Women's World Cup Lookback

This post was full intended to be written quite a while ago but things got busy and it kept getting shelved.  The good news is now I can write about the WWC with a bit of distance and hopefully give a more assessment but lets face it no matter how long I wait it will still be my own skewed view. 

The first thing that I have to say is that this summers Women's World Cup is the most enjoyable FIFA event outside of a men's world cup that I have ever watched.  On top of that I will even go as far as to say that on the whole it was every bit as good as WC2010 in South Africa.  That might seem like a huge statement for me to make but this WWC really did have every single thing you could ask for in a football tournament.  It had some fairly big upsets, it had great story lines, and underdog champion, and most importantly it had a whole lot of quality playing. 


The Women's world cup was not plagued by all kinds of blowouts, the worst scorelines were 4 goals wins including the one that France got over Canada, and it did not have the issues with diving and simulation that so often destroy the credibility of the men's game at the highest levels.  So me the Women's game may be at a slower pace, the shots may be less powerful, and in many cases the keeping is not as great but this year that did not ruin it for me.  It was nothing like watching women's hockey, which is something I can only do every four years and then only Canada's games, in fact I found myself trying to catch every game possible.  For the first time in my life I was watching rebroadcasts of games that did no involve United which is saying a whole lot since I normally cannot stand watching a game at all if I already know the score.  The games were good enough to keep me interested long after Canada were eliminated and in fact the success of this World Cup is going to keep me coming back to the Women's game for years to come.

Another positive thing about the WWC is that it satisfied my need to dislike many of the traditional soccer powers as well as my constant desire to cheer against the Americans.  The fact that Germany and Brazil did not make to the finals made me quite happy and even if the US went all the way to the final watching them lose to Japan was so satisfying.  Yes I would have loved the event even more if Canada had done better but I think I actually enjoyed it more this way, once I overcame the crushing pain of once again seeing Canada come up short, as I was able to just sit back and enjoy the games and just appreciate the skill on display.

Speaking of Japan, them winning the WWC was a storyline that you could hardly even dream up.  They are of course a very good side and would have been among the contenders to make it to the semifinals for most knowledgeable fans but picking them to win it all would have been quite a long shot.  Japan was a country in need of a good storyline after a really rough year from which they are still struggling to recover and their women's team delivered.  Just their showing in the final match against the United States shows that they were a side driven to succeed and every time the US wasted a scoring chance you just got that feeling that Japan were somehow destined to win the game.  Then each time they fought back I could not help but support them.  By the time the match made it to penalties I had gone from cheering against the USWNT to cheering for Japan and the only way I could have been happier with the winner would have been if it had been Canada.

With all that praise I do have to add that their is still a long ways to go in the Women's game.  The quality of the players is only going to continue improving, the depth of the competition should keep getting better (it has to with the tournament field expanding for 2015).  The other area where the game is going to need to see improvement is officiating.  For the most part it was good during the tournament but there are a few terrible moments that are going to stand up as glaring marks on the event.  The handball that was not called in the Australia match will be one of the moments that most people will remember but I do hope that with a little more time people who watched the event forget that some of the reffing was poor and instead only remember this event as being something special and great fun to watch.

I can hardly wait for 2015 now when with any luck I will be going to at least a couple of matches.  I can now safely say that I am a supporter of Women's soccer and that is a big statement for someone who has once been accused of being a sports sexist.

Gold Cup: Day 9 (End of Canada)

So on Tuesday night there were two games in the Gold Cup but I trust that most of my readers watched the Canadian game.  With that in mind I am not overly going to discuss the events of the game but will instead focus on my feelings and reaction to the game, and Canada's Gold Cup effort as a whole.

The short version is that Canada needs to be better then they were the last three games.  The team that we saw against Ecuador showed potential and showed the ability to get forward but the team that showed up the last 3 matches looked completely unthreatening and at times they seemed lost for what they were doing.  The 4-5-1 seemed to me to be the root cause of the problems because when Hart was forced to make changes, mainly not playing Jackson alone up top, things picked up a bit.  It is actually a bad thing that Canada was at its very best in the second half of the US game because Ali Gerba was brought on.  If we are counting on Ali Gerba, still, to score goals then this world cup qualifying campaign is going to be a tough one.

