Copa 24

[Binder Dundat]

Ok since the EUro has been decided we can now focus on the COPA America,
which is being hosted in America, I mean USA america.

Argentina is favourite to win it all, the rankings for betting goes,

1Argentina
2Brazil
3Uruguay
4Colombia
5USA
6Mexico

Most teams with the exception of Kanada have played friendlies vs South
or North American teams or at least CONCACAF, Canada has played European
teams in Europe, I dont know if that Is a Jesse Marsch thing? Is the
Canadian NT still in Europe?

AS I in a previous thread, Canada needs to play for 0-0 draws in order
to advance and they did just that vs France, so if you can draw vs the
2nd rated team in the world, you have to be favourites.

WE like Colombia as a dark horse (though I guess they are not really a
dark horse if the are 4th favourites), but at the moment we are
projecting Brasil to win it all, even though friendlies have not been
that good for them, they just drew with puny little USA and have
recently lost to teams like Colombia and Uruguay.

[MH]

Post by Binder Dundat
Ok since the EUro has been decided we can now focus on the COPA America,
which is being hosted in America, I mean USA america.
Argentina is favourite to win it all, the rankings for betting goes,
1Argentina
2Brazil
3Uruguay
4Colombia
5USA
6Mexico
Most teams with the exception of Kanada have played friendlies vs South
or North American teams or at least CONCACAF, Canada has played European
teams in Europe, I dont know if that Is a Jesse Marsch thing? Is the
Canadian NT still in Europe?
AS I in a previous thread, Canada needs to play for 0-0 draws in order
to advance and they did just that vs France, so if you can draw vs the
2nd rated team in the world, you have to be favourites.

Playing to 0-0 draws is not really Canada's strength. We have more good
attacking players than defenders.
Seems Marsch wants to use Davies as a LB and to play a 4-4-2. Argentina
should beat us easily, and I don't fancy our chances against either
Chile or Peru. However a faint ray of hope is that Chile and Peru might
be past their best given that they are both in the bottom three so far
in Conmebol qualifying for the next WC. That's right, at least 4 points
behind Venezuela. Chile's only win was home to Peru. Peru has not won
at all. Admittedly the schedule has not been great for either with away
games in places like Ecuador and Bolivia with altitude advantages.

Post by Binder Dundat
WE like Colombia as a dark horse (though I guess they are not really a
dark horse if the are 4th favourites), but at the moment we are
projecting Brasil to win it all, even though friendlies have not been
that good for them, they just drew with puny little USA and have
recently lost to teams like Colombia and Uruguay.

[Mark]

Post by Binder Dundat
Ok since the EUro has been decided we can now focus on the COPA
America, which is being hosted in America, I mean USA america.

Yeah why are there 2 continents and 1 country called America?

Post by Binder Dundat
Argentina is favourite to win it all, the rankings for betting goes,
1Argentina
2Brazil
3Uruguay
4Colombia
5USA
6Mexico
Most teams with the exception of Kanada have played friendlies vs
South or North American teams or at least CONCACAF, Canada has played
European teams in Europe, I dont know if that Is a Jesse Marsch
thing? Is the Canadian NT still in Europe?
AS I in a previous thread, Canada needs to play for 0-0 draws in
order to advance and they did just that vs France, so if you can draw
vs the 2nd rated team in the world, you have to be favourites.
WE like Colombia as a dark horse (though I guess they are not really
a dark horse if the are 4th favourites), but at the moment we are
projecting Brasil to win it all, even though friendlies have not been
that good for them, they just drew with puny little USA and have
recently lost to teams like Colombia and Uruguay.

[HASM]

Post by Mark
Yeah why are there 2 continents and 1 country called America?

Because people like to abbreviate things:
North America -> America
South America -> America
United States of America -> America
America Ferrera -> Betty

When I grew up I was taught there were 5 continents, reflected on the
Olympic flag having 5 rings, by combining North and South America and
excluding uninhabited Antarctica.

-- HASM

[MH]

Post by HASM

Post by Mark
Yeah why are there 2 continents and 1 country called America?

North America -> America
South America -> America
United States of America -> America
America Ferrera -> Betty
When I grew up I was taught there were 5 continents, reflected on the
Olympic flag having 5 rings, by combining North and South America and
excluding uninhabited Antarctica.

Which is a pretty Eurocentric way of seeing things, given geology,
tectonics, and so on. Defining Europe as a continent is pretty hard to
support. There is not even universal agreement as to exactly where the
border is in the South east, and the Urals don't make that convincing a
barrier to build a border on.

Post by HASM
-- HASM

[HASM]

Post by MH

Post by HASM
When I grew up I was taught there were 5 continents,

Which is a pretty Eurocentric way of seeing things, given geology,

I did grow up in Europe :-)

Wikipedia's article on continents shows lists with four through seven
continents, depending on how one wants to count. If one thinks of
continents as very large islands there are indeed 4.

I just had to look where (in "Central" America) is the dividing line
between North and South America. Somewhere between Panama and Colombia

-- HASM

[Binder Dundat]

I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was one,
maybe with Scorpions Nena? The Copa though had the Colombian guy and an
American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa Rican, but it seemed
very red white and blue.

Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians wait
in the tunnel. It would be the biggest upset in the history of football
if Kanada wins.

[Binder Dundat]

The Chile v Peru match was a foul ridden 0-0 draw, I thought Chile
looked the better team, but we are NOT projecting them to win the cup.
in fact, we are now projecting Kanada to make it out of the group phase.

Post by Binder Dundat
I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was one,
maybe with Scorpions Nena?  The Copa though had the Colombian guy and an
American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa Rican, but it seemed
very red white and blue.
Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians wait
in the tunnel.  It would be the biggest upset in the history of football
if Kanada wins.

[Binder Dundat]

Ever since CONCACAF teams have joined the COPA America it has become a
very passionate affair, probably because South Americans were always
thinking that there is a part of America missing from the COPA America,
or maybe just cus CONCACAF is the Rockingest confederation.

Ecuador vs Venezuela sort of started with the ill tempered-ness of the
previous match. Now I dont know why,is it politics? Venezuela used to
be a rich country, but not really anymore, so it cant be that. I can
see Peru v Chile being more like a Derby and I can see the passion, but
no one should dislike the vino tinto ( that were actually wearing their
vino blanco shirts). Ok Venezuela has oil , but the country is in poor
shape compared to when I was there. Back then everyone had big bots and
cars and money, now everyone is leaving. I seem to recall something to
the effect that Venezuela has more Oil than anyone else or some such thing?

Anyhow as for the match Ecuador red carded within the first 15 minutes
for a nasty high boot, which really looked bad in my opinion, just cus
it seemed he tried to follow through. VARobots actually had to give the
red after the ref only gave yellow. So 10 men Ecuador scored first but
long story short a chippy match ended 2-1 though it seemed less chippy
as the match progressed.

A pure CONCACAF match was the second of the day between Mexico and
Jamaica. Mexico seems to be fielding more of an experimental side, I don
know if they have a team playing in the Olympics maybe?

Anyhow the Mexi fans seemed down on the team and it was only going to
get worse when Jamaica scored first, but it was called back for offside,
which is too bad, it was a perfectly good goal aside from a slight
offside, but the guy was trying to come back onside and without VAR, I
think a linesman would not have called it?

That dis allowed goal seemed to wake up the players and even the fans
sort of got behind the Mexis and they soon scored their own goal to win
it 1-0.

I dont understand USA stadiums. I understand that they are all fake
grass, but have real grass poured on top of the fake grass, but what i
dont understand is why they all have roofs in places which I assume are
steaming hot? I get Green Bay having a roof or even Seattle, but in Texas?

If you are to compare the EURO vs the COPA, so far I would say there is
more "passion" in the COPA and by "passion" I mean fouling. USA play
probably the weakest S American team Bolivia and Uruguay play possibly
the weakest CONCACAF team panama today

Post by Binder Dundat
The Chile v Peru match was a foul ridden 0-0 draw, I thought Chile
looked the better team, but we are NOT projecting them to win the cup.
in fact, we are now projecting Kanada to make it out of the group phase.

Post by Binder Dundat
I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was
one, maybe with Scorpions Nena?  The Copa though had the Colombian guy
and an American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa Rican, but
it seemed very red white and blue.
Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians wait
in the tunnel.  It would be the biggest upset in the history of
football if Kanada wins.

[Binder Dundat]

The most important thing to see as a Copa fan is how Brazil is doing.
The second is how the Oilerd are doing and it is 1-1.

Post by Binder Dundat
Ever since CONCACAF teams have joined the COPA America it has become a
very passionate affair, probably because South Americans were always
thinking that there is a part of America missing from the COPA America,
or maybe just cus CONCACAF is the Rockingest confederation.
Ecuador vs Venezuela sort of started with the ill tempered-ness of the
previous match.  Now I dont know why,is it politics?  Venezuela used to
be a rich country, but not really anymore, so it cant be that.  I can
see Peru v Chile being more like a Derby and I can see the passion, but
no one should dislike the vino tinto ( that were actually wearing their
vino blanco shirts).  Ok Venezuela has oil , but the country is in poor
shape compared to when I was there.  Back then everyone had big bots and
cars and money, now everyone is leaving.  I seem to recall something to
the effect that Venezuela has more Oil than anyone else or some such thing?
Anyhow as for the match Ecuador red carded within the first 15 minutes
for a nasty high boot, which really looked bad in my opinion, just cus
it seemed he tried to follow through.  VARobots actually had to give the
red after the ref only gave yellow. So 10 men Ecuador scored first but
long story short a chippy match ended 2-1 though it seemed less chippy
as the match progressed.
A pure CONCACAF match was the second of the day between Mexico and
Jamaica. Mexico seems to be fielding more of an experimental side, I don
know if they have a team playing in the Olympics maybe?
Anyhow the Mexi fans seemed down on the team and it was only going to
get worse when Jamaica scored first, but it was called back for offside,
which is too bad, it was a perfectly good goal aside from a slight
offside, but the guy was trying to come back onside and without VAR, I
think a linesman would not have called it?
That dis allowed goal seemed to wake up the players and even the fans
sort of got behind the Mexis and they soon scored their own goal to win
it 1-0.
I dont understand USA stadiums.  I understand that they are all fake
grass, but have real grass poured on top of the fake grass, but what i
dont understand is why they all have roofs in places which I assume are
steaming hot?  I get Green Bay having a roof or even Seattle, but in Texas?
If you are to compare the EURO vs the COPA, so far I would say there is
more "passion" in the COPA and by "passion" I mean fouling. USA play
probably the weakest S American team Bolivia and Uruguay play possibly
the weakest CONCACAF team panama today

Post by Binder Dundat
The Chile v Peru match was a foul ridden 0-0 draw, I thought Chile
looked the better team, but we are NOT projecting them to win the cup.
in fact, we are now projecting Kanada to make it out of the group phase.

