I'm all set for 3am Wednesday morning. Hosts and reigning Champions USA vs Guyana, who include ex-Addicks Callum Harriott, Karel Daniel & Anthony Jeffrey.
Do they have qualifiers for this tournament? Some of the teams that didn’t make it must be shocking if so.
Yeah the CONCACAF Nations League was the Qualifer
Instead of copying the UEFA format though they did it differently themselves
34-Nations went into one League whilst six teams (Mexico | United States | Panama | Costa Rica | Honduras | Trinidad & Tobago) got automatic qualification to the Gold Cup so didnt have to participate
Everyone else got put into a level of the table according to their ranking so section A | B | C | D
Rather than teams from Section D just facing off against each other, each team was randomly drawn to play a game against opponents from each section... the top ten would then qualify for the Gold Cup, the finishing positions for everyone else would see them going into the UEFA style format of the Nations League which'll be played across the autumn / winter international breaks this coming season.
It basically meant that teams could lose their hardest game yet if they won the other three then they stood a chance of reaching the Gold Cup when in usual qualifying years they wouldnt stand a chance
Had Nicaragua not beaten Barbados (1-0 win) then Lyle Taylor and Montserrat would have been at the Gold Cup themselves, just to put it into context; Montserrat have never won a World Cup Qualifier for example
Callum Harriott playing for Guyana tonight. In the first 25 minutes, his trickery and footwork is making the U.S defense look silly. Guyana not being bullied at all. Decent footy from them tbf
Recorded USA v Trinidad & Tobago and just half watched, half fast forwarded the match. USA won 6-0, two goals from Zardes - his second was a nice one. First half was even but dull (USA went 1-0 up just before half time) second half the US destroyed T&T whose defence completely collapsed.
Hoping the standard & atmosphere improves before the semi-finals.
Also, does Free Sports have particularly bad quality picture or have I just become so used to HD that SD looks dreadful to me now?
OK but still impressed. Decent strikers playing in China. For the money? Can they endure culture differences for long? Pickings to be had I'd suggest. Jonathan de Silva another.
OK but still impressed. Decent strikers playing in China. For the money? Can they endure culture differences for long? Pickings to be had I'd suggest. Jonathan de Silva another.
We can’t compete with salaries being paid in Scotland, I doubt we can compete with China.
So starting to get to the business end of this tournament.
Quarter finals are - on one side of the draw Haiti v Canada and Mexico v Costa Rica. Both matches are tonight in Texas.
I have more interest in the other side of the draw as I’ll be at the semi final in Nashville watching the winner of Jamaica v Panama and USA v Curacao, both games taking place in Philadelphia tomorrow night. Hoping for Jamaica v USA, although I have a soft spot for Curacao having been there on honeymoon a few years ago.
So starting to get to the business end of this tournament.
Quarter finals are - on one side of the draw Haiti v Canada and Mexico v Costa Rica. Both matches are tonight in Texas.
I have more interest in the other side of the draw as I’ll be at the semi final in Nashville watching the winner of Jamaica v Panama and USA v Curacao, both games taking place in Philadelphia tomorrow night. Hoping for Jamaica v USA, although I have a soft spot for Curacao having been there on honeymoon a few years ago.
Comments
Next game is tough to call Jamaica v Honduras
Instead of copying the UEFA format though they did it differently themselves
34-Nations went into one League whilst six teams (Mexico | United States | Panama | Costa Rica | Honduras | Trinidad & Tobago) got automatic qualification to the Gold Cup so didnt have to participate
Everyone else got put into a level of the table according to their ranking so section A | B | C | D
Rather than teams from Section D just facing off against each other, each team was randomly drawn to play a game against opponents from each section... the top ten would then qualify for the Gold Cup, the finishing positions for everyone else would see them going into the UEFA style format of the Nations League which'll be played across the autumn / winter international breaks this coming season.
It basically meant that teams could lose their hardest game yet if they won the other three then they stood a chance of reaching the Gold Cup when in usual qualifying years they wouldnt stand a chance
Had Nicaragua not beaten Barbados (1-0 win) then Lyle Taylor and Montserrat would have been at the Gold Cup themselves, just to put it into context; Montserrat have never won a World Cup Qualifier for example
I'd rather Taylor rested up all summer than spent it preparing for a tournament they'd lose all their games heavily in.
We resume pre-season training in a few days, about the same time as Taylor would be starting his holidays if they'd qualified.
Neil Danns from the penalty spot, currently drawing 1-1 with Panama
Hoping the standard & atmosphere improves before the semi-finals.
Also, does Free Sports have particularly bad quality picture or have I just become so used to HD that SD looks dreadful to me now?
Thats African Cup of Nations not Gold Cup
Quarter finals are - on one side of the draw Haiti v Canada and Mexico v Costa Rica. Both matches are tonight in Texas.
I have more interest in the other side of the draw as I’ll be at the semi final in Nashville watching the winner of Jamaica v Panama and USA v Curacao, both games taking place in Philadelphia tomorrow night. Hoping for Jamaica v USA, although I have a soft spot for Curacao having been there on honeymoon a few years ago.
Canada 2-0 up at halftime and lost 3-2 to Haiti, very poor defending for Canada cost them and Haiti are the 1st team into the Semis
A 1-0 extra time win over Haiti courtesy of a Jimenez penalty.
7 against Cuba
3 against Canada
3 against Martinique
USA went on to beat Jamaica 3-1, quality was pretty poor