The fact is that Canada played 3 matches in the Gold Cup and the only time that they scored was from 2 soft penalties.  They created very little from open play and maybe it was the game plan, or Atiba Hutchinson missing two matches, or maybe it is that Canada continues to lack a constant scoring threat from the striker position.  The teams leading scorer on the current roster is Dwayne De Rosario, with 15 goals, and he so often gets lost in games going long stretches without making any impact.  There is no one on this current team that you can count on to score with any regularity.  We have some decent midfielders, good enough to compete with out teams in CONCACAF I would say but the other areas need to be improved.  I have high hopes for Jackson but the truth is that he has a lot to learn and the system in place under Stephen Hart is not the right fit for him.  If you watch how Norwich use him, which works well, you can see how he is capable of being an effective attacker but for Canada he was often isolated and out matched by larger defenders.  Rob Friend and Ali Gerba on the other hand I do not have any confidence in at all.  I hear Friend can be good but have limited exposure to him for his club but again he is poorly used in Hart's tactics.  There is also Ricketts but I am going to reserve judgement on him since I have seen almost nothing of him and his few appearances for Canada have seemed decent but not enough to get a true sense.

The other issue that Canada faces is they lack that killer confidence.  They go into games against the USA overwhelmed and play like they are afraid of getting beaten and then when they do get scored on they struggle to find an answer.  Then even when we get ahead like we were against Panama there is this sense that the team are not strong enough to know how to hold on to that lead.  The best teams know that the easiest way to hold a lead is to push back against the team rather then just packing it in where you are basically just waiting for the other team to create chances and potentially score.  The goal that Canada conceded was quite unlucky but it was nothing less then Panama deserved as they had been taking the game to Canada for some time.  Would of course not have been an issue if Canada had converted some chances in the first half.  Now Canada has an average back line at best so that is never going to help and by the end of this Gold Cup they didn't have 4 players fit to play in their natural positions in the back line which is not going to help but maybe Hart should have brought another defender along for the tournament rather then someone like Pacheco just to pick a name.

The other area of the team that I was most concerned about going into this Gold Cup was in goal.  Hirschfeld has had a couple of great performances for Canada in the past but is not consistent enough to rely on in hopefully a long qualification run.  I was though pleased with what I saw from Milan Borjan.  He displayed good positioning, good judgement, and the ability to stop shots.  You can still tell that he has not been around top clubs and can use a fair bit of refinement but he has the potential and I was pleasantly surprised by that.

So Canada is now out of the Gold Cup and the next stop for the Men's National Team is World Cup qualifiers this fall.  The draw will almost certainly hand us something easy in the opening round of play but my fear is that we will win that without making the needed changes.  For me Hart needs to prove that he can get away from always using the 4-5-1 and have some tactical flexibility.  He needs to change something and get the team to the point where it is scoring goals from open play against the Panama's and Guadeloupe's of the world.  It is alright to be kept off the score sheet when you are up against a keeper like Tim Howard, who is class, but against other teams we need to find a way to manufacture goals.  I can not sit here and offer a solution, if I could I would be coaching at a high level, but I can say that in my opinion if Hart does not show the willingness and ability to mix it up this fall then it should cost him his job.  We should be winning these early qualifying games no matter what, that is not good enough though.  Canada needs to be using these games to get much better.  We have to be in the top 8 teams and CONCACAF and I would like to see us go far in qualifiers, even if the World Cup is still a distant dream, but based on the Gold Cup performance we have a long way to go to prove that we are right with the second tier of teams in the region.

The American team also played last night and to be fair they were terrible.  They have been poor all the way through the group stage and seem to be a long way from hitting their stride.  For me, and I have heard a few others saying this, they have only made it out of the group stage because of their natural talent and having some of the best players in the tournament.  If you look at how Mexico has preformed and look at the States then they have a lot of work to do if they want to overcome Mexico at some point and potentially win this thing.  Clint Dempsey was at the centre of the Americans bad play in the group stage as he seemed to just not be sharp at all and wasted chance after chance after chance with him being at his worst last night.  Dempsey should have had a hat trick and put the game beyond a doubt for the US but instead he got nothing.  Canada may be the team going home but the Americans have underachieved just as much and could be joining Canada in the coming days.


So with no more Gold Cup for Canada what do you have to look forward to?  Well Canada is about to enter in to two more competitions in including the U-17's and then the Women's World Cup later this month.  Personally I am very excited for the WWC and think that Canada are a team that can turn some heads.
I will try to cover that tournament and preview it in the coming weeks as well as continuing with some Gold Cup coverage and TFC coverage.  Going to be a great summer for soccer in this country!

The Canadian Conundrum

What I am going to attempt to do in this post is lay out the possible outcomes for Group C in the simplest and most straightforward way that I can which will likely result in everyone be confused and in that case the best thing to do is hope that Canada wins tonight as that will be enough to advance no matter what, got that down?  Good cause now we can get into the fun that such a stupid tournament format can create.  This whole best 2 third place teams moving on concept is just useless and for the first time in my life I found myself agreeing with a City fan last night while I was listening to Duane Rollins thoughts on the dumb format on last nights edition of Itscalledfootball (check out the podcast for some good stuff!)

