FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 (soccer)

Oh wow, my friends, what a fabulous game, Brazil 1-0 Colombia! Very entertaining, high-quality soccer, hard-fought, some quality plays from both teams, 0-0 until late but then Brazil decided that they really wanted to win this game, and they accelerated and completely overwhelmed Colombia. Their goal was spectacular. Neymar with a genius assist, Paquetá lethal. They could have scored a couple more, but were a bit unlucky. Anyway, if you guys haven't been watching, Brazil will be a serious threat in Qatar; it will be hard to stop them from winning it all. When they really push on the gas, it's amazing.

 

By the way, Brazil booked their ticket to Qatar, with no fewer than 6 rounds to spare. Even if they were to lose all games from now on until the end of the South American Qualifiers, they would still make at least 4th place (and in South America, the first 4 go to Qatar, and the 5th goes to a play-in game).

 

Germany was back the moment they made Flick their head coach. After what he did at Bayern I don't know how anyone could be surprised with his success.

 

Brazil is one of those few teams that can really play the beautiful game, and it's truly enjoyable to watch when they do.

They are going to be hard to beat in the WC. I've still got them playing in the final, and I'm not convinced that either one of the teams I expect them to face - Italy or France - can beat them.

Five hours to game time, my friend!

 

Interesting analysis, although I would start Pulisic and Turner:

USA vs. Mexico: Projected XI and 3 quick thoughts on how the USMNT should play
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usa-...3-quick-thoughts-on-how-the-usmnt-should-play

My take:

Play aggressive and play hard. Push the ball up the field and maintain pressure on Mexico's defense.

And I wanna see and hear a raucous home crowd in Cinci tonight.

GO USA!!

 

Italy nearly got beaten by the Wilhelm Tell gang. Wow. a late penalty for Italy became a satellite, splash down in 6 month or so and than Donna tried some fancy socker in front of his goal and lost the ball and the reds could not hit the empty goal.
Boy, oh boy
1:1.

 

The most important thing, the players actually enjoy again to play in the team, which was not the case since 2018. They all want to score and score and score and when they loose the ball, no matter who they are, haul arse to get it back. Take a old horse like Mueller, he has fun again, because he can play his game and scores again, those silly Mueller goals and naturally his assists.
Flick has a lot of experience on the club level and he knows what he owes to the clubs, so for the last game he send the players with the most miles home, like Neuer, Goretzka with his bruised neck, or Reus who is injury prone, Ruediger had one yellow to many.
When they fly to Erivan tomorrow afternoon, there will be just 18 or 19 players on the plane.
Will be interesting to see the starting line up.

 

Hat trick for Kane in a straightforward 5-0 win over Albania.
England qualify at the top of the group with a game to spare.
7 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses and only a match against Andorra left. Goal difference of +26.

 

Mancini should not have sent Jorginho to take that PK. That was a major, major, major mistake, because Jorginho had already missed one against Switzerland in the first leg, and he was visibly nervous, afraid of missing again and screwing Italy and being responsible for not qualifying for the WC. As soon as he was picked to take the PK, I thought, major mistake. And then he missed. Bonucci would have buried it.

Now we may not even qualify. I'm devastated. I don't even want to talk about it.

 

Pulisic! 75 minutes, USA 1-0 Mexico!
A very good and exciting game. Our boys are very energized. Go USA!
And now McKennie scores! 2-0!
The Chelsea and the Juventus men both scored, again showing how much better the USMNT is now, with players who have important roles in major European clubs!

 

Very satisfactory game! Takes away some of my disappointment with the national team of my other nationality, Italy.

After 8 years without winning a competitive game against Mexico, we beat them 3 times in a row in 5 months! Nations League final, Gold Cup final, and WC qualifiers! Wow!
This team is maturing under our very eyes, and becoming darn good! They are so young, average age 23, some of them are teenagers... so, lack of experience will be a problem in Qatar (now I have no doubt we'll qualify) so we probably won't have a great WC, but in 2026, with these boys becoming men and having 4 more years of playing for European clubs under their belt, beware! I think we'll be seriously competitive in 2026!