Post by Binder Dundat
I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was
one, maybe with Scorpions Nena?  The Copa though had the Colombian
guy and an American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa Rican,
but it seemed very red white and blue.
Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians
wait in the tunnel.  It would be the biggest upset in the history of
football if Kanada wins.

[Binder Dundat]

No way, I gotta smoke a joint or do sumtin. Florida beating a team from
kanafda!

Oh yeah Costa Rica is doing just fine vs Brasil

Post by Binder Dundat
The most important thing to see as a Copa fan is how Brazil is doing.
The second is how the Oilerd are doing and it is 1-1.

Post by Binder Dundat
Ever since CONCACAF teams have joined the COPA America it has become a
very passionate affair, probably because South Americans were always
thinking that there is a part of America missing from the COPA
America, or maybe just cus CONCACAF is the Rockingest confederation.
Ecuador vs Venezuela sort of started with the ill tempered-ness of the
previous match.  Now I dont know why,is it politics?  Venezuela used
to be a rich country, but not really anymore, so it cant be that.  I
can see Peru v Chile being more like a Derby and I can see the
passion, but no one should dislike the vino tinto ( that were actually
wearing their vino blanco shirts).  Ok Venezuela has oil , but the
country is in poor shape compared to when I was there.  Back then
everyone had big bots and cars and money, now everyone is leaving.  I
seem to recall something to the effect that Venezuela has more Oil
than anyone else or some such thing?
Anyhow as for the match Ecuador red carded within the first 15 minutes
for a nasty high boot, which really looked bad in my opinion, just cus
it seemed he tried to follow through.  VARobots actually had to give
the red after the ref only gave yellow. So 10 men Ecuador scored first
but long story short a chippy match ended 2-1 though it seemed less
chippy as the match progressed.
A pure CONCACAF match was the second of the day between Mexico and
Jamaica. Mexico seems to be fielding more of an experimental side, I
don know if they have a team playing in the Olympics maybe?
Anyhow the Mexi fans seemed down on the team and it was only going to
get worse when Jamaica scored first, but it was called back for
offside, which is too bad, it was a perfectly good goal aside from a
slight offside, but the guy was trying to come back onside and without
VAR, I think a linesman would not have called it?
That dis allowed goal seemed to wake up the players and even the fans
sort of got behind the Mexis and they soon scored their own goal to
win it 1-0.
I dont understand USA stadiums.  I understand that they are all fake
grass, but have real grass poured on top of the fake grass, but what i
dont understand is why they all have roofs in places which I assume
are steaming hot?  I get Green Bay having a roof or even Seattle, but
in Texas?
If you are to compare the EURO vs the COPA, so far I would say there
is more "passion" in the COPA and by "passion" I mean fouling. USA
play probably the weakest S American team Bolivia and Uruguay play
possibly the weakest CONCACAF team panama today

Post by Binder Dundat
The Chile v Peru match was a foul ridden 0-0 draw, I thought Chile
looked the better team, but we are NOT projecting them to win the
cup. in fact, we are now projecting Kanada to make it out of the
group phase.

Post by Binder Dundat
I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was
one, maybe with Scorpions Nena?  The Copa though had the Colombian
guy and an American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa
Rican, but it seemed very red white and blue.
Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians
wait in the tunnel.  It would be the biggest upset in the history of
football if Kanada wins.

[Binder Dundat]

No way, I gotta smoke a joint or do sumtin.  Florida beating a team from
kanafda!
Oh yeah Costa Rica is doing just fine vs Brasil

Post by Binder Dundat
The most important thing to see as a Copa fan is how Brazil is doing.
The second is how the Oilerd are doing and it is 1-1.

