The Canadian Men's Soccer Team Thread

[VictoryJuice]

need some subs here

[shermanator]

When the soccer gods hate you, they really really hate you. Right call on the goal that was called back for offside. Hainault with a ball cleared off the line with 10 minutes to go. Canada were arguably the better team tonight, but it's just not to be.

Canada has to build off this last result going into World Cup qualifying and not on the first two games.

[Acey]

Embarrassing.

[Jimmy Stang]

Well then. A decent performance on the night and certainly unlucky, but a big disappointment overall. Onward to WCQ.

[Acey]

Meanwhile, Canada has not scored a non-PK goal in the Gold Cup since 2009 and we would have been at risk of not qualifying if we had to play in Copa Centroamericana or Caribbean Cup instead of getting in automatically.

Calls for your automatic spot to be revoked because you're so terrible... embarrassing.

[Magnum PEI]

Draw on the 25th for next round of qualifying. Canada will play one of:
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Belize
Aruba
Nicaragua
Curacao
Grenada

St. Vincent has the highest ELO at 162, but Curacao worries me, they just knocked out Cuba and Patrick Kluivert is their coach.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Acey

Meanwhile, Canada has not scored a non-PK goal in the Gold Cup since 2009 and we would have been at risk of not qualifying if we had to play in Copa Centroamericana or Caribbean Cup instead of getting in automatically.

Calls for your automatic spot to be revoked because you're so terrible... embarrassing.

We should lose the spot. No nation ranked outside of the top 100 deserves an automatic entry into a continental championship.

[shermanator]

That Canada didn't make the quarterfinals is disappointing, but really shouldn't be unexpected. We've fallen off a cliff in terms of how we develop talent in the last 20 years, and the other nations in CONCACAF have caught up and sped past us.

I'm not going to act like I know much about youth soccer in this country, but taking it to the higher levels, I think that until there is a Canadian Division 1 league that can at least pay a median living wage, there just won't be enough opportunity for Canadian players to make a living playing this sport in this country. You know why Central American teams produce good talent? Because the talent dedicate their lives to the sport as it's one of the few ways they can improve their standard of living. That reality just doesn't exist in Canada, unless you make an MLS club you'll be making comparable or less to what you can make in retail.

Hitching our wagon to a league that is ruled by another federation is a big part of the issue, there is little incentive for MLS clubs to make developing Canadians a priority over developing talent from other countries. We've had clubs in MLS for 9 years and we've gotten worse during that time, and I don't think that having reverse teams in USL is going to help all that much. I think the Canadian MLS clubs are producing some decent talent, but it's not enough to make a difference at the international level.

[GirlySports]

I think it's a rebuilding period anyways. The DeRo generation is over. 2014 was our best chance to qualify since the 90s. If Canada has beaten Honduras at home like they should have (2nd game of the semifinal round) then the final game in Honduras wouldn't have mattered.

Which is why to me this tournament didn't matter. Should have been for development and eyeing Olympic qualifying in a few months. To park the bus and try and squeak into the quarterfinals was a failed strategy.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by shermanator

I'm not going to act like I know much about youth soccer in this country, but taking it to the higher levels, I think that until there is a Canadian Division 1 league that can at least pay a median living wage, there just won't be enough opportunity for Canadian players to make a living playing this sport in this country. You know why Central American teams produce good talent? Because the talent dedicate their lives to the sport as it's one of the few ways they can improve their standard of living. That reality just doesn't exist in Canada, unless you make an MLS club you'll be making comparable or less to what you can make in retail.

I'm working in a town in Northern Alberta that has a population of 1,200ish. The difference between this town and a town in Northern Argentina with a population of 1,200 is that the kids in Argentina are taught the fundamentals of the game at an early age. When I asked a few of the kids on the team I coached this summer how they were liking their first year of playing soccer, I was gobsmacked when they told me that they had been playing for years.

While grassroots football is at a different level in Calgary and most Canadian towns/cities, it is still in the dark ages. The level of coaching is not close to the level it needs to be where coaches can teach children how to master the basics and equip themselves with the level of skill required to actually making a living playing football if it was possible to do so. If more Canadian kids could making a living playing football, how many could? If American-born players were deemed foreign rather than domestic on the roster of Canadian MLS clubs, could the Impact, TFC or Whitecaps field competitive teams?

