"They'll eat you up and spit you out."
This is just one of the ways that players describe World Cup Qualifying in CONCACAF. Whether it's the heat of Mexico City, the noise in San Salvador, the cold of Columbus, each nation in CONCACAF uses it own, distinct home field advantage in order to gain an edge.
Discover the behind-the-scenes stories from American, Mexican, and Canadian national team legends that have experienced these challenges first hand and how they dealt with them.
Eddie Pope, Cobi Jones, and Marcelo Balboa details the difficulties of playing in Estadio Azteca. Luis Hernandez, Jorge Campos, and Pavel Pardo talk about what it was like competing in the frigid conditions of Historic Crew Stadium in winter. Dwayne De Rosario and Patrice Bernier recount Panamanian fans setting up professional-grade speakers outside their hotel, in order to keep them up the night before the game. When the stakes are so high for the players and the fans are willing to do anything they can to help their team -- that's what makes CONCACAF Qualifiers, unlike anything else in the world.
"The Octagon" is a new series that explores the most unique stories around CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, focusing it mostly on USA, Mexico, and Canada, and illustrating the aspects that make it unlike an soccer region in the world.
Footage Courtesy:
U.S. Soccer / Veritone
Paramount + / CBS Sports
Alejandro Orva (@MarcaClaro)
Oscar Caliz (@oscar_caliz)
Episode 1 - USA Preview - https://youtu.be/0te...
By Major League Soccer
November 10, 2021
