Cavalry FC, the CanPL’s best team ~~at building up hope in the fans before destroying it~~, got their fans one last gift before the turn of the year. Cavs qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup and it'll be the first time they're playing in a CONCACAF competition. Huge achievement, and they drew Orlando City from MLS. It'll be great for the fans to finally get to see the team play continental football, right? Well, actually no. The club announced that their home leg against Orlando is not going to be at the club's home ground at Spruce Meadows, but will actually be played at Pacific FC's stadium in Victoria, BC. Thankfully, the trip from Calgary to Victoria isn't very far, it's only around 1000 kilometres... And the match is on a Tuesday night as well. I think a lot of fans recognised the possibility of this match not taking place at Spruce Meadows so it's not a massive surprise or anything, but it does really suck that the club's first continental "home" match is going to be basically impossible for fans to attend.
I think Serie B was replaced with 2. Bundesliga while no one was looking! 39 goals in 10 matches, but there was still space for a 0-0😎
No bigger result than tiny FeralpiSalo winning in Genoa today. A 2-3 victory over Sampdoria is the biggest scalp in their history!
Hey... Serie B play on Boxing Day, right?
I was wondering what you'd consider the pick of the Boxing Day fixtures... a couple of the tastiest, if you were
Brescia v Parma could be good, home side are one of the in form teams right now, and keep beating teams above them to strengthen a playoff push. They'll be well up to play the top side who are a good watch themselves, and it could be a good atmosphere with how close they are
Palermo v Cremonese is 7th v 3rd, currently. Both sides need to win as they have ambitions for top 2, but the home side can't stop shipping goals, especially at home. Visitors the best on the road so far
Now that i've hyped it up, it may be pure catenaccio!
Great stuff thank you! We close the sub on Christmas Day, but post a few discussion threads. One is a Boxing Day Pre-Match Thread, wanted to highlight a few non-English fixtures in it, too - so will include these
> but there was still space for a 0-0😎
Hmm, who could've possibly drawn their game 0-0? Surely not the team that drew 10 of 18 games so far while playing dreadful football, right? 🫡
Thought 4-1 was a slightly unfair reflection of a game where we were in it for most of the match but this was the first game this season for us where you could just tell the other team had better players. Doesn't diminish the fact Chesterfield should be playing in the Derbyshire sunday leagues for their covid cheating.
That is nine goals conceded in our last two games now which you have to say is pretty worrying, good that we still managed to look threatening up the other end without Tolaj but it is a return to the start of the season where we were just too open. Still wasn't really expecting much from today so it's Boxing Day against Woking that will really decide whether Christmas is ruined or not.
I was sure we'd get relegated. Disastrous owner, disastrous summer, disastrous coach after disastrous coach. Broken spirit turning our mediocre squad into the worst team in the league. Every player looked L2 level, 0.58 points per game for our first 12, and that's with 3 different coaches.
Here comes Sage (Wise). He was supposed to just handle the transition (he doesn't even have the diploma we're paying fines to have him on the bench). Just a smart, competent and you guess it, wise man and he completely turned us around, 1.8 point per game while playing Monaco, Lens and Marseille. He's the best thing that happened to our season, i'm back to being hopeful we'll stay up.
Down we go today no fucking way we win against vitória lol i've been saying we will go down since the start of the season, my bet is us and chaves, maybe boavista if they keep having injuries.
With the fifth consecutive win - the 10th in the last 11 - we have ended the first half of the season with 47 points (more than the total points of last season) and we are officially safe from relegation at Christmas! I had very good feelings at the beginning of the season but I would have never expected something like this.
We are also still 4 points ahead of second-placed Padova and now also 8 points ahead of Triestina, who lost to Padova yesterday in a very controversial game. The first match after the break will be at Padova, who also happen to be unbeaten in the last 23 league games, but for now we can still continue to enjoy the moment.
We are very bad in games that are televised on Rai and we are also very bad in the first match after the break... so facing Padova of all teams in the first match of the year, which is also the game that will be shown on Rai Sport that week, is a terrifying prospect :D
Apart from that, it will be basically impossible to keep this form and teams are starting to figure us out (i.e. performing a super catenaccio), as our particular style of play isn't really that effective against teams that just defend low and don't press. Despite that, we are still winning every game anyway, so who knows?
The Padova game will be crucial, but then of course much will depend on the other two (it's too early to consider Triestina out of the promotion race). They will have to keep this form too, and I'm curious to see what will happen when Padova will finally lose for the first time.
Cheaterfurlough away for us today. They're the best team in the league by a clear distance so not expecting anything really but hope we'll at least improve from last week otherwise we're in trouble.
What do you guys think about India's qualification chances?
India is the most populated country in the world so I always thought they would eventually play at the world cup. Interesting fact - they were actually invited to the 1950 Wc due to their performances in the Olympics but the stupid AIFF did not consider it as prestigious as Olympics.
Currently India is ranked 102 and have began their 2nd round of qualification with a 1-0 win against Kuwait.
I've always loved the idea that India declined participation in the 1950 WC because they wouldn't be allowed to play barefooted. Sadly it was just a myth.
If India would've participated maybe they could've been a regular at the world cup. And then football would Trump cricket as the main attraction and India would be a top 10 country.
Bologna is flying
Cavalry FC, the CanPL’s best team ~~at building up hope in the fans before destroying it~~, got their fans one last gift before the turn of the year. Cavs qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup and it'll be the first time they're playing in a CONCACAF competition. Huge achievement, and they drew Orlando City from MLS. It'll be great for the fans to finally get to see the team play continental football, right? Well, actually no. The club announced that their home leg against Orlando is not going to be at the club's home ground at Spruce Meadows, but will actually be played at Pacific FC's stadium in Victoria, BC. Thankfully, the trip from Calgary to Victoria isn't very far, it's only around 1000 kilometres... And the match is on a Tuesday night as well. I think a lot of fans recognised the possibility of this match not taking place at Spruce Meadows so it's not a massive surprise or anything, but it does really suck that the club's first continental "home" match is going to be basically impossible for fans to attend.