Post by Binder Dundat
Ever since CONCACAF teams have joined the COPA America it has become
a very passionate affair, probably because South Americans were
always thinking that there is a part of America missing from the COPA
America, or maybe just cus CONCACAF is the Rockingest confederation.
Ecuador vs Venezuela sort of started with the ill tempered-ness of
the previous match.  Now I dont know why,is it politics?  Venezuela
used to be a rich country, but not really anymore, so it cant be
that.  I can see Peru v Chile being more like a Derby and I can see
the passion, but no one should dislike the vino tinto ( that were
actually wearing their vino blanco shirts).  Ok Venezuela has oil ,
but the country is in poor shape compared to when I was there.  Back
then everyone had big bots and cars and money, now everyone is
leaving.  I seem to recall something to the effect that Venezuela has
more Oil than anyone else or some such thing?
Anyhow as for the match Ecuador red carded within the first 15
minutes for a nasty high boot, which really looked bad in my opinion,
just cus it seemed he tried to follow through.  VARobots actually had
to give the red after the ref only gave yellow. So 10 men Ecuador
scored first but long story short a chippy match ended 2-1 though it
seemed less chippy as the match progressed.
A pure CONCACAF match was the second of the day between Mexico and
Jamaica. Mexico seems to be fielding more of an experimental side, I
don know if they have a team playing in the Olympics maybe?
Anyhow the Mexi fans seemed down on the team and it was only going to
get worse when Jamaica scored first, but it was called back for
offside, which is too bad, it was a perfectly good goal aside from a
slight offside, but the guy was trying to come back onside and
without VAR, I think a linesman would not have called it?
That dis allowed goal seemed to wake up the players and even the fans
sort of got behind the Mexis and they soon scored their own goal to
win it 1-0.
I dont understand USA stadiums.  I understand that they are all fake
grass, but have real grass poured on top of the fake grass, but what
i dont understand is why they all have roofs in places which I assume
are steaming hot?  I get Green Bay having a roof or even Seattle, but
in Texas?
If you are to compare the EURO vs the COPA, so far I would say there
is more "passion" in the COPA and by "passion" I mean fouling. USA
play probably the weakest S American team Bolivia and Uruguay play
possibly the weakest CONCACAF team panama today

Post by Binder Dundat
The Chile v Peru match was a foul ridden 0-0 draw, I thought Chile
looked the better team, but we are NOT projecting them to win the
cup. in fact, we are now projecting Kanada to make it out of the
group phase.

Post by Binder Dundat
I did not see the opening Ceremony for the Euro, i assume there was
one, maybe with Scorpions Nena?  The Copa though had the Colombian
guy and an American kinda opening ceremony, maybe it was Costa
Rican, but it seemed very red white and blue.
Argies already doing the gamesmanship thing, making the Kanadians
wait in the tunnel.  It would be the biggest upset in the history
of football if Kanada wins.

I am trying to keep this on topic, but what is nor eof an upset,


Costa Rica beating Brasil or Florida beating Edmonton?

[Futbolmetrix]

Post by Binder Dundat
I am trying to keep this on topic, but what is nor eof an upset,
Costa Rica beating Brasil or Florida beating Edmonton?

Edmonton and Brasil need a Zaccagni

[Futbolmetrix]

Post by Futbolmetrix
Edmonton and Brasil need a Zaccagni

No Zaccagni for Edmonton. In the end, Warm Weather Theory prevails.

One more minute for Zaccagninho to emerge

[Binder Dundat]

Im just sayin CONCACAF does ice hockey better than soccer, or maybe they
dont?

Back in my day Cost Rica was the best team in CONCACAF.

As far as the ice hockey goes, I am agan it, I dont like it, you cannit
have teams from florida winning the ice hockey.

Post by Futbolmetrix

Post by Futbolmetrix
Edmonton and Brasil need a Zaccagni

No Zaccagni for Edmonton. In the end, Warm Weather Theory prevails.
One more minute for Zaccagninho to emerge

[Binder Dundat]

Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years! Not
the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes.

It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something. A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?

Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if I
would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.

local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the 1-0
and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still had to
make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to keep it 1-0.

Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

[Binder Dundat]

Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years!  Not
the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes.
It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something.  A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?
Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if I
would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.
local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the 1-0
and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still had to
make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to keep it 1-0.
Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

Maybe the quality of football can be debated, I dont think it is that
different from the EURO, even if they are playing in the heat and
humidity of North America. Keep in mind that even here on the Iceberg,
we have really hot summers with high humidity, so you can just imagine
what it is like in Orlando or Kansas or Vegas ( though Vegas should be
dry), which has to have an affect on the players. In Germany it seems
it only rains, though I dont recall when i was young that it was this
rainy in the summer?

Anyhow the point is that the COPA does the VAR better, they dont seem to
give out Penals for every handball. Yesterday, or maybe it was the day
before, you had the English commentators saying how once VAR and the ref
looks at it it will be a handball call. Thankfully they were wrong and
it was not, the ridiculousness of hand ball calls in Europa is going to
see players purposely aiming the ball at the opponents arms just to get
these cheap calls. It was already happening.

SO with some results already in, we are projecting Argentina to win the
COPA 24.

[Binder Dundat]

SO Kanada had a big injury happen today in training, Inter milan star
player Tajan Buchanan had a serious injury, possible broken leg
suffered? It is a blow, but not that huge, when you consider he has not
played all that much. I always liked him and I dont know why he wasnt
starting?

End of the group stage tonight. Essentially the game for first place in
Grp D, though I suppose if Brazil lose and Cost Rica win and somehow
make up the 6 goals, the Costa Ricans could snatch 2nd.

Some might say that Colombia is the hottest team in football, not me
though, I think it is Venezuela, but this is where we see if this Brasil
team is as good as I thought they would be.They need a win to take first
place and I expect that to happen. Also, first place matches you with
Panama, while 2nd would match you with Uruguay, so plenty to play for
for both teams.

