Allez Les Rouges - Canada MNT (FM '10)

[theaub]

November 17, 2010

Kiwis no match for Canada

AUCKLAND (CP) - Canada scored three times in the first half hour and then cruised to a 3-1 victory over New Zealand in a FIFA friendly.

Simeon Jackson, Rob Friend and Atiba Hutchinson scored for the Canadians, who finish the year without recording a defeat, and as one of the top ranked countries in CONCACAF.

New Zealand took a lot of shots from distance, but didn't really produce any serious chances. Adam Street managed to score on his own goal to provide all of the Kiwi offense.

Canada will not play for awhile after their friendly with Northern Ireland was canceled. Their next match will be against Cuba in May.

Scoring
First Half
CAN: Simeon Jackson (Hutchinson) 2'
Hutchinson puts ball through to Jackson, who fires it along ground past Smith

CAN: Rob Friend (De Rosario) 6'
DeRo and Friend hook up again, with the cross headed home to make it 2-0

CAN: Atiba Hutchinson (Jackson) 30'
Hutch fires home another shot from distance to add to goal scoring total

Second Half
NZL: Adam Street (OG) '82
Street tries to bat header away, but manages to hit it right into his own net. Laughs had by all.

Cards
NZL: Ross Wheeler, Duncan Oughton
CAN: David Edgar

Stats
Shots: 12-10 New Zealand
On Target: 4-1 Canada
Possession: 52-48 New Zealand
Corners: 8-4 New Zealand
Fouls: 15-9 Canada

Attendance: 15,263

Man of the Match
Hutchinson is turning into the best player for this country; he just controls the game from the middle of the pitch. Another high quality performance.

Upcoming Matches
May 14, 2011 - vs Cuba
June 2011 (Dates TBA) - CONCACAF Gold Cup
September 3, 2011 - at Latvia
September 7, 2011 - at Slovenia
October 8, 2011 - at Honduras

[theaub]

January 1, 2011

World Roundup

Canada
Year in Review
Canada had a very successful 2010, not falling to defeat. However, they were unable to achieve their main goal of making the World Cup in South Africa, and instead were stuck watching it on television. However, they will be able to console themselves with a huge win over England, as well as victories over Trinidad & Tobago, Cyprus and New Zealand.

2011 should be more entertaining as Canada will play in the Gold Cup, and attempt to lift the trophy for the first time since 2000, the only time they have won the tournament under its current format. The Canucks also won in 1985, when it acted as a World Cup qualification tournament as well.

Canada Match Results
March 24: Canada 1-1 Costa Rica
June 5: Trinidad & Tobago 1-2 Canada
August 11: Canada 2-0 Cyprus
August 15: Canada 3-2 England
September 8: Canada 3-3 Honduras
November 17: New Zealand 1-3 Canada

Friendly

Canada Best XI
Age in parenthesis

GK - Lars Hirschfield (32)
D - Michael Klukowski (29)
D - David Edgar (23)
D - Kevin McKenna (30)
D - Nana Attakora (21)
M - Dwayne De Rosario (32)
M - Marcel de Jong (24)
M - Atiba Hutchinson (27)
M - Julian De Guzman (29)
F - Ali Gerba (29)
F - Simeon Jackson (23)

S - David Monsalve (22)
S - Rob Friend (29)
S - David Hoilett (20)
S - Josh Simpson (27)
S - Iain Hume (27)
S - Andrew Hainault (24)
S - Issey Nakajima-Farran (26)

Voyageurs Player of the Year
1. Atiba Hutchinson, FC Copenhagen
The Brampton-born midfielder has been in top form this year for both his country and club. For Canada, he's put up three goals and three assists, helping out Canada in all of their victories. He has also starred for Copenhagen, who made it to the group stage of the Champions League for the second straight year. He has three goals and has put up a 7.25 average rating for the Danish Premier League side.

2. Rob Friend, Borussia Monchengladbach
Friend plays for Gladbach of the Bundesliga, and already has eight goals in thirteen appearances this season. He also scored thrice for the national team, and at only 29 years of age is the top striker for Canada heading into the Gold Cup.

3. Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC
De Rosario set the record for most international goals scored by a Canadian, and his 20 in 62 caps shows his efficiency. DeRo also scored seven goals in the MLS, adding on another one in the playoffs during TFC's first playoff appearance in their history.

History
2010: Atiba Hutchinson
2009: Ali Gerba
2008: Tomasz Radzinski
2007: Julian De Guzman
2006: Atiba Hutchinson

Top Goalscorers (International)
Rob Friend - 4
Simeon Jackson - 3
Atiba Hutchinson - 3
Dwayne De Rosario - 2
Ali Gerba - 1
David Hoilett - 1
Josh Simpson - 1
Iain Hume - 1

Top Players (Value)
1) David Hoilett, Blackburn: $7.5 M
2) Julian De Guzman, Toronto FC: $5.75 M
3) Marcel de Jong, Roda JC: $4.1 M
4) David Edgar, Burnley: $3.5 M
5) Rob Friend, Gladbach: $3.2 M
6) Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC: $3 M
7) Dejan Jakovic, D.C. United: $2.8 M
8) Kevin McKenna, Celtic: $2.3 M
9) Lars Hirschfield, FC Cottbus: $2.1 M
10) Atiba Hutchinson, FC Copenhagen: $1.9 M

International

World Rankings
1) Brazil
2) Italy
3) Russia
4) Holland
5) France
6) Portugal
7) Spain
8) Germany
9) Czech Republic
10) England

CONCACAF Rankings
1) United States (33)
2) Mexico (48)
3) Canada (53)
4) Honduras (56)
5) Costa Rica (67)
6) Jamaica (69)
7) Trinidad & Tobago (96)
8) Panama (97)
9) Cuba (98)
10) Haiti (107)