So lets get down to the match and set out a couple of scenarios:

1.  If Canada wins the game, regardless of the margin, they advance but could finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd

2. If Canada losses, regardless of the margin, they are going home

3.  If Canada draws the game then they need to hope that the US losses their game against Guadeloupe

So that is the very basic outline of what can happen.  The scenarios get a lot more complex if you try to include all of the different outcomes from both of tonights games.  For example if Canada were to win by 4 or more then they would be able to claim top spot in the group and if they want a shot at second in the group then Canada needs to at least win by 2 so that they can go above Panama based on head to head.  I am not in the mood to hurt my brain trying to lay it all out for you when Duane of The 24th Minute has already done such a good job over here: http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1831-Group-C-breakdown

The other thing that is worth knowing is that if Canada wins the game by less than 2 then they are heading to a quarterfinals date with Mexico.  So if you are hoping for Canada to avoid Mexico then a 2 goal win is the magic number.  To do that Canada is going to need a great effort as they are likely going to have to overcome a depleted back line, with only 3 out and out defenders left fit on the team, and likely the absence of Atiba Hutchinson for the second straight match as reports are suggesting that his club PSV are suggesting that it would be wise for Hart not to play him tonight.  If PSV really are saying that then we won't be seeing Atiba tonight since Hart will want to be careful not to burn bridges with them before World Cup qualifying begins as Hutchinson will be a key part of any success that Canada is going to have.

Gold Cup: Day 6 (Canada's back!)

The 6th round of play in the 2011 Gold Cup saw group C get back in to the action.  That means that Canada was taking to the field for their second match and this time they were down in Tampa to take on Guadeloupe.  The second game of the nights would see Panama and the United States battling for control over the group. 

Coming into this game I heard a lot of Canadian fans feeling like this should be an easy win for the team because Guadeloupe are an unranked nation but that ignores the fact that most of their players are professionals in the French League system with a fair few of them playing for good teams in the Ligue 2.  With that said they were not a team that Canada would be able to get away with taking lightly which they proved by making Panama work so hard to win in the first round despite having gone down to 9 men.  The second game was no different as Canada were going to have to work for everything despite Guadeloupe again going down a man.  This time the sending off game in the 4th minute when Will Johnson was hit by a two footed tackle from Jean-Luc Lambourde.  It may not have been the worst tackle I have ever seen but I have also seen red cards being given out for less and Guadeloupe cant really feel that hard done by this one.  So Canada were taking on 10 men for basically the entire game now and they must certainly have been the clear favorites, right?

The first chance of note in the game would go the way of Guadeloupe as Borjan was forced to get down to his right quickly and did well to turn aside the low shot.  Before the first half was over Canadian striker Ali Gerba got what was clearly the best chance of the half as he found himself unmarked in the box but when he hit the cross first time he was unable to get it on target.  The first half would end without much else happening and the sending off was the only real talking point.

The second half began with Guadeloupe creating the first chance as once again Borjan was forced to get down quick to make a save right by his post.  Borjan continued his solid play tracking down crosses and making easy work of any shots that did come his way making Hart look like a genius for deciding to start him in this match.  Canada generated a half chance a few minutes later with a speculative shot from range by De Rosario but on the 50th minute De Rosario sent a cross into the box that was aimed towards Ali Gerba but Gerba went down under contact from the defender and the referee awarded Canada a penalty.  De Ro would step up to the spot and after sending the keeper the wrong way he slotted home the opening goal of the game.  The penalty was by no means cut and dry and when I said that Gerba went down under contact it really was slight contact and he went down rather easily as he had no chance of getting to the ball.  The decision is one that Canada have often been on the other end of and it has often angered Canadian fans to see teams going down so softly against us so it is no surprise that the reaction to this has been rather mixed even among Canadian fans.  Gerba going down softly does raise the question though of whether this is the kind of thing Canada needs to do if they want to gain an edge against their opponents in the Gold Cup and later in World Cup qualifying.  I personally do not like the idea of our players diving but if you are under contact and start to fall why not go down and just see what happens.  No point busting your butt to state on your feet when at the other end of the field the opposing team might just go down and win the game as a result.

The game would continue on with both teams looking to create chances but to be honest there was a real lack of offensive talent on display in this one.  The best chances the rest of the game came from long range efforts which were all turned away by the keepers.  In the end it was that penalty decision that proved to be the difference as Canada escaped with a 1-0 win.  For Canada I am sure they would have liked to score a couple more goals to try and improve the goal difference and their chances of finishing higher up after the group stage ends.  For Guadeloupe on the other hand they will feel that once again the ref has cost them a chance to win the game with that sending off and then the penalty decision.  Things will not get any easier for Guadeloupe though as they finish off the group against the United States and they will need to not only win the match but will need to win it by a comfortable margin.  That basically means that come the last match day Guadeloupe will be only playing for pride.  Canada on the other hand will have everything to play for when they round off their group schedule against Panama in a match where a positive result could see them finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in group C.