From a CONCACAF perspective, we can safely say Canada is the best team
in CONCACAF. Can they beat the Vino Tinto? Sure, why not.

Post by Binder Dundat

Post by Binder Dundat
Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years!
Not the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30
minutes.
It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something.  A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?
Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if I
would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.
local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the
1-0 and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still
had to make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to
keep it 1-0.
Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

Maybe the quality of football can be debated, I dont think it is that
different from the EURO, even if they are playing in the heat and
humidity of North America.  Keep in mind that even here on the Iceberg,
we have really hot summers with high humidity, so you can just imagine
what it is like in Orlando or Kansas or Vegas ( though Vegas should be
dry), which has to have an affect on the players.  In Germany it seems
it only rains, though I dont recall when i was young that it was this
rainy in the summer?
Anyhow the point is that the COPA does the VAR better, they dont seem to
give out Penals for every handball.  Yesterday, or maybe it was the day
before, you had the English commentators saying how once VAR and the ref
looks at it it will be a handball call.  Thankfully they were wrong and
it was not, the ridiculousness of hand ball calls in Europa is going to
see players purposely aiming the ball at the opponents arms just to get
these cheap calls.  It was already happening.
SO with some results already in, we are projecting Argentina to win the
COPA 24.

[Binder Dundat]

Colombia 1 - 1 Brasil HT

Costa Rica 2 - 0 Paraguay HT

AS it stands Colombia top the group and Brasil 2nd.

Colombia is playing really well, better than Brasil in my opinion, they
pass better and quicker and have probably had more scoring chances,
their goalie might be a weak spot though.

I have to say Vini JR annoys me with his constant bickering to the ref
and crying for cards to be shown. He already has a yellow card for a
foul, but he should see another one if he carries on with the ref like
that. Old man james Rodruiguez is playing well, kinda forgotten man
since he moved back to S America. Costa Rica is keeping up their end of
the bargain, a couple more goals for them and if Colombia win, maybe
CONCACAG gets three teams in the QFs?

Post by Binder Dundat
SO Kanada had a big injury happen today in training, Inter milan star
player Tajan Buchanan had a serious injury, possible broken leg
suffered?  It is a blow, but not that huge, when you consider he has not
played all that much.  I always liked him and I dont know why he wasnt
starting?
End of the group stage tonight. Essentially the game for first place in
Grp D, though I suppose if Brazil lose and Cost Rica win and somehow
make up the 6 goals, the Costa Ricans could snatch 2nd.
Some might say that Colombia is the hottest team in football, not me
though, I think it is Venezuela, but this is where we see if this Brasil
team is as good as I thought they would be.They need a win to take first
place and I expect that to happen. Also, first place matches you with
Panama, while 2nd would match you with Uruguay, so plenty to play for
for both teams.
From a CONCACAF perspective, we can safely say Canada is the best team
in CONCACAF. Can they beat the Vino Tinto?  Sure, why not.

Post by Binder Dundat

Post by Binder Dundat
Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years!
Not the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30
minutes.
It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something.  A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?
Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if
I would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.
local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the
1-0 and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still
had to make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to
keep it 1-0.
Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

Maybe the quality of football can be debated, I dont think it is that
different from the EURO, even if they are playing in the heat and
humidity of North America.  Keep in mind that even here on the
Iceberg, we have really hot summers with high humidity, so you can
just imagine what it is like in Orlando or Kansas or Vegas ( though
Vegas should be dry), which has to have an affect on the players.  In
Germany it seems it only rains, though I dont recall when i was young
that it was this rainy in the summer?
Anyhow the point is that the COPA does the VAR better, they dont seem
to give out Penals for every handball.  Yesterday, or maybe it was the
day before, you had the English commentators saying how once VAR and
the ref looks at it it will be a handball call.  Thankfully they were
wrong and it was not, the ridiculousness of hand ball calls in Europa
is going to see players purposely aiming the ball at the opponents
arms just to get these cheap calls.  It was already happening.
SO with some results already in, we are projecting Argentina to win
the COPA 24.

[Lléo]

Post by Binder Dundat
Colombia 1 - 1 Brasil HT

FT 1-1

Post by Binder Dundat
Costa Rica 2 - 0 Paraguay HT

Paraguay pulled one back, FT 2-1 to Costa Rica. Patrick Sequeira pulled
a strong candidate for save of the tournament to keep Paraguay from
drawing level at 90+3'.

Post by Binder Dundat
AS it stands Colombia top the group and Brasil 2nd.
Colombia is playing really well, better than Brasil in my opinion, they
pass better and quicker and have probably had more scoring chances,
their goalie might be a weak spot though.

Agreed. At least they are the better coached unit. They deserved to win
today, but couldn't put the game away.

Post by Binder Dundat
I have to say Vini JR annoys me with his constant bickering to the ref
and crying for cards to be shown.  He already has a yellow card for a
foul,

A yellow card that will keep him out of the quarterfinal game against
Uruguay, btw. Seems to be learning from Neymar?

