticket broker StarOne Tickets.
He guesses the price of getting into a Canada versus Italy game could have been as much as 25 times the cost of Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina.â
up to $130,766 for a pitch-side seat? Super bowl is starting to look like a deal.
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I feel for the Iranian players. There cant be much joy for them to be at the WC in usa, regardless of their feelings about the war.
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Thought they were getting their games moved to Mexico? Wouldnât put it past Trump to deny them entry or arrest them when they land.
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FIFA has been saying no way to moving games
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Plus even if they move their games outside of the US. What happens if they advance far enough?
Either they play as is or withdraw
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I wonder if we should have a Pools section.
Is anyone interested in a World Cup pool?
I think for sake of ease I would only start it up in the knockout rounds.
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How many stars will be healthy for Canada? They wonât advance out of their pool with half their starters down.
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might be worth a shot if there is enough interest
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Overall Canadaâs team is pretty solid although they lack creativity attacking. They remind me in some ways of some hockey teams i used to play for. Instead of already knowing the proper play most of them seem to need a half second to evaluate the play before acting. By then the window has closed to less than ideal. Have never actually played soccer but i do believe that there are some parallels to hockey. I donât see that hesitation with the top clubs.
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Things going for Canada is that they are in collectively the weakest group in the tournament (w/ Switzerland, Bosnia, Qatar) by both FIFA and ELO ratings and only having to be one of the top 8 3rd place teams.
As learned by the Italians, there are no freebies, but the Canadians arenât really trained to think or play that way.
The biggest concern going into the tournament will be the health of its defense. The first team CBs and FBs have barely played together in the past 2 years. So far, the defense infirmary includes Moise Bombito, Alistair Johnston, Luc de Fougerolles, Alfie Jones, Ralph Priso, Joel Waterman, with Derek Cornelius just coming back into the fold. Typically, I think Canada wants to carry 7 defense and yet 8 are currently injured and wonât have time to get into form.
As a result, the big vulnerability is Marschâs heavy front pressure opening up counters.
Its also a bit alarming that both Crepeau and St Clair are backstopping teams that are basically sieves on defense.
This is giving me Dan Cloutier/Alex Auld canât stop a beach ball vibesâŚ
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Top three in the group should have been Italy at 12, Swiss at 19 and then Canada at 30. Not a soft group really. A healthy Canada is much higher than 30 imo. Canadaâs biggest challenge now is to win the pool. If we do then we play round of 32 and round of 16 games in BC. If we finish lower we play all our playoff games in the US.
Do you have A. Davies play up for his play making savy or back to shore up that defense? I really like how that Flores is looking in playing forward right now. Really wouldnât mind seeing him and Buchanan playing wing and feeding J. David in the upcoming friendlies in June.
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