denime
08-19-2008, 06:05 AM
Time is right for Canada
Players say most talented team in decades has legitimate shot at reaching 2010 tournament
Morgan Campbell
When asked what gives Canada's national team an edge over the squads they'll face in the next round of World Cup qualifying, head coach Dale Mitchell chose diplomacy, electing instead to praise the overall quality of his team's next few opponents.
Houston Dynamo star Dwayne De Rosario was a little more specific, saying that among Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico – their opponents in the group stage of World Cup qualifying – the Canadian team's aggressiveness sets it apart.
But fellow midfielder and Scarborough native Julian de Guzman gave the most straightforward, and optimistic, assessment of the team, its quality and its prospects.
"It's the best team I've ever played with," said de Guzman, who plays for Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish first division and was named the club's MVP last season. "It's now or never. ... If we can't (qualify for the World Cup) now, then we're never going to get it done."
After dispatching St. Vincent in June, Canada's qualifying odyssey for South Africa 2010 begins in earnest tomorrow night, when they open group play here against Jamaica.
Read more (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/480927)
Canadians finally have depth heading into World Cup qualifying
NEIL DAVIDSON
TORONTO — Pat Onstad has watched more than a few Canadian teams line up in front of him and he likes what he sees this time ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifying game against Jamaica.
Coach Dale Mitchell says he has most of his starting 11 set in his mind, but is still mulling over several spots. Onstad says the good news for Canada is Mitchell has options.
"That's what probably makes it so difficult for Dale for the [starting] 11. We've probably got 16, 17 guys to choose [from]," the 40-year-old Houston Dynamo goalkeeper said after practice Monday at BMO Field.
"We've got all sorts of attacking options and it's nice to see. It hasn't been in the past but this is a team with a bit of flair, something a lot of Canadian soccer fans haven't seen very much. Over the last 18 months or so, this team has come together as a good group, good cohesive unit. I'm really looking forward to see how we can do in this round of qualifying."
Up front, Mitchell can throw on the likes of Rob Friend, Ali Gerba, Tomasz Radzinski and Iain Hume with Julian de Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario pulling the strings from midfield.
Mitchell has yet to choose his goalie, with Onstad and Greg Sutton vying for the start. Should Onstad play, he will tie Craig Forrest at 56 caps, the most by a Canadian 'keeper.
Mitchell was without late arrivals Atiba Hutchinson, Patrice Bernier and Friend on Monday. Midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran, however, is injured and won't be joining the squad.
The Jamaica game is the first of six in Canada's third-round group in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Read more (http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080818.wspt-wcup18/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home)
Finally, a real house of pain
With the backing of the rabid fans at BMO Field, there's no easy wins against Canada anymore
By MIKE ZEISBERGER (mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca), TORONTO SUN
If Canadian Soccer Association executives really wanted to inject a world-class flavour into tomorrow night's huge Canada-Jamaica showdown, maybe they should be digging a moat between the emerald pitch and the BMO Field stands, a common feature of stadia in Brazil and Argentina.
Not that it would ever happen in real life, but can you imagine the sight of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. head honcho Richard Peddie, spade in hand, shovelling dirt like that?
Richard's legions of critics often have accused him of shovelling the, well, you know. But we digress.
As it is, the Canadian team, plagued by performing in front of moribund home crowds in the past, should get a refreshing boost from the vocal pro-Canada throng that will be on hand for this World Cup qualifier, its first of six CONCACAF Stage III matches.
Before tickets were even made available to the public, the CSA pre-sold about of them ducats to the various Toronto FC support groups along as well as the Voyageurs, who bill themselves as the largest community of soccer supporters in this country.
read more (http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/19/6497786-sun.html)
Almost all the same articles about Edu:
Edu's $5M transfer deal almost done (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/480925)
Toronto FC's Edu heading to Glasgow (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/08/18/edu-glasgow.html)
Done deal: Toronto FC loses Edu to Rangers (http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/19/6497781-sun.html)
Edu signs 5-year deal with Rangers (http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/08/18/edu_rangers/)
SUNSHINE (http://www.torontosun.com/SUNshineGirl/home.html)
Players say most talented team in decades has legitimate shot at reaching 2010 tournament
Morgan Campbell
When asked what gives Canada's national team an edge over the squads they'll face in the next round of World Cup qualifying, head coach Dale Mitchell chose diplomacy, electing instead to praise the overall quality of his team's next few opponents.