While I'm at it: what is it with the fans that chant "Olé" at the
objectively wrong moments (eg, when their team is not winning, or early
in the game)? It was puzzling enough when the Mexicans did it 13 minutes
into the game against Ecuador (a tie, let's recall, served Ecuador, not
Mexico). Now it was the Colombians. I understand they were playing
better, but Brasil would not be eliminated by a draw.

Plus, it would only take a goal by Brasil to (a) make them look silly
and (b) make Colombia play Uruguay instead of Panama in the next round.

Anyway, a bit of trivia: all group winning managers - Lionel Scaloni,
Fernando Batista, Marcelo Bielsa and Nestor Lorenzo - are Argentinian. I
believe this is the first time such a thing happens in Copa America.


Best regards,

Lléo

[Binder Dundat]

Post by Lléo

Post by Binder Dundat
Colombia 1 - 1 Brasil HT

FT 1-1

Post by Binder Dundat
Costa Rica 2 - 0 Paraguay HT

Paraguay pulled one back, FT 2-1 to Costa Rica. Patrick Sequeira pulled
a strong candidate for save of the tournament to keep Paraguay from
drawing level at 90+3'.

Post by Binder Dundat
AS it stands Colombia top the group and Brasil 2nd.
Colombia is playing really well, better than Brasil in my opinion,
they pass better and quicker and have probably had more scoring
chances, their goalie might be a weak spot though.

Agreed. At least they are the better coached unit. They deserved to win
today, but couldn't put the game away.

Post by Binder Dundat
I have to say Vini JR annoys me with his constant bickering to the ref
and crying for cards to be shown.  He already has a yellow card for a
foul,

A yellow card that will keep him out of the quarterfinal game against
Uruguay, btw. Seems to be learning from Neymar?

Neyamr is probably the most ball skilled player we have seen since ...
Meissi? Maybe better? Vut yeah wasted talent.

But do German consider a guy like bernd Shuster to be a wasted talent?
I remeber him in Euro 80 and he was the best ting sonce sliced bread,
but he never played for geramy again. And it is not like they needed
hime , but whould they ahve been better with im? I am jus tgoion on a
druynken Neyamar tangent, cus I mean he was probably the closest thint
to Meiis we had?

Post by Lléo
While I'm at it: what is it with the fans that chant "Olé" at the
objectively wrong moments (eg, when their team is not winning, or early
in the game)? It was puzzling enough when the Mexicans did it 13 minutes
into the game against Ecuador (a tie, let's recall, served Ecuador, not
Mexico). Now it was the Colombians. I understand they were playing
better, but Brasil would not be eliminated by a draw.
Plus, it would only take a goal by Brasil to (a) make them look silly
and (b) make Colombia play Uruguay instead of Panama in the next round.
Anyway, a bit of trivia: all group winning managers - Lionel Scaloni,
Fernando Batista, Marcelo Bielsa and Nestor Lorenzo - are Argentinian. I
believe this is the first time such a thing happens in Copa America.
Best regards,
Lléo

[MH]

Post by Binder Dundat

Post by Binder Dundat
Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years!
Not the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30
minutes.
It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something.  A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?
Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if I
would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.
local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the
1-0 and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still
had to make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to
keep it 1-0.
Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

Maybe the quality of football can be debated, I dont think it is that
different from the EURO, even if they are playing in the heat and
humidity of North America.  Keep in mind that even here on the Iceberg,
we have really hot summers with high humidity, so you can just imagine
what it is like in Orlando or Kansas or Vegas ( though Vegas should be
dry), which has to have an affect on the players.  In Germany it seems
it only rains, though I dont recall when i was young that it was this
rainy in the summer?

I guess you never lived in Bielefeld.

Post by Binder Dundat
Anyhow the point is that the COPA does the VAR better, they dont seem to
give out Penals for every handball.  Yesterday, or maybe it was the day
before, you had the English commentators saying how once VAR and the ref
looks at it it will be a handball call.  Thankfully they were wrong and
it was not, the ridiculousness of hand ball calls in Europa is going to
see players purposely aiming the ball at the opponents arms just to get
these cheap calls.  It was already happening.
SO with some results already in, we are projecting Argentina to win the
COPA 24.

[Binder Dundat]

Post by MH

Post by Binder Dundat

Post by Binder Dundat
Canada beats a South American team for the first time in 24 years!
Not the most resounding win, Peru down to 10 men for the final 30
minutes.
It was very hot, so hot that a linesman passed out, apparently due to
the heat, when I saw him down, I thought he had maybe been hit by
something.  A Peruvian player head butted a CDN player but the
Guatemalan ref and the VARobots did nothing, not even a yellow?
Certainly not the most convincing win, but it is a win, Dont know if
I would pick them to beat CHile, but it is possible.
local boy Jonathan David with a nice composed finish gave Kanada the
1-0 and it should have been smooth sailing, but the CDN keeper still
had to make a couple of good saves towards the end of the match to
keep it 1-0.
Anyhow CONCACAF teams doin alright so far.

Maybe the quality of football can be debated, I dont think it is that
different from the EURO, even if they are playing in the heat and
humidity of North America.  Keep in mind that even here on the
Iceberg, we have really hot summers with high humidity, so you can
just imagine what it is like in Orlando or Kansas or Vegas ( though
Vegas should be dry), which has to have an affect on the players.  In
Germany it seems it only rains, though I dont recall when i was young
that it was this rainy in the summer?