To begin to fix the sport in this country, we need to coach the coaches so they can properly coach/teach our young players.

[shermanator]

Tim and Sid talked about this yesterday and I think they make some bang on points about how complicated the situation is. Also, a good article on how the situation is dire, but very slowly improving

Development is the key word in Canadian soccer; it is a clever word for the brass to use as it buys them time, but at least on the provincial level changes are happening, albeit slowly. Yes, there are still self-serving personal agendas blocking advancement at various levels, but believe me, there are good, smart soccer people operating behind the scenes in Canada.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/canad...ens-mens-team/

[Yoho]

Feels like we will never see another goal at any level for Canada.

[Johnny199r]

2018 World Cup was never going to be realistic for Canada. Any follower would tell you that. We have some young, offensively talented players in the 16-20 age group. But with only a couple of pro teams in this country, it's hard to find enough opportunities for these guys to play.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Tim and Sid talked about this yesterday and I think they make some bang on points about how complicated the situation is. Also, a good article on how the situation is dire, but very slowly improving.

James mentioned that there are some knowledgeable, switched-on people working behind the scenes in Canada and Tim mentioned the progress that is being made by other ‘smaller’ sports in Canada like basketball and rugby. A crucial difference between footy and these other sports is a similarity that they all share. I’d argue that in absolute numbers, the number of quality coaches/managers/directors that know what they are doing is the same in basketball, footy and rugby.

Due to the fact that there are much larger numbers playing footy, the percentage of people leading the sport in this country that have a clue is much smaller compared to basketball and rugby. As someone who plays basketball or rugby in this country has a better chance of being coached or led by someone who knows how to develop talent, the average basketball or rugby player has a better chance of making progress. For every Calgary Foothills we have in Canada there are a dozen or more clubs being run by people who have no concept of tekkers or player development.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Feels like we will never see another goal at any level for Canada.

Dominica 0–6(ag) Canada
June, 2015


I know it's Dominica, but it still grates me how quick people are to pick apart our national team, but how slow they are to support them.

If all the people who sit back and take constant shots at the team actually showed up to a stadium when they were playing a world cup qualifying match, you could say our program was at least making progress by having people show they care and are invested in the success of the team.

Instead it's just drive by pot-shots by people that couldn't even tell you where the team is at in relation to qualifying for the 2018 world cup, or how many vowels are in their Gold Cup keeper's surname.

[Yoho]

Don't Cry Bill..

Follow some of the other soccer threads I've posted in before you post.
Canada's WWC 2 goal in regulation all tourney
Canada Gold cup no goals
Canada Men's Panama games no goals
Canada Women's Panam only goals against Equador.

It seems at every level they can't score, try to resist the temptation to be a soccer snob, it doesn't suit you

And I was at two games in Edmonton for WWC if that counts for anything in your books of what a fan is..

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Don't Cry Bill..

Follow some of the other soccer threads I've posted in before you post.
Canada's WWC 2 goal in regulation all tourney
Canada Gold cup no goals
Canada Men's Panama games no goals
Canada Women's Panam only goals against Equador.

It seems at every level they can't score, try to resist the temptation to be a soccer snob, it doesn't suit you

And I was at two games in Edmonton for WWC if that counts for anything in your books of what a fan is..

Ok you're allowed.

And it is frustrating.

I just think the media is so all over "Canada can't score" that its creeping into the back of their heads when they have a chance on goal.

Our teams are too mentally fragile, but some bounces are needed to get over it. They are a really young team now and need to make a mark as their own group and get over the past.

At least we can defend a bit now?

[GirlySports]

we can defend, we're also going to waste Edgar's career.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Dominica 0–6(ag) Canada
June, 2015

More people live in Lethbridge than Dominica. The fact that Canada is granted automatic entry for a tournament in which they have not scored an open play goal in six years is a problem no matter how you spin it.

[Magnum PEI]

Originally Posted by Acey

More people live in Lethbridge than Dominica. The fact that Canada is granted automatic entry for a tournament in which they have not scored an open play goal in six years is a problem no matter how you spin it.

The Gold Cup is a bit of a joke considering the US never has to play an away game. But maybe they could lump Canada into the Caribbean zone for qualifying and they would get to play more than five games in World Cup years.

Mexico-Costa Rica is exciting, Mexico starting to get chances now.