The second game of the evening in the group was another exciting one and surely left a lot of fans scratching their hands.  Panama was taking on the United States and with the US being one of the favorites for this Gold Cup you would have expected them to have a fairly easy time disposing of Panama.  The match was nothing like that though as Panama came out flying and really took it to the US.  Throughout the first half the Americans were kept on the back heel an Panama's hard work was rewarded in 18th minute when Luis Tejada scored to give them a lead that surprised all of the American fans watching the match in Tampa.  Things only got worse for the Americans though as defender Tim Ream brought down Perez in the box handing Panama a penalty in the 35th minute.  The spot kick was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a shock 2-0 lead which they would hold until the half.

The Americans would fight back in the second half but Panama put up a solid resistance.  Panama would manage to hold back the powerful attack until the 67th minute when Clarence Goodson scored to give the States hope.  In the end though they were unable to find the second goal that they needed to salvage any sort of result.  Panama's early onslaught combined with resolute defending and some strong keeping from Cano were enough to hand them their second win in the group.

So with 2 rounds in the book now Panama find themselves sitting on top of the group with 6 points and if they get a result against Canada on the last day they will be going through in first place.  The Americans will be looking to extract some revenge for this loss on Guadeloupe in their final match as they need a comfortable win to try and finish as high up the group as they can.  A win could see them finish 1st or 2nd.  There really is almost everything to play for on the final match day in this group and teams will be fighting hard for better positions to ensure they get the easier quarter finals.

Gold Cup: Day 3 (Canada Day)

June 7th was setting up to be a very big day for Canadian Soccer but in the end the results were not quite we would have all liked to see.  The afternoon kicked off with the Women's National team playing their final warmup friendly in Budapest against the Hungarian team.  The women would have been hoping to rediscover their scoring touches and hopefully fire a few past the Hungarians but that was not to be.  In the end they got the win that they wanted thanks to an 88th minute goal from Matheson which was enough for the 1-0 win.  The win set the stage well for a great day for Canada with the mens team preparing to play in the evening and it also ensured that the Women's team would be going into the World Cup feeling pretty good about themselves.  The match was also the 100th cap for captain Brittany Timko making her only the 7th Canadian woman to reach that mark.  (Women's World Cup preview coming later this month)

Now we get to the Gold Cup.  The first match last night opened up play in Group C with Panama taking on Guadeloupe in Detroit.  In the early stages this match looked like it was going to be yet another lopsided score as Panama took a 2-0 lead in the first half only to see Guadeloupe have a player sent off to the second questionable red card in as many nights.  Having been reduced to 10 men Guadeloupe could have folded but they were ready to put up a fight.  Things only got worse for them though when they opened the second half by conceding a penalty which was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a 3-0 lead.  Even though Panama was up by 3 the game had seemed a lot closer then that based on run of play.  Both sides were creating chances and it was fairly balances but everything seemed to be going in Panama's favour in the first hour.  After the 60th minute Guadeloupe began an impressive fight back led by Brice Jovial who plays for Le Havre in France.  Jovial would net goals in the 64th and 78th minute to hand Guadeloupe a lifeline but it was all to little to late as time ran out on them before they could salvage anything.  To the other teams in the group it should now be clear that Guadeloupe are not a team that you can take lightly as they will never give a game up and it also showed that both they and Panama possess the kind of quality needed to give Canada and USA tough games.

The second match was the one that we have all be waiting for basically since June of 2007.  Ever since the last meeting between Canada and the United States ended so badly Canadian soccer fans have been left with a really bad taste in their mouth.  The Canadian supporters would have been hoping to get a measure of revenge in Detroit for the recent struggles that we have had against the Americans.  I for one was hoping that for the first time in my life Canada would get a win over the United States in a competitive match.  With all the hope among Canadian fans I almost forgot that Canada was still the major underdogs for this match.  Spend enough time around passionate fans and they might just have you believing that Canada can hold their own against anyone in the world.  That is a good thing though since fans really should have an almost blind faith in the teams that they support.

The game itself went nothing like we had all hoped.  Canada's Josh Simpson made a promising run down the wings to start the game off but his cross was over hit and after that the run of play became all USA.  The Americans were dominant in possession and creating all sorts of chances in the early minutes.  The breakthrough came on 14 minutes when a play that seemed like it was no real danger.  Jozy Altidore picked up the ball in the book and he was held out wide but his low shot was hard enough that it snuck under Lars Hirschfeld before he could get down to stop it.  Hirschfeld probably should have done a lot better with the strike as he was in position to make the save and the shot came from a poor angle.

