Segun Oluwaniyi Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 (edited) African qualifying is always heart-attack inducing. Every team guaranteed to face pressure matches because of this format, plus the usual factors that make playing on the continent difficult in general. The playoff teams will be set today. Nigeria barely survived to make the playoff after a terrible draw against Cape Verde at home, same for Algeria surviving with a 2-2 draw at home against Burkina Faso. Ghana advanced over South Africa based on this phantom penalty, who are appealing to FIFA: Cameroon v. Côte d'Ivoire starting now, one will go to the playoff round and one will go home, CIV just need a draw. 2 hours ago, Ameritoon said: I would take it, at the very least a draw. On top of the conditions, Canada are young and hungry and Mexico are old and facing a lot of adversity right now. From what I've seen of the two, Canada may just be better at the moment. Mexico are laboured and seem poorly coached, while Davies, David, and Buchanan are all extremely fast and dangerous players. Edited November 16, 2021 by Segun Oluwaniyi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantail Breeze Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Matz Sels on the Belgium bench tonight Wonder if he’s learnt how to catch a ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Gatesheed 1 up at Altrincham in their FA Cup replay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Watching Norway against Holland is like watching Newcastle against Brighton. Must win game, and set up for a draw or narrow loss. What a joke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Butcher Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 5 minutes ago, Conjo said: Watching Norway against Holland is like watching Newcastle against Brighton. Must win game, and set up for a draw or narrow loss. What a joke. It's about staying in the game. An early goal against and it's all over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 2 minutes ago, The Butcher said: It's about staying in the game. An early goal against and it's all over. Not scoring and it's all over as well. They left it too late against Latvia on saturday. Doing the same now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Segun Oluwaniyi said: African qualifying is always heart-attack inducing. Every team guaranteed to face pressure matches because of this format, plus the usual factors that make playing on the continent difficult in general. The playoff teams will be set today. Nigeria barely survived to make the playoff after a terrible draw against Cape Verde at home, same for Algeria surviving with a 2-2 draw at home against Burkina Faso. Ghana advanced over South Africa based on this phantom penalty, who are appealing to FIFA: Cameroon v. Côte d'Ivoire starting now, one will go to the playoff round and one will go home, CIV just need a draw. From what I've seen of the two, Canada may just be better at the moment. Mexico are laboured and seem poorly coached, while Davies, David, and Buchanan are all extremely fast and dangerous players. I know the new format post-Qatar will open it up but it seems very harsh only five African nations making it into the World Cup. Some (what I assume are) very good teams will miss out. Was curious about how Nigeria might get on against Cape Verde. Heard that they were poor in their other recent game against Liberia so it sounds like you guys have snuck into the play-offs but will have to improve a lot to actually make it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizero Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 (edited) I'm just placing all my hopes on Montenegro beating Turkey by a lot and Norway holding on to a draw. Edited November 16, 2021 by Kaizero Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasper Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 It’s aaaa thriller in group d! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizero Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 In the end we couldn't beat Latvia so can't say we didn't deserve not qualifying. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Just now, Kaizero said: In the end we couldn't beat Latvia so can't say we didn't deserve not qualifying. Same game plan at home against Latvia and away against Holland, both must win matches for the biggest tournament in these players lives. Solbakken is such a coward we might just as well have stuck with Lagerbäck.... Wish we'd just go for it and get a manager who wants to press and attack instead of these utter fossils always playing safety first just because we had some success with it 20+ years ago. We may not be more successful than we are now, but at least it would be more enjoyable to watch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizero Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Conjo said: Same game plan at home against Latvia and away against Holland, both must win matches for the biggest tournament in these players lives. Solbakken is such a coward we might just as well have stuck with Lagerbäck.... Wish we'd just go for it and get a manager who wants to press and attack instead of these utter fossils always playing safety first just because we had some success with it 20+ years ago. We may not be more successful than we are now, but at least it would be more enjoyable to watch. I agree, never been a fan of Solbakken. If we absolutely had to go Norwegian for manager I'd have preferred the likes of Rekdal over him even. If only because of what you say, wanting to attack rather than be defensive and knock it long. Thankfully our players are young and the next WC will have more spots from Europe. Maybe we'll even make the next Euros, even Solbakken can't mess that one up - knock on wood. Edited November 16, 2021 by Kaizero Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 1 minute ago, Kaizero said: I agree, never been a fan of Solbakken. If we absolutely had to go Norwegian for manager I'd have preferred the likes of Rekdal over him even. Thankfully our players are young and the next WC will have more spots from Europe. Maybe we'll even make the next Euros, even Solbakken can't mess that one up - knock on wood. You reckon Knutsen would entertain the idea of venturing into international management? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_n_white Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Great result for us vs Belgium. Looking forward to a home playoff game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Gateshead v Charlton in the FA Cup next round Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizero Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 8 minutes ago, Conjo said: You reckon Knutsen would entertain the idea of venturing into international management? He'd be dumb to do so at this stage of his career and it's not like we'll sack Solbakken within the next decade. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 4 hours ago, The Bonk said: Stay classy Alberta! There was a streaker at a Canada rugby match in Vancouver the other year. The assistant coach came tearing off the bench and absolutely levelled the guy. Was immensely satisfying. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segun Oluwaniyi Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 (edited) Cameroon held on to beat CIV after a Toko-Ekambi goal, so the teams in the CAF playoffs till be as follows: Seeded: Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Nigeria Unseeded Egypt, Cameroon, Mali, Ghana, and DR Congo Draw is in December. Will be a very tough round, No weak teams at all, might just be the ten best period, imo. 1 hour ago, Yorkie said: I know the new format post-Qatar will open it up but it seems very harsh only five African nations making it into the World Cup. Some (what I assume are) very good teams will miss out. Was curious about how Nigeria might get on against Cape Verde. Heard that they were poor in their other recent game against Liberia so it sounds like you guys have snuck into the play-offs but will have to improve a lot to actually make it! It is a bad combination of fairly diffuse talent and bad performances at World Cups. We can't claim more teams, the only time more than one made it out the group was 2014, and 0 made it out last time as Senegal and Nigeria both wasted good chances. At the same time there are also significantly more strong teams than in Asia or North America, so it is difficult. Better qualifying will be the only benefit of the bastard 48 team World Cup. Nigeria has been awful in this qualification, but to be frank muddling through with mediocrity, despite an array of talent and resources, is the Nigerian way in all walks of life. The team is strong in terms of talent, I think we have a good chance still. Edited November 16, 2021 by Segun Oluwaniyi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 10 minutes ago, Kaizero said: He'd be dumb to do so at this stage of his career and it's not like we'll sack Solbakken within the next decade. Yeah...I guess...was just thinking with the current group of players, if there ever was a time for him to get the most out of his philosophy with our national team it would be now. The players suit his style and are still young and hungry which is not necessarily the case in 4 years time. It would be a step up from Glimt, and he could set himself up for an even better job in the future if he managed to qualify us for the next WC and get us out of the group stage...but yeah, boring and safe it will be, and we'll probably qualify for the next WC anyway purely due to more teams being included and we will call it a great achievement and pat ourselves on the back before we dump out of the actual cup in the same manner we didn't manage to qualify this time. Good thing Ashley is gone so I can start ignoring international football again. I had so much hope and expectations for this team but I've got no hope for them unless we can get someone that plays to their strenghts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizero Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 4 minutes ago, Conjo said: Yeah...I guess...was just thinking with the current group of players, if there ever was a time for him to get the most out of his philosophy with our national team it would be now. The players suit his style and are still young and hungry which is not necessarily the case in 4 years time. It would be a step up from Glimt, and he could set himself up for an even better job in the future if he managed to qualify us for the next WC and get us out of the group stage...but yeah, boring and safe it will be, and we'll probably qualify for the next WC anyway purely due to more teams being included and we will call it a great achievement and pat ourselves on the back before we dump out of the actual cup in the same manner we didn't manage to qualify this time. Good thing Ashley is gone so I can start ignoring international football again. I had so much hope and expectations for this team but I've got no hope for them unless we can get someone that plays to their strenghts. The most frustrating thing for me is how we for once have a great attacking group of players and we waste it all playing defense - which always backfires, as we don't have very good defensive players and bang average keepers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 7 non league clubs in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, hope as many as possible get to the 3rd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Michail Antonio struck a thunderbastard for Jamaica a little while ago Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Ridiculous to me that a USMNT World Cup Qualifier isn’t on normal television at 3:30 in the afternoon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 That divvy on the follow up. Great strike from Antonio. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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