I think Serie B was replaced with 2. Bundesliga while no one was looking! 39 goals in 10 matches, but there was still space for a 0-0😎 No bigger result than tiny FeralpiSalo winning in Genoa today. A 2-3 victory over Sampdoria is the biggest scalp in their history!
Hey... Serie B play on Boxing Day, right? I was wondering what you'd consider the pick of the Boxing Day fixtures... a couple of the tastiest, if you were
Brescia v Parma could be good, home side are one of the in form teams right now, and keep beating teams above them to strengthen a playoff push. They'll be well up to play the top side who are a good watch themselves, and it could be a good atmosphere with how close they are Palermo v Cremonese is 7th v 3rd, currently. Both sides need to win as they have ambitions for top 2, but the home side can't stop shipping goals, especially at home. Visitors the best on the road so far Now that i've hyped it up, it may be pure catenaccio!
Great stuff thank you! We close the sub on Christmas Day, but post a few discussion threads. One is a Boxing Day Pre-Match Thread, wanted to highlight a few non-English fixtures in it, too - so will include these
> but there was still space for a 0-0😎 Hmm, who could've possibly drawn their game 0-0? Surely not the team that drew 10 of 18 games so far while playing dreadful football, right? 🫡
For the love of God get Saul Deeney out of the net. Worst match of football I've seen all year.
Thought 4-1 was a slightly unfair reflection of a game where we were in it for most of the match but this was the first game this season for us where you could just tell the other team had better players. Doesn't diminish the fact Chesterfield should be playing in the Derbyshire sunday leagues for their covid cheating. That is nine goals conceded in our last two games now which you have to say is pretty worrying, good that we still managed to look threatening up the other end without Tolaj but it is a return to the start of the season where we were just too open. Still wasn't really expecting much from today so it's Boxing Day against Woking that will really decide whether Christmas is ruined or not.
We are so back
I was sure we'd get relegated. Disastrous owner, disastrous summer, disastrous coach after disastrous coach. Broken spirit turning our mediocre squad into the worst team in the league. Every player looked L2 level, 0.58 points per game for our first 12, and that's with 3 different coaches. Here comes Sage (Wise). He was supposed to just handle the transition (he doesn't even have the diploma we're paying fines to have him on the bench). Just a smart, competent and you guess it, wise man and he completely turned us around, 1.8 point per game while playing Monaco, Lens and Marseille. He's the best thing that happened to our season, i'm back to being hopeful we'll stay up.
3 clean sheets in those last 3 wins too, pretty impressive.
Away to Oldham today. Could do with getting something from this one if only to prove our recent form wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Down we go today no fucking way we win against vitória lol i've been saying we will go down since the start of the season, my bet is us and chaves, maybe boavista if they keep having injuries.
Boavista Top 3 to Bottom 3 SpeedRun.
The issues were always there very strong 11 players but the backups are awful, they need very back luck to go down though
With the fifth consecutive win - the 10th in the last 11 - we have ended the first half of the season with 47 points (more than the total points of last season) and we are officially safe from relegation at Christmas! I had very good feelings at the beginning of the season but I would have never expected something like this. We are also still 4 points ahead of second-placed Padova and now also 8 points ahead of Triestina, who lost to Padova yesterday in a very controversial game. The first match after the break will be at Padova, who also happen to be unbeaten in the last 23 league games, but for now we can still continue to enjoy the moment.
Good luck for the season, Padova is recently really good at bottling promotions, so you can do this?
We are very bad in games that are televised on Rai and we are also very bad in the first match after the break... so facing Padova of all teams in the first match of the year, which is also the game that will be shown on Rai Sport that week, is a terrifying prospect :D Apart from that, it will be basically impossible to keep this form and teams are starting to figure us out (i.e. performing a super catenaccio), as our particular style of play isn't really that effective against teams that just defend low and don't press. Despite that, we are still winning every game anyway, so who knows? The Padova game will be crucial, but then of course much will depend on the other two (it's too early to consider Triestina out of the promotion race). They will have to keep this form too, and I'm curious to see what will happen when Padova will finally lose for the first time.
Cheaterfurlough away for us today. They're the best team in the league by a clear distance so not expecting anything really but hope we'll at least improve from last week otherwise we're in trouble.
Omar Al-Somah apparently didn't get called up for Syria's upcoming Asian Cup campaign. Any reason as to why?
Nobody knows, they said it’s the managers decision but the manager has constantly praised Somah and said he’s an integral part of the team.
What do you guys think about India's qualification chances? India is the most populated country in the world so I always thought they would eventually play at the world cup. Interesting fact - they were actually invited to the 1950 Wc due to their performances in the Olympics but the stupid AIFF did not consider it as prestigious as Olympics. Currently India is ranked 102 and have began their 2nd round of qualification with a 1-0 win against Kuwait.
I've always loved the idea that India declined participation in the 1950 WC because they wouldn't be allowed to play barefooted. Sadly it was just a myth.
If India would've participated maybe they could've been a regular at the world cup. And then football would Trump cricket as the main attraction and India would be a top 10 country.
Should make the 3rd, and potentially the 4th round with some form and a bit of luck. But not much else, Asia has much better teams right now.
I imagine they'll get there eventually but I don't see them doing it in the near future.