 

Almost everybody performed very well for the USA against Mexico. Yes, we had some midfield giveaways in first half that resulted in dangerous counters for Mexico but it happens, you can't expect 100% perfection. Even those failures were dealt with by the defense or by Zack Steffen. Players who did even better than their companions, yesterday: Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson were great in defense. Zack Steffen was fantastic as goalkeeper. Yunus Musah was excellent. Timothy Weah, it's hard to know if he was the Man of the Match, or if Weston McKinney was, so well both of them played (this was the best McKennie showing for the USMNT that I remember; it's great that he also scored, because he really deserved it). I'd say they were co-men of the match; Christian Pulisic, after long absence due to injury, had an immediate impact when he came in, and five minutes into coming in, he scored. Wow! Talk about an impact player!

Anyway, this win against Mexico was the best one of the three wins against them this year, in terms of performance. Sure, the other two were title wins, but we had to play a lot of defense and got goals from set pieces in the other wins, while this win, we pressured Mexico very aggressively non-stop, and progressively imposed ourselves. It was visible how Mexico started to falter and get tired in second half (after they put together a pretty decent first half), and we grew and grew and started completely dominating them. This was the kind of game that any neutral person watching would have said "the American team is much better than the Mexican team, judging by this game." That wasn't the case in the other two wins. This is the kind of game we all dreamed of when we saw the potential of these young American players, and they are now realizing this potential. At first, when this group got together, they looked disorganized, and disappointing because they used to play much better for their clubs than for the national team. They seemed nervous with the stage and what was at stake, not used to play with each other, and so on. But now they look comfortable, harmonious, knowing what to do, having a game plan, and executing it well. Now they are playing for the national team as well as they play for their clubs. So, they are reaching their potential and fulfilling the expectations.

OK, now, we can't let the ball drop and play down to the competition when we face Jamaica. There are indeed two concerns: we won't have Miles Robinson who got a red card, and we won't have Weston McKennie who will be suspended for yellow cards. These are two very important absences. Robinson is instrumental for a solid defense, and McKinney was the soul of the team yesterday (together with Weah) and their absences will be sorely felt. The Jamaicans are desperate and playing at home so this is a tricky game. We need to go there and do what we did yesterday, and collect 3 more points, but while this team is getting more confident, their youth is a factor against them when they play in hostile environments. We have been playing much better when we count on our fans rooting for us in home games, and the Columbus crowd yesterday was truly excellent. So I am a bit worried for the game against Jamaica; after such an extraordinary performance like yesterday's, it will be a huge letdown if we drop points to Jamaica. This is a test for the maturity of our team (average age 23). If we show that we are getting tougher and not getting too impressed with a hostile environment, this team will continue its obvious growth (we are looking much better now than when the competition started so I hope the nerves related to hostile environments will be less of a hindrance, too, showing psychological growth on top of the technical and tactical growths).

 

DOS A CERO!!
Music to American ears...



And the USMNT finds itself in first place in the CONCACAF Octagon.



After last night's games we see that the best four teams in the confederation are beginning to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the competition. No real surprises here, although Jamaica has played well below my expectations, which is disappointing.

 

Nice analysis, CF.

Last night's result was very satisfying. The USMNT showed how good they are when they play up to their potential, and they aren't even at full strength with one of their best players - Gio Reyna - still out of the lineup nursing a hammie (it's beginning to feel like he'll never come back).

About the only thing I have to add is a good word for coach Gregg Berhalter who seems to have finally settled on a lineup. The only tinkering he's done lately is the change in goal and Zack played well last night after a shaky start against Costa Rica. There's a natural reluctance to starting such a young lineup, but the decision to go with a more experienced squad on the road against Panama proved to be a bad move. It's clear - particularly after last night's brilliant performance against Mexico - that the younger players are more talented and aggressive and they've got good chemistry. All they need now is more continuity, and it appears that Gregg is going to give them that moving ahead.

