OT: 2023 Soccer and Vancouver Whitecaps Thread

[Hit the post]

Great start by Canada but they fell apart later, brutal defending.

Scored a goal against a legit team so I'm satisfied (heh, I'm easily pleased).

 

[Nomobo]

Scored a goal against a legit team so I'm satisfied (heh, I'm easily pleased).

Also, Herdman should have kept his mouth shut, he just managed to pump up the Croatians.

 

[canuckking1]

Good night Canada

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Really shows how deluded some fans were.

Completely outclassed this game and the worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin thus far in this tournament. Midfield is below average and we probably have the worst backs out of all particpating countries.

Objective was to score a goal. Mission done. Maybe win a game in 2026.

Our country still has a very long way to go until they can become a credible soccer nation.

 

[Hit the post]

Really shows how deluded some fans were.

Completely outclassed this game and the worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin thus far in this tournament. Midfield is below average and we probably have the worst backs out of all particpating countries.

Objective was to score a goal. Mission done. Maybe win a game in 2026.

Our country still has a very long way to go until they can become a credible soccer nation.

Seriously though who would've thought this was even possible a few years ago? Baby steps but steps in the right direction nevertheless.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Seriously though who would've thought this was even possible a few years ago? Baby steps but steps in the right direction nevertheless.

Can't lie...I was really hoping to be proven wrong and see this team at least get a point out of this tournament but they are likely going out with 0 with a minus GD.

It just sucks.

 

[Nomobo]

If Croatia beats Belgium, they’ll be a force in the group of sixteen. Amazing for a country of 3 million.

 

[God]

Hard not to be proud of Canada, though. They raised their game against two powerhouses. Deserved a win in the first game and to play for a chance at the knockout stage in game three.

2026 here we come

 

[Jyrki]

Sucks that we're already out of the tournament. If only we had better finishing vs Belgium... that's why there's no such thing as moral victories in the World Cup.

Badly outclassed by Croatia after the first 20, had no business being in the same pitch as them really. Still, getting the first WC goal on the board is nothing to scoff at as an accomplishment. I think we're in an envious position, in the sense that we know this team will get better 4 years from now.

 

[Hit the post]

Can't lie...I was really hoping to be proven wrong and see this team at least get a point out of this tournament but they are likely going out with 0 with a minus GD.

It just sucks.

They deserved a better fate against Belgium (another legit team). It's not like decades ago when the scores were only close because we played like only one forward & 9 defenders back type of structure lol

 

[Javaman]

Also, Herdman should have kept his mouth shut, he just managed to pump up the Croatians.

I have a hard time buying into the story that Herdman's f-bomb affected the outcome of this game.

A higher ranked team exposed the weaknesses of a lower ranked team and came out on top, as expected. I seriously doubt if JH had said "We're going to go and beat Croatia" the outcome would have been any different.

Canada's still climbing up the hill. There's a ways to go before we reach the summit and no guarantee we'll ever get there.

 

[tradervik]

I didn’t appreciate Herdman’s bad boy act. We require our ambassadors to act with dignity and good sportsmanship.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

Just not good enough after the first 15-20 minutes. Croatia was the stronger team at every position. Really not any good chances after the Davies goal in the first minute of the game.

I defended the backs in the Belgium game as the goal was really the only mistake they made all game, and we didn’t finish on our chances. Today is a different story.
At least 4 times where either someone lost their man or there wasn’t enough communication on who was marking who. Although one of the times was Hutchinson. But still it’s part of the job of the back line to communicate with the midfield on who to mark. Missed checks caused 3 goals and could of been 4 but Borjan made a good save. Also the missed Miller interception that lead to a goal. The only significant mistake I have for the Belgium and Croatia backs against us is nobody picking up Davies on the header.

 

[RandV]

Really shows how deluded some fans were.

Completely outclassed this game and the worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin thus far in this tournament. Midfield is below average and we probably have the worst backs out of all particpating countries.

Objective was to score a goal. Mission done. Maybe win a game in 2026.

Our country still has a very long way to go until they can become a credible soccer nation.

I have a hard time following the run up as I never can catch when the games were on, but being the "worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin" at the World Cup... but what happened to the team that finished 1st beating the US and Mexico? I had no expectations set really and understand there's much tougher teams in other regions but it's not like Canada just squeaked in with the last spot here.

 

[Hit the post]

I have a hard time following the run up as I never can catch when the games were on, but being the "worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin" at the World Cup... but what happened to the team that finished 1st beating the US and Mexico? I had no expectations set really and understand there's much tougher teams in other regions but it's not like Canada just squeaked in with the last spot here.

And Belgium has *WON* the World Cup before (granted only three years later than the last time the Laffs won the Stanley Cup ). But they have been in the World Cup over a dozen times in history.

 

[VanJack]

Just getting to Qatar was a victory for this Canadian program......but had a bad feeling in the first 10 minutes of the Belgium game when then they gifted a penalty kick from the spot but couldn't convert. If they'd taken the lead early and got a result against Belguim, who really weren't that great, it would have changed their entire tournament.

And Herdman will learn a valuable lesson about poking at stick at the belly of the beast. Teams like Croatia are just looking for motivation against an inferior opponent.

But on the bright side, this is still a young team, and it struck me that a number of the favored teams in this tournament had some pretty old rosters that are aging out quickly. And I assume that as partial World Cup hosts in 2026, Canada gets an automatic berth? They'll be far better by then.

