No Davies but Hopefully No Embarrassment Like 2012

 The Canadian Men's soccer team is on an incredible run of success and they will get a mental test tonight in the country that has gave them their most fits. 

Sometimes in sports two rivals that have no geographical ties at all sometimes become huge rivals. For me, my favourite non geographical rivalry is the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks from 2009-2011. They met in the playoffs three straight years and Vancouver finally slayed the dragon in 2011 Game Seven. 

For the Canadian Men's soccer team, Honduras and the Estadio Olimpico in San Pedro Sula is that dragon. I believe tonight is the final hurdle. A win tonight and I have a hard time seeing them not qualifying. We have seen them go toe to toe with every other team since our resurgence. 

The number I have to qualify for Qatar is 24. That's eight points in six games. Worst case I see us losing four games. So as long as we at least tie in two of those four than we should be ok. At least tie in El Salvador next Wednesday. Jamaica should be a win and everything else we need to avoid defeats. 

Not having Davies will be felt more for the USA game. We have tons of speed elsewhere on the pitch for us to counter. Honduras will need a win so I expect lots of goals. 

I believe 2012 was an anomaly. 2016 was more like what we are capable of. That being said, 2016 could have easily been 5-1 if it weren't for a few amazing Milan Borjan saves. 

The other thing is that the previous two games were in the daytime and during the Honduras League season. This one will be at night and during most of Honduras' players off season. 

We play at a pace that is special. In 2016, I don't think we were as talented. If you remember where you watched the 2012 game and 2016 game then this day is important to you. These are the days you live for as a sports fan. 

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Milan Borjan	October 23, 1987 (age 34)	58	0	Red Star Belgrade
	GK	Maxime Crépeau	April 11, 1994 (age 27)	14	0	Los Angeles FC
	GK	Jayson Leutwiler	April 25, 1989 (age 32)	3	0	Oldham Athletic
	DF	Doneil Henry	April 20, 1993 (age 28)	41	1	Unattached
	DF	Steven Vitória	January 11, 1987 (age 35)	28	2	Moreirense
	DF	Sam Adekugbe	January 16, 1995 (age 27)	24	0	Hatayspor
	DF	Richie Laryea	January 7, 1995 (age 27)	22	1	Nottingham Forest
	DF	Alistair Johnston	August 8, 1998 (age 23)	18	1	CF Montréal
	DF	Kamal Miller	May 16, 1997 (age 24)	18	0	CF Montréal
	DF	Derek Cornelius	November 25, 1997 (age 24)	14	0	Panetolikos
	DF	Scott Kennedy	March 31, 1997 (age 24)	5	0	Jahn Regensburg
	DF	Cristián Gutiérrez	February 18, 1997 (age 24)	0	0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	MF	Atiba Hutchinson	February 8, 1983 (age 38)	90	8	Beşiktaş
	MF	Samuel Piette	November 12, 1994 (age 27)	60	0	CF Montréal
	MF	Jonathan Osorio	June 12, 1992 (age 29)	49	7	Toronto FC
	MF	Mark-Anthony Kaye	December 2, 1994 (age 27)	30	2	Colorado Rapids
	MF	Stephen Eustáquio	December 21, 1996 (age 25)	18	3	Porto
	MF	Liam Fraser	February 13, 1998 (age 23)	11	0	Deinze
	FW	Cyle Larin	April 17, 1995 (age 26)	44	22	Beşiktaş
	FW	Junior Hoilett	June 5, 1990 (age 31)	39	13	Reading
	FW	Lucas Cavallini	December 28, 1992 (age 29)	28	16	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	FW	Jonathan David	January 14, 2000 (age 22)	24	18	Lille
	FW	Tajon Buchanan	February 8, 1999 (age 22)	16	3	Club Brugge
	FW	Liam Millar	September 27, 1999 (age 22)	14	0	Basel
	FW	Iké Ugbo	September 21, 1998 (age 23)	1	0	Genk

Will Conmebol and Concacaf Merge for 2026 ?

 Despite this week being an international break with qualifying games being scheduled for the 2022 World Cup, I wanted to discuss something that will be a topic of conversation for 2026 World Cup Qualifying. 

Conmebol is scheduled for six berths in a ten team confederation and I will be very disappointed if they have the same qualifying format. They would basically have 18 game qualifying and there would be way too many teams playing meaningless games. 

The way to fix it isn't easy. My fear is that they don't even fix it at all. I really hope there will be some kind of change. In most Confederations, dropping points at home two or three times is almost the death of a country trying to qualify. 

Concacaf is set to have six teams qualify. Currently, there are 35 teams and so there is still a very competitive competition formats available. 

Move the Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Guatemala to Conmebol in exchange for  Ecuador, Venezuela  and Peru. 

As crazy as it sounds. The competitive balance is I think almost equal. Conmebol would have 13 teams which is a odd number but they would still be competitive qualifying. 

Concacaf could have 32 teams and have a number of different potential formats. I know it's not perfect but a complete merger isn't very realistic logistically with travel. The easiest thing for Conmebol to do would be to have one Hex and a seven team group for qualifying. I am aware seven team group isn't ideal but UEFA does five team groups and they have done seven team groups in the past. 

From a Regional Cup point of view I would love to have a Gold Cup every four years and combined Cup competition the other odd years. This would make a Cup to look forward to three out of four years. 

How likely is this to happen? Not likely but I have a fun imagination. This weeks games in both confederations are goin to be intense.   

                                                                    

Put half of your surplus after every month into a separate savings account

 Recently, I wrote a blog post about how we really don't need to be knee deep in a 9-5 job if we don't want to be. We do it because society says we have to. 

My first step was "Step 1 - Put half of your surplus after every month into a separate savings account.

So, when your first 18, this might entail you getting a job but remember, the goal eventually is to find a side hustle that can make you money when you don't have your money.

Two possible worst case secnario's that might come up.

1. Parents insist that you head to University and that might delay the side hustle

2. Your parents don't have the money to keep you at home and your forced to move out and fend for yourself.

For the first point: This option isn't all bad. However, if they are paying for college, that means they can tell you to not drop out. It's also hard to feel financially free if they are helping you out.

This will pass eventually. It does suck at the time especially when you see classmates get to do fun things like drop out and get jobs elsewhere. Remember though that the parents are doing this because they care.

Option two. No one wants this option but this might end up being a sling shot if you are able to set yourself up successfully.

If you turned 18 and were kicked out with only $20 in your pocket, I believe that there are organisations that can help. This is why most foster children can't get kicked out until 19.

The point is, put your your money aside. Even if it's just $100 in 20 years it will add up.

If your in a deficit than ask yourself why. Some reasons are worth it like having a kid.

I would say the key part to getting yourself set up yourself is being as flexible as possible. I'll touch on this in other steps.