Following the opening goal Canada seemed to be rather stunned.  The players were all passing off the ball like they didn't want it.  Other then a bending effort from De Rosario just past the half hour mark that barely missed bending into Howard's top corner there was little to be excited about for the Canadian fans.  It appeared that the choice to go with only Jackson up front left Canada without a really threat in attack as their buildup play was not good enough to provide Jackson any support and Jackson was not big enough to serve as a target man against the American centre backs.  The second half of the game began with more of the same as the Americans controlled the run of play and were the only ones really generating any chances.  They were rewarded for that dominance in the 61st minute when Clint Dempsey got in at the back post to tuck home a low cross from Altidore.

Having gone down 2-0 and not shown much in terms of being able to get forward and attack Canada were forced to make some changes.  The moves that Hart did make gave Canada much more of an edge with Ali Gerba being able to generate probably the two best chances of the game for Canada.  Gerba first forced Howard to deal with a powerful effort which would have been heading into the top corner until Howard got his hand on the ball and forced it over.  Gerba's second chance was probably even better as the ball fell to him in close after a scramble in the American box but a great reaction save from Howard kept Canada off the board.

Based on the late surge from Canada they were probably a bit unlucky to not get a goal for their efforts.  I think that in the end the Americans showed that they are still the better team and that they have the quality to control the pace of matches like this one.  Canada showed that they have more questions then answers at this point as they need to find a way to generate more and play with a bit more edge in their attacks.  The game might have been a lot different if say Tim Howard was in Canada's net since it may just have ended up 2-1 Canada but we can only work with what we have and despite the early mistake that led to Altidore's goal Hirschfeld put in a solid effort.

The real highlight of the match for me was seeing the excited and loud bunch of Canadians that had travelled down to Detroit for the match.  Section 118 of Ford Field was filled with a bunch of familiar faces from the game at BMO and folks that came down made the best of their trip.  Despite Canada giving them very little to cheer about they were in full voice for more then 90 minutes and deserve to be considered the man of the match for this one.  Well done to the Voyageurs and anyone else who made the trip down, I wish I could have joined you.

Up next for Canada is a trip down to Tampa Bay where they will play Guadeloupe on Saturday at 6 PM EST.  The team will likely feature a few changes from the group that started against the Americans.  I can see Peters, De Guzman, Gerba, and Borjan all getting starts in this one in hopes of improving the teams attack as well as tying down Borjan as a Canadian international.  I more complete preview of the next game will be up in the coming days!

Playing Surfaces are real Problem

This post is brought to you by Ford Field.  The field that will be home to a pair of matches tonight in the Gold Cup has come into question in the days leading up to the match for the quality of its playing surface and that led me to think about some of the other low quality fields that I have come across watching soccer in North America.

I do understand that maintaing a quality grass playing surface takes a lot of time and money and it can be very difficult to do in areas where the weather is not good enough for the entire length of the season.  For a lot of cities in Canada and the northern United States it would be difficult to have a natural grass playing surface in good shape earlier enough in the spring to start the season since it is still to cold and wet for grass to grow.  That has forced a lot of teams to resort to using some form of field turf to ensure that it will be in playable condition for more months of the year.  I have played on a wide variety of surfaces myself as an amateur player and though I can see the positives to using an artificial surface it really is not the same thing and it takes a real toll on your body not to mention how awful turf burn can be from some of these surfaces.

That brings me back to Ford Field which is normally an artificial playing surface which is quite common in the NFL which is the fields main use.  I would have understood if they decided that they could not put in a real surface at Ford Field but I was glad when I heard that they would be putting in a grass playing surface for the Gold Cup matches since that would be better for the players and will improve the quality of the game.  This way we also wont have to deal with any issues of having NFL lines on the soccer field making it look poor and being a distraction as you cant tell which one is the touchline a lot of times.  The choice that they ended up making at Ford Field though was to bring in a natural grass surface and place it on top of the artificial one.  The concern with this is that the grass will not be thick enough and by the time that the second match in a row is getting near its end the surface may very well be torn up and filled with divots.

The players have reported that training at Ford Field has been good and they are enjoying the surface which is very promising.  Hopefully the grass is thick enough and able to stand up to have two matches played on it since that is a lot more stress on the field then just training sessions.