One last word on their youth - sometimes that can be a good thing. Sometimes younger players can be oblivious to the pressure that older players are more likely to feel - they just go out and play with their hair on fire. What's great about this young squad is not only their upside but the confidence their success is building, and that's only going to play to their strength, which is their aggressiveness. It's all coming together very nicely.

I agree with you that they may not make a deep run in the '22 Cup but they look primed for one in 2026 when the WC will be held here in North America and they'll be playing in front of home crowds. We very well may be watching the arrival of our first Golden Generation - for the USMNT and its fans, the future is dazzlingly bright.

 

That was a very strong performance by the US. 2 things I liked most.
1. they kept their cool in a game sometimes getting overheated.
2. Their conditioning and moral, they just ran Mexico into the ground and than scored.

What I did not like, the stupid las yellow, that was stupid as it goes. Yellow, yellow, red so late into the game, needs a serious talking by the coach.
@Center Field, what the hell is going on with the Italian goal keeper, since the EC.

Flick only took 16 players to Armenia, that is scratching the barrel. Mueller is the Senior Citizen on the team, instead of a walker he will get the Captain band..

 

What is going on with Donnarumma: he made a hugely stupid mistake in his career. He was a product of the AC Milan Youth Academy, spent his entirely life at AC Milan, all that he is, he learned from Milan. Then his contract was up and he asked for something like 10 million Euros if I'm not mistaken. Paolo Maldini offered him 8 million Euros. There was some negotiation and Maldini went up to 9 million. Everybody then expected him to sign; what's 1 million Euros in the negotiation with the club that is your home and made you good and famous and taught you everything? Well, ungrateful Donnarumma didn't want to lose those 1 million Euros, and dug his heels, and was inflexible, and started negotiating with Paris Saint-Germain. At one point, Maldini got irritated, and hired Ligue 1 champions Lille's goalie Mike Maignan, and said to Donnarumma, "I'm no longer interested in your services, you can go to PSG." Donna went to PSG as a free agent, with Milan not making a single cent out of it (another ungrateful move). So Donnarumma literally spat on the dish that fed him. The entire club became very angry at him, and fans started calling him Dollarumma.

He went to PSG to warm PSG's bench. PSG has a very good #1 goalie, Keylor Navas, and they weren't about to bench the excellent veteran who continues to play extremely well, in favor of the young newcomer. So Donnarumma is completely rusty. He hasn't played a club game in several months. His only time playing for someone, has been his time playing for the national team. So, Italy played a game at the San Siro Stadium in Milano, against Spain, for the Nations League semifinal. That was the first game Donnarumma played in months. He was rusty, nervous, and played horribly. The fans booed and whistled Donnarumma. He is now unhappy at PSG (warming the bench, no playing time) and he wants to come back to Serie A. So the whole thing was a big fiasco. He hasn't ever recovered. He's been bad, he's been making mistakes, and he's been one of the players responsible for our bad results.

As of now, we Milanisti hate Donnarumma with a passion. Fortunately for us, Maignan seems to be even better than Donnarumma when Donnarumma was in playing form. Unlucky for us, after a spectacular start for Milan with several excellent performances, Maignan got an injury in his hand that needed surgery, and ever since he's been out for the duration of this calendar year, but next year for the second half of Serie A, he'll be back. Our #2 goalie Tatarusanu is not very good, but by miracle, we keep winning, so we're still top of the table in points, level with Napoli (slightly behind them in goal differential) but I can't wait for Maignan's return.

Anyway, I digress. But I told you what's up with Donnarumma. If that idiot had accepted Milan's offer, he would have been in playing form, playing week after week for Milan, nobody would hate him, and he would be performing well for the national team. Given that he's an idiot, he squandered his form.

 

Thanks for the answer, makes sense, greed screwed him.

 

My mistake, last game is against San Marino.
England 6-0 up at halftime with Kane scoring 4.
First man to score consecutive hat tricks for England since 1927.

 

LOL ~ What a Mandrama.

I hope all that nonsense doesn't rub off on the Azzurri.

