Ooh Ah Canada! A 4-1 win over St.Luca to help calm the nerves

For those for those of you who live in Toronto and did not attend the Canadian Men's National Team's (CMNT) 4-1 victory last night against St.Lucia, you missed a special evening. The stadium was not at capacity, but if you were standing outside BMO you would have thought it was ram packed. The atmosphere from the Canadian supporters in the south end was absolutely amazing. Last night was my first opportunity to watch a Canada match from that end of the stadium and I must admit it was an incredible experience. A major factor in that made the experience so memorable was the fact that the majority of the fans were Canadian supporters.

It has been well documented in the past that matches played in Toronto lack home support. Aside from the Voyageurs and the TFC supporters groups who always turn out in their numbers for CMNT games, the crowd tends to be tilted in favour of the away side. A case in point would be Canada's Pre Gold Cup friendly against Ecuador in early June. I was at that game stuck in a section that was 99% Ecuador supporters. Out of the announced attendance of just over 10,000, 90% of those were supporting the away side. What made last night so special was the fact that people of all races and ethnic backgrounds were in the supporters end legitimately supporting Canada. It is a reflection of the current Canadian urban landscape and a refreshing site to see in a city that at times can be quite divided.


Josh Simpson (Centre) celebrating the opening goal.



As for the match itself, Canada dominated with large amount of the game spent in the attacking end. It was clear that they were playing a side in St.Lucia that had a large amount of Semi-Pro players who did not have the conditioning to sustain the pace Canada set. Although Canada eventually put four behind the St.Luca keeper, head coach Stephen Hart will have some concerns heading into Tuesday's match at Puerto Rico. After winger Josh Simpson opened the scoring in the 6th minute, the Canadian back line when to sleep and immediately gave up the tying goal on a wonderfully struck 30 yard shot. The Canadian defenders did a poor job of closing down the St.Lucian midfielder, and keeper Lars Hirschfeld did not cover the proper angles on the shot. However that would have been the only real defensive complaint, the left and right backs for Canada were so far up the pitch they should have considered proper wingers.

Going forward Canada looked sharp, although they at times lacked wide play. Especially down the right in the first half in which there was a lot of space to create chances. The attacking trio of  Simeon Jackson, Dwayne DeRosario and Josh Simpson worked very well along side central midfielder Julian De Guzman. Granted St.Luca were abject at the back, but these are the type of games Canada must to assert its dominance in order to progress to the next round of World Cup qualifying. The road to the next stage is clear, they must win this group to advance. With remaining home and away games against the aforementioned  Puerto Rico and St Kits, plus one more away game at St.Luca this is a group Canada should win.

And a opening match 4-1 thrashing goes a long way to establishing that claim.

Cheers,
Mike

Reppin' Support Local Soccer

I remember in 2006 when it was officially announced that Toronto was going to have a professional soccer team in the MLS. I was immediately excited and hoped that this would translate to long term success for the Canadian national team.  5 years later, and my excitement for both club and country has not ebbed. However it's a bit disappointing that we still have very poor attendance for Canada games. It also is extremely disappointing when you go to a Canada home game and there are 10,000 more fans of the away side then there are Canadian fans. 

No one could possibly ask you to forget your roots, your parents roots, however when Canada is playing your heart should be here pulling for the Red and White to win.

A few weeks ago Canadian soccer supporters met up at The Football Factory in Toronto to make their feelings heard, and to encourage others to support their country. The result was this video called Support Local Soccer. You may recognize some faces (like mine), you may not, but what's important is the message. Canada play Ecuador on June 1st at BMO Field in Toronto, I'll only have a half hour to get to the game after work but believe me I will be there and I will cheer for the Red and White....will you join me?

If you know anyone who loves soccer and loves Canada please pass this video along, rip it from my site if you have too, but let them know Canada supporters are out there and are waiting for them.



Thank you to canadiansoccernews.com creators Ben Rycroft and Duane Rollins for putting this together and giving us supporters and bloggers out there a chance to be heard. To see the site and the comments to the video click this link http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1718-Support-Local-Football-Video

Cheers,
Mike

Another one flies the coup

So It's official, the long rumored decision has been made...and it's not good for Canadian soccer. Kansas City Wizards forward Teal Bunbury Has chosen to play his international football with the U.S.A. I've blogged in the past about other Canadian born players like Owen Hargreaves, Johnathan DeGuzman, Asmir Begovic etc choosing other nations to play for ahead of Canada. I was disappointed then and I'm extremely disappointed now. Teal's father Alex was a great player for Canada, he score 16 international goals for the Red and White during his international career. Although I'm not super surprised by the 20 year olds decision, it seemed as though he was leaning towards Canada back in January.

"I was born in Canada, I have a lot of family members there, and it would feel wrong for me to play for the U.S. I feel a connection with Canada."

Well apparently that connection wasn't strong enough to turn down the potential of World Cup football in 2014. As he said today in his decision.

"Just really my heart, I guess. Ultimately, I want to play in a World Cup. That's one of my goals I've set," Bunbury said. "And just speaking with Bob Bradley, I really wanted to get on board with what he was coaching and what his philosophies were."

Though we could all stand back and be completely angry with Bunbury for the rest of his career like some are with Hargreaves, I believe this is yet another indictment on Soccer Canada, and how the men's program has been run. Clearly the CSA does not have the same kind of money to compete with the United States, however it does not excuse a lack of a development plan to get the senior squad to the World Cup. This in the end is what Teal saw.

Now the argument could be made that if Canada could keep the quality of players that have turned their backs on the team they could have made a World Cup by now. However the reality is we cannot deal in the maybes when it comes to international results, the CSA must come up with a plan to train and retain these players beyond the U-20 level and into the senior set up. Granted Teal received most of his football training in the U.S, but this did not stop him from representing us at the various junior levels.

A another frustrating day for the men's program, another lost Canadian to bolster some other country's options!

Bitter,
Mike