While I am on the topic of playing surfaces I really hope that in the near future Vancouver is going to be moving to a better one.  The White Caps current playing surface is artificial and with each passing game it seems to be getting worse and worse as the grounds crew are forced to add more and more plastic pellets to the surface every game and even more so when it has rained just to make it playable.  It may not be the direct cause of any injuries but I cannot be doing the Whitecaps players any good having to play on that terrible surface so often.  I remember seeing the condition it was in for the first league of the Nutrilite Championship and it was more plastic pellets then fake grass it seemed as some areas had taken on a dark almost black shade rather then being green.

The point is that playing surfaces are key and while grass is the ideal I understand it is not always possible but for the sport to advance in North America and in Canada in particular we need to work on ways to improve the field quality on which we play both for the quality of the games and for the safety of the players.

Gold Cup: Day 2

Last night was Day 2 of the Gold Cup and with the games being played all the way across the continent in Los Angles the kickoffs were a bit later.  The first game kicked off at 9 PM EST and the second one at 11 but I am glad that I stayed up to watch the second one because it was a highly entertaining match.

First off I would like to vent a little bit about the awful commentary that was provided for the games on the CONCACAF website last.  I do appreciate that they are providing free streaming but it would have been nice if they got someone with a bit of experience and quality to commentate on the matches.  Even the majority of local broadcast journalism students in LA would probably have done a better job.  I turned the audio off and just watched the video feed and it made things a lot better.  The other problem I had was with some of the kit choices.  It was a bit of an assault on my eyes trying to watch the bright yellow and green of Jamaica taking on the green and red of grenada so at least all the blue and white of the second match between Honduras and Guatemala was a nice change.

As I just mentioned the first match was between Jamaica and Grenada and it continued the trend of lopsided score lines.  Jamaica were the clear favourites for this one since unlike Grenada they have actually scored a goal in the Gold Cup before.  The match followed the expected script as Jamaica were in control of things from start to finish as they only allowed Grenada one shot the entire match and even that was a fairly speculative effort.  Jamaica in the end scored 4 goals of their own but that was a fair few less then they probably should have been able to net based on the run of play.  They scored 4 chances but I can think of a handful of other chances that they wasted so I am not exaggerating to say that they probably could have won this match by 6 or 7 without much difficulty.  Ryan Johnson of San Jose was probably at the centre of most of the games excitement as he was one of 4 different scorers for Jamaica and also guilty of missing some real good chances as he managed to take 5 decent chances.  

The lack of conversion did not cost Jamaica at all though as at the end of the day the 4-0 win is going to be enough to see them sitting on top of Group B after the first round of play.  They will need a better effort in their next two games though as Grenada are clearly the weakest team of the bunch and will be lucky to even come away with a single point.  Personally I will be cheering for them to at least get one goal before the end of the group stage so they can put that behind themselves.

In the late game Honduras took on Guatemala in what was by far the best game of the 2011 Gold Cup so far.  It was certainly worth staying up to watch if you enjoy a good intense matchup between two teams that were going all in for every tackle and loose ball.  After seeing 14 goals in the first three matches it was nice to finally see a close contest.

The opening moments of the game saw what would be one of the best chances of the match as Carlo Costly missed an open net in the first minute for Honduras before Carlos Ruiz almost opened the scoring for Guatemala at the other end.  I quickly found myself getting behind Guatemala in this game as they were the underdogs and they were giving Honduras everything they could handle in this one.  Both teams were tackling hard and fighting for the ball so it was kind of surprising that the first half ended with no cards being handed out.  It was a half where as I was watching it I expected a goal to come at any moment as both teams were fairly open and the play was quite fast paced and back and forth.  The second half once again lacked for goals but it had a bit of everything else but shamefully Mr. Gutiérrez stole the show in the second half with the cards he handed out.  Personally I think that the red card which he gave to Guatemala's Gustavo on 61 minutes was more then a little harsh.  Gustavo did make a hard tackle but he got a lot of the ball and though I can see it being a foul and maybe a yellow card it was certainly very harsh to send him off for that.  Guatemala were just trying to hang on from then on but a second yellow card for Medina saw them go down to 10 men for the final 15 minutes of the match.  Guatemala did manage to find a way to hang on even if I was less then impressed with some of the stalling that they engaged in with several players going down like they were shot and spending several minutes on the ground.  In the end the game was 0-0 but it was a more exciting match then any of the high scoring games were.

For me the Honduras-Guatemala match was the real start to the Gold Cup.  Watching such an intense battle between two teams who clearly don't like each other got me really fired up for tonights 1812 Derby between Canada and the United States.  Then when the ref came in and ruin the game with a needless sending off I got even more fired up with memories of 2007 coming flooding back.  Remember the Carlos Bocanegra tackle on Julian De Guzman that was not a red card, well that tackle was about 20 times worse then last nights.  And that is not to even mention this:

Game Day!  Let's Go Canada! Go all 1812 on the Americans!

