Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka
Couple things:
- BMO has natural grass which is the preferred choice for CONCACAF, CMNT, and FIFA as a whole. What other Canadian stadiums have natural grass?
- The key to World Cup qualifiers should be to ensure the best possible setting for Canada to succeed. This means being easily accessible for flights to-and-from Europe where CMNT players will be arriving from. Requiring additional flights to smaller Canadian centres creates a more difficult scenario and timeline for both Canadian players and for visiting CONCACAF nations. Where will CMNT players stay? Where will visiting players stay? Where will both teams train prior to the match? What logistics are in place for the teams in the days leading up to the match? All of these are much easier the larger the city the teams play in.
- Consistency in logistics is also key for CSA and CMNT. Hosting in the same setting means that procedures can be easily repeated, including COVID protocols these days. For CSA, event-hosting, coordination of amenities, and everything else can be repeated and perfected upon if hosting in the same location. Toronto is a familiar city for CSA and, as much as people hate it, BMO is the default national stadium for CMNT.
- Stadium availability.
I know everyone loves to hate Toronto and everyone wants to see CMNT play in St. John's and Iqaluit, but at the end of the day there's only a certain number of stadiums that are actually suitable to host CMNT matches and which qualify for everything listed above given the timelines of 2022 qualification. The only cities hosting this cycle are likely going to be Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton - which, shockingly, are also likely to be our World Cup hosting cities in 2026.
Instead of messing around worrying about whether Prince George is hosting a game our focus should be on the field where things matter more. It's incredibly tiring to see the best ever CMNT side wash away Central American teams and having people still more focused on where the game is played or how many people are in the seats. That shouldn't be the focus. |
I've never had a problem admitting the truth, this IS and ISN'T an anti Toronto thing. It ISN'T because like anti Americanism I find it a cheap and lazy generalization. It IS when there is a pattern of not performing up to expectations which is constantly repeated.
At least three people last night mentioned the crowd disappointedly (see video below), Kaye (who said it was was like playing an away game), Herdman (who said the players were booed getting off the bus) and Borjan above. Before anyone points it out I am well aware it was El Salvadorans not Canadians but this shouldn't happen.
Toronto has a long history of not selling out (the last two games have sold out) at a tiny restricted 15k capacity in by far the largest market in the country. How is it the El Salvador fans and to a smaller extent Hondurans were able to buy up tickets before the Toronto fans.
Toronto fans such as yourself are hurt when others point out their poor performance as a host city. I have at times posted reasons for using Toronto some of which you posted above but you can't have players talking that way and not being affected. Booed getting off the bus in your home country is an epic fail.
Every major stadium in Canada can host a WC qualifier. The only ones that would have an issue would be Regina with the inlaid lines that would have to be muted and the stadium and surface at Calgary would likely also be an issue. Both would be more trouble than they were worth to get them playable.
I have read (and posted) the UEFA stadium guide and seeing as the majority of Canadian stadiums (stadia) are relatively new they pass the muster. FIFA has never had an issue with third generation artificial turf, in fact, they used to have a web page promoting it, because in several countries for various reasons it was the better option in providing a playable surface.
No one is criticizing the good/great job the fan groups have done ie Voyageurs. In the first game they drowned out the Hondurans but it might have been a different story in the El Salvador game had we not smoked them so early.
I think your second group of points are moot with this WCQ format. We have to weigh getting booed in your own country with some advantages (being home to many players) Toronto has a history of selling 25k tickets to TFC games and 10-15k to CMNT games, where did they go? Toronto area fans have to do better because this is not acceptable without giving someone else a shot to do better.
Prev
Linear Mode