 

[Jyrki]

And Belgium has *WON* the World Cup before (granted only three years later than the last time the Laffs won the Stanley Cup ). But they have been in the World Cup over a dozen times in history.

'70 was won by a country that starts with the same letter, but it sure wasn't Belgium.

 

[Hit the post]

'70 was won by a country that starts with the same letter, but it sure wasn't Belgium.

My mistake (won't be my last )

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I have a hard time following the run up as I never can catch when the games were on, but being the "worst CONCACAF team by a wide margin" at the World Cup... but what happened to the team that finished 1st beating the US and Mexico? I had no expectations set really and understand there's much tougher teams in other regions but it's not like Canada just squeaked in with the last spot here.

Really hard to get an accurate read of those results since they played those games in such frigid conditions.

 

[3rd Sedin]

What a mixture of feelings today. After the ecstasy of that opening goal we gradually got ground back to reality. It makes you wonder if Canada stuck a few of its chances against Belgium and if we had a competent official in that match.

I don’t think Herdman’s comments affected Croatia. If Canada played better and Croatia lost do you think their players would be talking about him after the match? It’s the World Cup. I guess It’s possible a bunch of veterans needed to be insulted to get excited about a survival match against a team that just outplayed Belgium, but I don’t buy it. The comments of course look ridiculous in retrospect.

I see some funny takes. Worst team in CONCACAF in the tournament? Sure Costa Rica found magic in the 85th minute today but they’ve been absolutely shocking and barely defeated a struggling Japan. Our scorelines haven't been too flattering compared to our performance.

We need to develop more quality on the backline over the next three years, and ideally for GK one of Crepeau, St Clair, or even the wild card dual national Owen Goodman jump a few more steps in their development to take over duties from the aging Borjan.

Hopefully Ugbo, Kaye, and a few others get an opportunity Wednesday and we get our first result in World Cup history.

Hard not to feel proud of this team yet yearning to wonder what could have been

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I see some funny takes. Worst team in CONCACAF in the tournament? Sure Costa Rica found magic in the 85th minute today but they’ve been absolutely shocking and barely defeated a struggling Japan. Our scorelines haven't been too flattering compared to our performance.

Costa Rica got shelled by a tournament favorite and really stopped playing after going 2-0 down.That team has been in fine form only losing 2 of their past 15 games.

We have the most average midfield out of the 4 CONCACAF teams and the worst collection of CB's. Belgium literally kept carving up our backline but De Bryune flubbed so many easy passes. Croatia really showed how bad our MF and CBs were...

The CSA needs to not be complacent. It's great that we are here but it might be a one and done deal unless this country churns out better defensive minded footballers. The program as it is...just really sucks at the youth levels.

 

[3rd Sedin]

Costa Rica got shelled by a tournament favorite and really stopped playing after going 2-0 down.That team has been in fine form only losing 2 of their past 15 games.

We have the most average midfield out of the 4 CONCACAF teams and the worst collection of CB's. Belgium literally kept carving up our backline but De Bryune flubbed so many easy passes. Croatia really showed how bad our MF and CBs were...

The CSA needs to not be complacent. It's great that we are here but it might be a one and done deal unless this country churns out better defensive minded footballers. The program as it is...just really sucks at the youth levels.

I’m just talking about CONCACAF performance at the World Cup, not the lead up to it so maybe that’s where we’re disagreeing?

Canada completely outplayed the #2 World Rank (despite them looking more like 20) then stayed close to the 2018 runner up until the 70th minute. Costa Rica completely folded and had something like 17% possession against a tournament favourite and fluked out against Japan today.

I don’t disagree with you about our average midfield and worse CB, and I would also agree our form leading up to the tournament was worst of the four qualifiers.

Anyways, a lot to build on here moving forward. An improvement on 86 and surely we’ll improve on this in 26

 

[Jyrki21]

I kind of expected Canada to get a wakeup call at this tournament (too much time had passed since they were riding high against CONCACAF), but after the performance against Belgium seemed to lead to such an unjust result... my main takeaway after both of today's Group F games has simply been that Belgium (without Lukaku) is dramatically over-ranked at this event.

It would be nice if Canada could beat Morocco all the same, just to get that under the belt (and potentially play spoiler).

 

[hookshott]

If Croatia beats Belgium, they’ll be a force in the group of sixteen. Amazing for a country of 3 million.

Yes, but ALL their best athletes play soccer (football). Certainly not the case in Canada

If Croatia beats Belgium, they’ll be a force in the group of sixteen. Amazing for a country of 3 million.

 

[Peen]

It was pretty obvious going into the tournament that they needed a result against Belgium because they would pose no threat to Croatia.

The world rankings nonsense is all bullshit. Belgium sucks.

The jubilation of the first goal was an unreal experience but you knew that we didn't have the horses to nurse a lead against that level opposition. Our best hope was pinching a quick second before they responded, and then bringing on Piette to stop their midfield penetration but that was always going to be a miracle.

Kind of sucks, because I was excited to see the Morocco - Canada fixture if there was more riding on it. Also getting a win in the first game probably shifts Herdman's approach to be more damage limitation for goal differential tiebreakers. Maybe we play with a more structured setup and don't get beat 4-1. Who knows.

I don't think this veteran Croatia team needed any extra motivation. Herdman saying what he said to the media in the heat of the moment wasn't great, but the bigger problem was that he didn't select the order of penalty kickers before the tournament. Letting players deliberate has never been a good idea. He also didn't get things right in the game today either, but they were in a tough spot and I'm not sure we should be over-analyzing this game as a reflection of Herdman. At all.