8 PM EST on Rogers Sportsnet One.  You better all be watching!

Results before Support: More Thoughts

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the comments that are made all to often that the Canadian Mens National team will get more support when it starts to get better results.  That has led to me trying to figure out where the line is going to be.  What does the team have to do to win over enough support to even fill up half of BMO field?

Let us imagine for a moment or two that Canada makes it to the finals of the Gold Cup or even wins it and along the way they beat a team like Mexico or the United States.  Would that be enough to win over any new supporters?  I would say no.  That might seem like the pessimistic answer but with the Gold Cup receiving limited coverage in the Canadian media, granted Sportsnet, the Score and CBC are all putting in a real effort, not enough people are going to realize that Canada is involved in a major tournament this month.  It is shocking how many people who play soccer and claim to like the sport I have come across that don't even know that the Gold Cup is underway right now.  So that is why I think that even winning the Gold Cup will not do that much to boost the support for the team.  I hope I am wrong and that a good showing this month means a few more people will come out and support the team this fall when it begins its world cup campaign but unless the team gets a lot more attention in the news people will continue to be oblivious to the fact that they are already now worth supporting.

I will say that if Canada wins somehow this month, or even makes a good run, it should still have more of an impact then the runs of 2000 and 2007 because the coverage is improved since then.  The games are all being shown on TV even if its on Sportsnet's alternate channel and a dedicated group of journalists and bloggers are doing their very best to get the word out.  That will all help, even if it is only slightly, and at this stage every extra fan that can be won over is going to be a boost in the long run since they might one day bring a friend along to see a match and that is the best way for support to grow in numbers.

Now to get back to my original point of what would it take to get a decent amount of support for the team across the country and in the Toronto area.  I think it would take the team making a serious push towards World Cup qualification.  If they were to make it to the final stages and for example have a match at BMO field against either the United States or Mexico with a spot in the WC on the line then that stadium would be packed.  Maybe even if the same spot is on the line and we are hosting a match against Costa Rica or Honduras we would see a full stadium with most of the crowd being pro-Canadian.  But the fact of the matter is that Canada is still probably some ways off from making a serious push to qualify for the world cup and any such push is going to require the team being almost unbeatable at home.  That creates a sort of catch 22 for the program since they need strong support to provide that much needed home field advantage but they clearly need to win more before they are going to receive that kind of support.

I guess the best that we can hope is that the group of people already dedicated to the cause continue to put in the hours of tireless work trying to support the team and with each passing game the crowd grows slightly larger.  It is going to take a lot of time but since support helps with results we need to give the best support possible to the team so that in the future more fans will come out who have been waiting to see results first.  Sadly though the people waiting to see results first are going to be missing out on a lot of good matches and great times.

Gold Cup Preview: The 1812 Derby

This weekend the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off in the States and the attitude around the Canadian mens national team is that they are in it to win it.  It is going to be a tough task for the Canadians who will almost certainly have to get past the Americans and the Mexicans if they hope to win for the first time since 2000.

For most Canadian soccer fans when you mention the Gold Cup there are two images that come to mind.  The first one, hopefully since its a lot happier, is of Canada winning it all in 2-0 thanks to goals from De Vos and Corazzin.  Canada triumphed over Columbia that year down in Los Angles but the high point of the tournament was almost certainly when Richard Hastings scored a 92nd minute golden goal to give Canada a 2-1 win over Mexico in the quarter finals.  The image of Hastings celebrating with his shirt on backwards is engrained in the minds of many Canadians and has to be among the happiest moments in our national teams history.  The other image that the Gold Cup triggers is one that makes passionate fans annoyed, angry, or sad but either way it is one that has stuck with them all.  The image comes from the semifinal of the 2007 edition of the tournament when Canada was playing the United States.  With Canada down 2-1 late in the match it appeared that Atiba Hutchinson had levelled the game.  He latched on to a through ball that had deflected off a defender before calmly slotting it home.  The only problem was that it was wrongly flagged for offside by the assistant and the referee went along with him.  I don't often remember who was the referee for a match that took place almost 4 years ago but I can tell you that on that day the refs last name was Archundia who has reffed in the World Cup but to me he will always be remembered for June 21, 2007 at Soldier Field in Chicago when he cost Canada a chance to beat the United States.