Houston Dynamo star Dwayne De Rosario was a little more specific, saying that among Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico – their opponents in the group stage of World Cup qualifying – the Canadian team's aggressiveness sets it apart.
But fellow midfielder and Scarborough native Julian de Guzman gave the most straightforward, and optimistic, assessment of the team, its quality and its prospects.
"It's the best team I've ever played with," said de Guzman, who plays for Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish first division and was named the club's MVP last season. "It's now or never. ... If we can't (qualify for the World Cup) now, then we're never going to get it done."
After dispatching St. Vincent in June, Canada's qualifying odyssey for South Africa 2010 begins in earnest tomorrow night, when they open group play here against Jamaica.
Read more (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/480927)
Canadians finally have depth heading into World Cup qualifying
NEIL DAVIDSON
TORONTO — Pat Onstad has watched more than a few Canadian teams line up in front of him and he likes what he sees this time ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifying game against Jamaica.
Coach Dale Mitchell says he has most of his starting 11 set in his mind, but is still mulling over several spots. Onstad says the good news for Canada is Mitchell has options.
"That's what probably makes it so difficult for Dale for the [starting] 11. We've probably got 16, 17 guys to choose [from]," the 40-year-old Houston Dynamo goalkeeper said after practice Monday at BMO Field.
"We've got all sorts of attacking options and it's nice to see. It hasn't been in the past but this is a team with a bit of flair, something a lot of Canadian soccer fans haven't seen very much. Over the last 18 months or so, this team has come together as a good group, good cohesive unit. I'm really looking forward to see how we can do in this round of qualifying."
Up front, Mitchell can throw on the likes of Rob Friend, Ali Gerba, Tomasz Radzinski and Iain Hume with Julian de Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario pulling the strings from midfield.
Mitchell has yet to choose his goalie, with Onstad and Greg Sutton vying for the start. Should Onstad play, he will tie Craig Forrest at 56 caps, the most by a Canadian 'keeper.
Mitchell was without late arrivals Atiba Hutchinson, Patrice Bernier and Friend on Monday. Midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran, however, is injured and won't be joining the squad.
The Jamaica game is the first of six in Canada's third-round group in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Read more (http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080818.wspt-wcup18/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home)
Finally, a real house of pain
With the backing of the rabid fans at BMO Field, there's no easy wins against Canada anymore
By MIKE ZEISBERGER (mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca), TORONTO SUN
If Canadian Soccer Association executives really wanted to inject a world-class flavour into tomorrow night's huge Canada-Jamaica showdown, maybe they should be digging a moat between the emerald pitch and the BMO Field stands, a common feature of stadia in Brazil and Argentina.
Not that it would ever happen in real life, but can you imagine the sight of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. head honcho Richard Peddie, spade in hand, shovelling dirt like that?
Richard's legions of critics often have accused him of shovelling the, well, you know. But we digress.
As it is, the Canadian team, plagued by performing in front of moribund home crowds in the past, should get a refreshing boost from the vocal pro-Canada throng that will be on hand for this World Cup qualifier, its first of six CONCACAF Stage III matches.
Before tickets were even made available to the public, the CSA pre-sold about of them ducats to the various Toronto FC support groups along as well as the Voyageurs, who bill themselves as the largest community of soccer supporters in this country.
read more (http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/19/6497786-sun.html)
Almost all the same articles about Edu:
Edu's $5M transfer deal almost done (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/480925)
Toronto FC's Edu heading to Glasgow (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/08/18/edu-glasgow.html)
Done deal: Toronto FC loses Edu to Rangers (http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/19/6497781-sun.html)
Edu signs 5-year deal with Rangers (http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/08/18/edu_rangers/)
SUNSHINE (http://www.torontosun.com/SUNshineGirl/home.html)