Anyhoo, thank goodness the USMNT doesn't have those problems and we're off to play the Reggae Boyz tomorrow evening in Kingston (kickoff at 5pm Eastern)

And WTF is the game doing on Univision? I thought they spoke English in RastaManLand...

FIRST-PLACE USMNT FINISHES NOVEMBER WORLD CUP QUALIFYING WINDOW AT JAMAICA
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...maica-preview-schedule-tv-channels-start-time

 

Not having Weston McKennie on the field tomorrow is going to suck (yellow card accumulation). He's our best midfielder and a better scorer than some of our forwards.

Thankfully, Christian Pulisic will be playing...

 

Final score England 10 San Marino 0.
First 10-0 for England since beating the USA in 1964.

Ruthless display against a side with only one victory in 186 international matches.
There needs to be a conversation about teams this poor having to pre-qualify for World Cup qualifiers.

 

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, what happened to Italy, Portugal and maybe Netherlands. WTF is going on.
N. Ireland vs Italy, 0:0. Again the Dollarman near lost the game for Italy in the last minutes. Again he tried to play football and lost the ball.
Ireland could not score into the empty goal, saved on the line by a defender.

Wilhelm Tell gang against Bulgaria, 4:0. The Nati is qualified. They outqualified Italy the European Champion, by 2 points and 3 goals.

If we want to empty the bag of surprises than Netherland fails to qualify and Canada beats Mexico and qualifies.

Armenia vs Germany, 1:4. The B Team showed the same spirit and beat Armenia quiet easy. Only that penalty, caused by Hofmann, who later scored himself, is a blemish.
7 wins in a row sounds good, but none of the teams were first class. Flick used those third and second class teams to install his system and some confidence into the Team.
Lets see what happens next year, when they have to play against the first class teams.

 

That's my only concern with this England team. They've not been really pushed hard in the qualifying matches.
We've seen that they can score, 39 goals in 10 games, but can they defend?

 

Italy put together its worst performance of the year. Simply disgusting. We have like 9 or 10 injured players... so we were left with the likes of Bernardeschi, Cristante, Acerbi... people who should be nowhere near a national team. But not even our good players played well today. Less bad than the rest, Di Lorenzo, Chiesa, and Berardi who at least tried. Even Jorginho and Tonali didn't play well. Donnarumma did make one save but almost lost the game on his own, like @gnoib described above. We went 95 minutes with very rare scoring opportunities, except for Emerson, Insigne, and Chiesa who all three had one nice shot each, but all three went wide.

Meanwhile Switzerland beat Bulgaria 4-0 and deservedly won the group. Congratulations to the Swiss. For Italy, no creativity, no soul, no display of skills or talent, no sense of urgency, no nothing. The Champions of Europe were absent today. That wasn't the Italy we got used to seeing this summer.

Italy will go to the playoff, but the thing is, if we continue to play like we're playing, we won't qualify. There are some very strong teams in the playoffs, and we are playing like s..t. So, the weirdest thing may happen: The Champions of Europe will miss the Qatar World Cup.

So, we didn't have several players, injured: Immobile, Verratti, Chiellini, Calabria, Toloi, Pellegrini, Spinazzola of course, Bastoni, Florenzi, Zaniolo...

And I'd say, we didn't have Donnarumma. Because that guy there manning our goal, Dollarumma, ain't Donnarumma. Donnarumma used to be a good goalie. That guy there, Dollarumma who looks like him, sucks. Hey, goalie, who are you, and what did you do with Donnarumma?

But again, this doesn't excuse how poorly the players who were there, played.

With the latest performances (or I should say, lack thereof), I'd say that we definitely did not deserve to win our group, so playoffs for us is correct. I just hope we get two of the weakest teams for our playoff games and survive, but if we get the big dogs, we won't be in Qatar.

 

Canada and Panama have already tied Mexico in this year's WCQs. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if either one of those teams beat Mexico.

Aside from the emergence of the young squad in the USA, one of the things we've learned this year is that Mexico is no longer the bully on the CONCACAF block. They're still a good team but they've looked very ordinary in some of their matches.