I guess you never lived in Bielefeld.

Post by Binder Dundat
Anyhow the point is that the COPA does the VAR better, they dont seem
to give out Penals for every handball.  Yesterday, or maybe it was the
day before, you had the English commentators saying how once VAR and
the ref looks at it it will be a handball call.  Thankfully they were
wrong and it was not, the ridiculousness of hand ball calls in Europa
is going to see players purposely aiming the ball at the opponents
arms just to get these cheap calls.  It was already happening.
SO with some results already in, we are projecting Argentina to win
the COPA 24.

No, always more south, but it was it always more rainy? I am not
denying that humans have changed the temps of the planet, but things
like more rain is more new to me

[MH]

No, always more south, but it was it always more rainy?  I am not
denying that humans have changed the temps of the planet, but things
like more rain is more new to me

The Teutoburgerwald seemed to attract rain in an uncanny fashion, back
in the 80s when we lived there. Summers were pretty darn rainy compared
to what I was used to back in Canada (all of Winnipeg, Kentville NS, and
Guelph). Even going to Belgium to visit the in-laws, it was less likely
to be rainy than in Bielefeld.

[Binder Dundat]

Based on the latest results and Messi game play, we are declaring
Colombia Copa 24 champions.

[The Doctor]

Post by Binder Dundat
Based on the latest results and Messi game play, we are declaring
Colombia Copa 24 champions.

Columbia vs Uruguay

and

Canada vs Argentina.

Columbia has Ospina

and Canada could surprise.

[Binder Dundat]

Canada came so close to being the 3rd best team in South America, but
no, they are just the 4th best team in South America. A lot of people
in up here on the Iceberg ( which is 30C in the shade, I dont know how
they are playing football in North America now) are getting down on
Alphonso Davies, everyone is blaming him for the loss and saying he
shouldnt be playing for the NT and what not. Even Mr Lily White was
going on about how he has declined. I dont know, not ready to throw him
under the bus yet.

So anyhow a decent display by Canada, with a B team last night,
sometimes when your B team is the same as your A team, it does not
really matter. I am still going with Colombia to win tonight.

[MH]

Post by Binder Dundat
Canada came so close to being the 3rd best team in South America, but
no, they are just the 4th best team in South America.  A lot of people
in up here on the Iceberg ( which is 30C in the shade, I dont know how
they are playing football in North America now) are getting down on
Alphonso Davies, everyone is blaming him for the loss and saying he
shouldnt be playing for the NT and what not.  Even Mr Lily White was
going on about how he has declined.  I dont know, not ready to throw him
under the bus yet.
So anyhow a decent display by Canada, with a B team last night,
sometimes when your B team is the same as your A team, it does not
really matter.  I am still going with Colombia to win tonight.

A decent performance, though the defending in the last 5 minutes was
abysmal.

Players like Ahmed and Choinière came in and did a good job. Koné was
very good. De Fougerolles got a start and a fair number of minutes.

Davies was below par the whole tournament. Whether this was because
Marsh wanted him the restrain his attacking instincts and play a quite
conservative game at left back, or because he is carry an injury, or
because he is distracted by possible transfers etc. I don't know.

On the whole I think Johnston, Cornelius, Bombito, Crepaud, Shaffelburg
and Koné really enhanced their reputations and standing within the
program during this tournament. The more established players who were
instrumental during the qualifying cycle for the world cup were a bit
(or a lot) off the pace (Davies, David, Larin, Eustaquio, Laryea).

Not too many old guys in this group who may not be around for the WC
(maybe Osorio and Larin, depending how they age), so the potential for
further improvement is there.

Losers from the tournament were Piette (did not play at all I think; was
never up to the pace and is fairly old), K. Miller (really good in a 3
man back line for Herdman, - either he is injured or Marsh does not like
him), and players like Waterman and Hiebert who were not used (or used
for only a few minutes if I missed something).

4th place is a good result, but every game could easily have tipped
against us and we could have come last in our group fairly easily. So I
guess we can say we are competitive with most CONCACAF and CONMEBOL
teams, but nowhere near approaching playing any of them (and certainly
not Brazil and Argentina) with any confidence or expectation of
controlling the game.

[Binder Dundat]

Never a dull moment at the Copa (just dont fall in love at the Copa),
unruly fan behaviour has set back kick off to 8 30 local. At least get
Shakira to perform while people are waiting. Or maybe Shakira is the
reason for the unruly fan behaviour?

If you ask me, it is Messi, he is trying to throw the Colombians off
their game, by delaying kick off. Honestly though it is probably a good
thing, it means the temp at kick off will drop from 100 degrees to 98.

[Mark]

What's the minimum size for a football pitch in the rules of football? I
was aware of complaints about the quality of the pitches; according to
Wikipedia there were also complaints about the size of the pitches.
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal for an
international match?

[anders t]

Post by Mark
What's the minimum size for a football pitch in the rules of football? I
was aware of complaints about the quality of the pitches; according to
Wikipedia there were also complaints about the size of the pitches.
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal for an
international match?