But that is all in the past now and 2011 gives Canada another chance to make a magical run to the title.  Several members of the current squad were on that 2007 team and they will be looking to get a measure of revenge when they take to Ford Field in Detroit on Tuesday to play against the United States in what is sometimes referred to as the 1812 Derby.  The Canadians open up with what is by far the toughest game of their opening round group stage.  After the match against the Americans on June 7th they have dates with Guadeloupe on June 11th and then Panama on the 14th.  With the set up of the Gold Cup it is not crucial that Canada beats the United States but for the momentum and national pride that would come from such a match it makes the game a lot more important.  Canada can get through to the knockout stages by finishing either first or second in the group or be one of the two best third place teams.  With only 12 teams in the whole tournament and 8 needing to advance to the quarter finals it is key that Canada finds a way to win at least one match in the group stage.

For the sake of seeding it will be beneficial to Canada to win as many games as possible since that will likely give them the easiest draw in the next round.  For example if Canada comes in second in this group which is where I would expect them to end up at the very least then they would get to play the winner of the group featuring Honduras, Jamaica, Grenada, and Guatemala which would not be the worst draw imaginable.  On the other hand though is Canada finds a way to win the group then they would get one of those two best third placed teams.

On paper the Americans have to be the favourites for the June 7th match.  They have won the Cup 4 times in the past, are fixtures in the World Cup, and are ranked 22nd in the world by FIFA.  As recently as 2006 the Americans were ranked number 4 in the world which was probably a very favourable ranking but it does illustrate the quality that their side possesses.  Canada on the other hand is probably ranked a bit unfairly at 75th.  Despite the apparent gap though the two teams have played each other fairly close in recent meetings but that match in 2007 was the last time they met at this level having avoided playing each other in the 2009 Gold Cup and in World Cup 2010 qualifiers.  If you look back into the history of this rivalry you will see that for the past 2 decades it really has been all the United States as Canada has not been able to claim a win over their neighbours to the south since a friendly back in 1985.  The players on this years team might not know when the team last beat the USA but they will know that it has been a long time and that is something they will be desperate to change.  A win against the USA could go a long ways towards increasing the profile of the mens national team in this country as well as erasing some of the pain of 2007.

For the Canadian National team the start of 2014 World Cup qualification in the fall is going to be the priority but if they can go deep in this months Gold Cup it would give them priceless experience as well as momentum going into that qualifying campaign.  So a win over the USA would be a massive boost in getting the ball rolling towards 2014.  Canadian coach Stephen Hart seems to be confident in his sides ability to go out and compete in a tough group and hopefully make a run into the later stages this summer.  He has a confidence which seems to have spread to the players who are going into the match next week with a belief that there is no reason why they can not come away with a positive result.  If Canada can put together a similar performance to the one they did against Ecuador and cut out some of the sloppy errors that came from lack of time on the field together then they really should be in with a chance of coming away with something.  It is clearly going to be a tough ask but if Canada goes out and gives its best there really is no reason why they can not get something from it.

Canada's roster for the Gold Cup has a nice mix of veterans who have played in the tournament before including members from that 2007 team along with some fresh faces.  De Rosario is the only player left who tasted victory in this tournament back in 2007 and he will certainly be looked upon to provide stability in the midfield and use his experience to be a leader in this team.  Along with Atiba Hutchinson he will be key in driving the team forward and controlling the tempo against an American team with a very strong midfield.  With a veteran core in the roster Hart will be looking to some of the fresh faces to bring new energy and a desire to prove themselves at this level which could help to boost the team and set the foundations for a brighter future.  The likes of Tosaint Ricketts and Simeon Jackson will want to show what they can do at the senior level to ensure that they will be with the national team for a long time to come.  Another new face who will be asked to contribute is Milan Borjan who seems likely to be the teams first choice keeper as he is set to make his competitive debut for the national team against the United States.  A strong showing from him in the Gold Cup would set him up as the number one keeper going forward which would provide some nice stability at the back end.

1- GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball

2- D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / SV Wehen Wiesbaden

3- D/M- Mike Klukowski |

4- CB- Kevin McKenna | GER / FC Köln

5- CB- André Hainault | USA / Houston Dynamo

6- M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Toronto FC

7- M- Terry Dunfield | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Real Salt Lake

9- F- Rob Friend | GER / Hertha BSC

10- F- Ali Gerba | CAN / Impact Montréal

11- M- Josh Simpson | TUR / Vestel Manisaspor

12- M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / CD Santa Clara

13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | NED / PSV Eindhoven

14- F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / New York Red Bulls

15- D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / DC United

16- M/F- Tosaint Ricketts | ROM / FC Politehnica Timiþoara

17- M- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Norwich City FC

18- GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Rad

19- M- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg

20- D- Jaime Peters | ENG / Ipswich Town FC

21- M- Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault | GER / SC Preußen Münster

22- GK- Haidar Al-Shaïbani | FRA / Nîmes Olympique

23- M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | DEN / AC Horsens