It's weird seeing Mike Havenaar play for the Japanese side. Very rare to see a Gaijin as a naturalized citizen make it to a national sports team in a relatively homogeneous culture such as Japan. It throws me off, because I've been to Japan and practically 99% of Gaijin living there are not naturalized like that.
Very respectable results in the last two games against squads that are on a much better level than Canada. Now to beat those dirty Belorussians on Monday!
So Canada takes on Costa Rica in a friendly tonight in Edmonton. Kickoff at 18:00, live on the main Sportsnet channels. Here's a link to the roster and a brief preview:
I'm not sure how ticket sales, but the unfortunately thing about Commonwealth is that even a good crowd looks small in that place. It really is a shame that these things often happen on weeknights because it would be a good excuse for a road trip.
Ossorio getting capped is good news. It's hard getting excited for these games when our next crack at WCF qualification is 3 years away from getting underway. I'm looking forward to some Gold Cup action though.
So, Junior Hoilett came in and trained with TFC today. When the media asked him on whether he would commit to Canada, he stated "my lips are sealed for now". Sid Sexiero at Sportsnet went on an absolute rant about this, and I love it. Sexiero is very passionate about Canadian soccer, and is a huge supporter of the Canadian men's team.
Good, he'll never play in a WC Finals if he chooses these two teams.
Does he really think a team will play 24 matches life-and-death matches without him, get in and then suddenly change their starting XI for him?
Edit: CONCACAF isn't a joke. Hoilett couldn't make starting XI of the top 4 teams (USA, Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica). Sure he could make Canada and be a better option than Ricketts but that's Canada! There's is a reason Canada hasn't made the HEX since '98.
He only played half the games for relegated QPR! It's not like he's Ronaldo.
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Last edited by GirlySports; 06-05-2013 at 11:52 AM.
Here's another good rant by Sid back in his Sirius XM days about our home games being dominated by other nations, which to be honest, I didn't see a lot of in this last WCQ
It's been said many times over but FIFA nationality rules are an absolute joke and Hoilett dragging his feet for this long is just super irritating. Jamaica or Canada, don't even care anymore, just make a call and move on.
Also I love the gold cup roster, getting Fraser Aird into the side and cap tying him and Aleman right now with Scotland and Costa Rica wanting those guys could pay off bigtime down the road. Lets hope the nats learned their lesson with guys like Begovic and does actually cap tie them.
It's been said many times over but FIFA nationality rules are an absolute joke and Hoilett dragging his feet for this long is just super irritating. Jamaica or Canada, don't even care anymore, just make a call and move on.
Also I love the gold cup roster, getting Fraser Aird into the side and cap tying him and Aleman right now with Scotland and Costa Rica wanting those guys could pay off bigtime down the road. Lets hope the nats learned their lesson with guys like Begovic and does actually cap tie them.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Canada should step back and rescind their offer to Hoilett. A team should not be held hostage by a player. Any player. Have fun playing for Jamaica.
Hell, Jamaica should do the same and then Hoilett has no international career.
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There are plenty of talented soccer players in this country that would love a chance to play for Team Canada. We cannot let this guy Lebron James our national team. It's a complete travesty. He's debating joining England as well if he qualifies under their requirements.
GTFO of here Hoilett, I was pissed off about his fence-sitting before Sid's rant, now it makes me want to punch him in the face too.
Our national soccer program is on the verge of breaking out in terms of getting the fanbase they need to complete on the international stage with the big boys. MLS is getting established in this country, grassroots programs are busier than ever and there's finally a thirst developing for good quality soccer in this county.
In order to take that next step as a nation, we need our professional Canadian talent to commit to the objective here. We need that solidarity. Hoilett is literally making a mockery of our program, and we shouldn't stand for that. We should be giving spots to players that are willing to commit their career nationality to this county. If he wants to go play for Jamaica, then he should man up and leave. Our soccer fans deserve better than this.
Canada announced their 35 man preliminary roster for the Gold Cup. Some interesting names on the list, most notably Keven Aleman (who has Costa Rica courting him) and Fraser Aird (who played U17 for Scotland). 12 names will come off the list before the Gold Cup starts in a few weeks.
GK- Haidar Al-Shaïbani | FRA / Nîmes Olympique
GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor
GK- Tomer Chencinski | unattached
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
GK- Simon Thomas | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Jose Earthquakes
D- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
D- André Hainault | unattached
D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / D.C. United
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Adam Straith | GER / FC Saarbrücken
D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll
M- Fraser Aird | SCO / Rangers FC
M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid
M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Stefan Cebara | SVN / Nogometni Klub Celje
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached
M- Daniel Haber | unattached
M- Atiba Hutchinson | unattached
M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / unattached
M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf
M/F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / D.C. United
M/F- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CYP / Alki Larnaca
M/F - Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / Club Nacional
F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | unattached
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Stevenage FC
F- Simeon Jackson | unattached
F- Frank Jonke | FIN / FF Jaro
F- Kyle Porter | USA / D.C. United
F- Tosaint Ricketts | NOR / Sandnes Ulf
Canada announced their 35 man preliminary roster for the Gold Cup. Some interesting names on the list, most notably Keven Aleman (who has Costa Rica courting him) and Fraser Aird (who played U17 for Scotland). 12 names will come off the list before the Gold Cup starts in a few weeks.
GK- Haidar Al-Shaïbani | FRA / Nîmes Olympique
GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor
GK- Tomer Chencinski | unattached
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
GK- Simon Thomas | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Jose Earthquakes
D- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
D- André Hainault | unattached
D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / D.C. United
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Adam Straith | GER / FC Saarbrücken
D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll
M- Fraser Aird | SCO / Rangers FC
M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid
M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Stefan Cebara | SVN / Nogometni Klub Celje
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached
M- Daniel Haber | unattached
M- Atiba Hutchinson | unattached
M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / unattached
M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf
M/F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / D.C. United
M/F- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CYP / Alki Larnaca
M/F - Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / Club Nacional
F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | unattached
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Stevenage FC
F- Simeon Jackson | unattached
F- Frank Jonke | FIN / FF Jaro
F- Kyle Porter | USA / D.C. United
F- Tosaint Ricketts | NOR / Sandnes Ulf
Going to miss Kevin McKenna and all his caps/experience at the back. He recently had a knee injury/surgery, and is out until Christmas probably...at least.
Lots of good news on the younger player front this year. Piette just got moved into the reserves for Fortuna Dusseldorf at 18, might see some first team minutes next year, Cavallini is already probably our best forward and as discussed Aleman and Aird in the squad can only be a good thing.
Re: Hoillett, I do think he is going to declare for Canada in the next cycle. His actions have been pretty pathetic but I wouldn't turn him down if he shows up. He is ineligible for England but was hoping to get called into that Great Britain Olympic squad last year which he was eligible for. After that it was Jamaica or Canada, Canada got eliminated and Jamaica advanced.
That he didn't play for Jamaica when they made the hex pretty much made clear that he never will, I don't think there will ever be a better time. In general soccer in Jamaica has been declining pretty badly in the last decade to the point where half their national team are now Brits with distant Jamaican heritage. Their country socially and economically has been suffering and their domestic league is probably worse than the CSL now.