Quite sure that FIFA tightened this up to 105x68 several years ago.

[HASM]

Post by anders t

Post by Mark
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal for an
international match?

Quite sure that FIFA tightened this up to 105x68 several years ago.

Internal matches soccer fields should have a length between 100 and 110m
and a width between 64 and 75m.

-- HASM

[Mark]

Post by HASM

Post by anders t

Post by Mark
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal for an
international match?

Quite sure that FIFA tightened this up to 105x68 several years ago.

Internal matches soccer fields should have a length between 100 and 110m
and a width between 64 and 75m.
-- HASM

So it's the absolute minimum but it is legal. That seems fair enough.
I'm not sure why they're complaining then.

[HASM]

Post by Mark

Post by Mark
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal

should have a length between 100 and 110m and a width between 64 and 75m.

So it's the absolute minimum but it is legal. That seems fair enough.
I'm not sure why they're complaining then.

Smaller fields favor the bus parking teams as they need a smaller bus:-)
More seriously, it becomes much harder to play wider through the wings.

In yards, the width is between 70 and 80, the metric numbers are an
approximate official measurements.

Anytime I walked on a properly marked field or watch a game on TV, I
always look at the distance from the penalty kick area side lines to the
hash marks on the goal line that helps the referees tell whether a
defender is 10 yards away from the corner kick, to get a feel of the
field's width.

The corner kick quarter circle has a 1 yard radius, the hash mark is 10
yards from the quarter circle, or 11 yards from the corner flag. The
penalty area is 44 yards wide (8 + 2*6 + 2*12), thus adding that to the
width marked by the corner kicks hash marks, gives 2*11+44 or 66 yards.

That leaves 2 yards minimum between the hash marks and the penalty area,
less than that and the game is not to international game standards.
Nice fields are 110x80. When I referred on fields that approach the
maximum size of 120x90, I knew I was going to be more tired than usual
by the end of the game, and so would be the defenders.

-- HASM

[HASM]

Post by HASM
Anytime I walked on a properly marked field or watch a game on TV, I
always look at the distance from the penalty kick area side lines to the
hash marks on the goal line ... to get a feel of the field's width.

Similarly for the field length, one should look at the distance from the
center circle to the arc just outside of the penalty area.

Center circle is 10 yards, the arc is 18+4 = 22 yards from the goal line,
totaling 32. Thus on a field with minimum international standards, the
distance between those two arcs is 18 yards, maximum 28 yards, ideally
23, but those distances are harder to have a quick feel for.

On TV this is usually easier to tell by the tilt induced by the grass
mower's runs. If one sees three lanes covering the penalty area, 18
yards, there will be a minimum of three lanes between the circles, but
if the field length is not a multiple of 6, things don't line out
nicely.

However, if the middle mower run is split by the halfway line, and they
are all approximately the same size, you'll have a field 102 yards long,
and 17 mower runs.

Near the end of my referee career, a few referees had watches with
built-in GPS antennas, and the pre-game routine involved walking the
periphery of the field, cutting in through the outer penalty area lines.

After the game one would plot where one had been during the game to get
a feel of how well one had done covering the width and length of the
field, an important metric during assessments. And the field dimensions
were a side effect of that pre-game walk.

-- HASM

[Werner Pichler]

Post by HASM

Post by Mark

Post by Mark
Apparently some were 100x64 metres. Is that actually legal

should have a length between 100 and 110m and a width between 64 and 75m.

So it's the absolute minimum but it is legal. That seems fair enough.
I'm not sure why they're complaining then.

Smaller fields favor the bus parking teams as they need a smaller bus:-)
More seriously, it becomes much harder to play wider through the wings.
In yards, the width is between 70 and 80, the metric numbers are an
approximate official measurements.
Anytime I walked on a properly marked field or watch a game on TV, I
always look at the distance from the penalty kick area side lines to the
hash marks on the goal line that helps the referees tell whether a
defender is 10 yards away from the corner kick, to get a feel of the
field's width.

Has anyone ever encountered similar hash-marks
along the touch-line? According to the rules they’re
optional there as well, but I struggle to remember if
I’ve ever seen any.

Ciao,
Werner

Post by HASM
The corner kick quarter circle has a 1 yard radius, the hash mark is 10
yards from the quarter circle, or 11 yards from the corner flag. The
penalty area is 44 yards wide (8 + 2*6 + 2*12), thus adding that to the
width marked by the corner kicks hash marks, gives 2*11+44 or 66 yards.
That leaves 2 yards minimum between the hash marks and the penalty area,
less than that and the game is not to international game standards.
Nice fields are 110x80. When I referred on fields that approach the
maximum size of 120x90, I knew I was going to be more tired than usual
by the end of the game, and so would be the defenders.
-- HASM

[HASM]

Post by Werner Pichler

I always look at the distance from the penalty kick area side lines to the
hash marks on the goal line

Has anyone ever encountered similar hash-marks
along the touch-line? According to the rules they’re
optional there as well,

From a "very scientific:-) search" of images of "soccer fields" on
google, the hash marks on the goal line are almost always there, the
ones along the touch line are missing a lot.

-- HASM