World Player of the Year
1) Lionel Messi, Barcelona
2) Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
3) Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barcelona

World Best XI
GK - Iser Casillas, Real Madrid
D - Maicon, Inter
D - Marcelo, Real Madrid
D - Giorgio Chiellini, Juventus
D - Dmytro Chygrynyski, Barcelona
M - Lionel Messi, Barcelona
M - Yury Zhirkov, Chelsea
M - Andres Iniesta, Barcelona
M - Sergio Aguero, Athletico Madrid
F - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barcelona
F - Karim Benzema, Real Madrid

S - Julio Cesar, Inter
S - Wayne Rooney, Manchester United
S - Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
S - Ashley Young, Aston Villa
S - David Villa, Valencia
S - Domenico Criscito, Genoa
S - Carlos Tevez, Manchester City

Domestic

MLS

Quarterfinals:
Chicago over Columbus
D.C. United over New England
Chivas USA over San Jose
Seattle over Toronto

Final:
Chivas USA 3-0 Chicago

MVP
1) Pablo Nagamura, Chivas USA
2) Ryan Johnson, San Jose
3) Matt Reis, New England

CONCACAF Champions League

Quarterfinals
Xelaju (GUA, C2) vs Toronto FC (CAN, D1)
America (MEX, B1) vs San Jose (USA, A2)
Pumas (MEX, A1) vs Seattle (USA, D2)
Morelia (MEX, C1) vs Chivas USA (USA, B2)

[theaub]

January 1, 2011

Canada set to qualify for U-20 World Cup

TORONTO (CP) - Stephen Hart has named a 26 man squad for qualification for the 2011 U-20 World Cup.

Canada, which hosted the event in 2007 to embarrassing results, qualified for every U-20 tournament in the last decade except for the 2009 edition. Their hopes this time will be led by Adam Street and Ethan Gage, both of whom have played for the senior team.

The Canucks will take on the United States, Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala. The top two teams in the group will advance to the U-20 World Cup, to be held in Colombia.

U-20 Roster
Simon Boytchuk l F l Brooklyn (United States)
Jonathan Clarke l M l FC London (Canada)
Ivan Djuric l D l Virginia (United States)
Dwayne Franks l M/F l El Paso (United States)
Ethan Gage l D l Montreal (Canada)
Jorge Gordon l F l Baton Rouge (United States)
Keenan Gracey l GK l Toronto FC (Canada)
Miles Johnson l M l Ventura Country (United States)
Andrew Kliment l M l Bohemians Prague (Czech Republic)
Mario Kulis l D l Toronto Croatia (Canada)
Branko Majstrovic l D l No Club
Brennan McNicoll l M l TFC Academy (Canada)
Kyle Molina l D l Mississippi (United States)
Nolan Moore l D/M l Vancouver PDL (Canada)
Chris Mude l D l Chicago PDL (United States)
David Nagaro l F l Italia Shooters (Canada)
Franjo Pamic l M l Victoria (Canada)
Damir Radosavljevic l M l Baton Rouge (United States)
Gabriel Salustius l F l No Club
Jordan Santiago l GK l Toronto FC (Canada)
Adam Street l GK l Toronto FC (Canada)
Russell Teibert l M/F l Vancouver (Canada)
Kyle Wheeldon l F l St. Catharines (Canada)
Neil Whitehead l M l Rhode Island (United States)
George Williams l D l Baton Rouge (United States)
Carlos Zaballos l D l Portugal FC (Canada)

[theaub]

U-20 Qualifying Roundup

MIAMI (CP) - Canada has advanced to the U-20 World Cup, after defeating the American and Guatemalan U-20 teams.

They will be joined in Colombia by Guatemala from Group A, who stunningly finished ahead of the United States, and Mexico and Honduras from Group B.

----------------------------------------------------------------

January 4, 2011

Canada U-20's stun US

Canada U-20 - 2, United States U-20 - 1

Scoring
First Half
CAN: Jorge Gordon (Mude) 2'

Second Half
USA: Felix Garcia (Garner) 65'
CAN: Jorge Gordon (Franks) 90+3'

Cards
CAN: Damir Radosavljevic
USA: None

Stats
Shots: 12-5 United States
On Target: 4-4
Possession: 51-49 Canada
Corners: 3-3
Fouls: 14-11 United States

Man of the Match
Jorge Gordon scored both Canadian goals, including the winner on a decisive header that flew into the net.

----------------------------------------------------------------

January 6, 2011

Trini U-20's steal game

Canada U-20 - 0, Trinidad & Tobago U-20 - 1

Scoring
First Half
No scoring

Second Half
T&T: Kareem Moses (Adams) 72'

Cards
T&T: Dean Pacheco
CAN: Carlos Zaballos

Stats
Shots: 9-7 Trinidad & Tobago
On Target: 2-2
Possession: 55-45 Trinidad & Tobago
Corners: 6-3 Canada
Fouls: 12-10 Trinidad & Tobago

Man of the Match
Akeem Adams came off the bench to terrorize the Canadian defense and set up the winning goal

----------------------------------------------------------------

January 8, 2011

Canada through to U-20 World Cup

Canada U-20 - 2, Guatemala U-20 - 0

Scoring
First Half
CAN: Ethan Gage (pen) 15'

Second Half
CAN: Jorge Gordon (Pamic) 46'

Cards
CAN: None
GUA: None

Stats
Shots: 11-4 Canada
On Target: 4-1 Canada
Possession: 53-47 Canada
Corners: 10-4 Canada
Fouls: 14-6 Guatemala

Man of the Match
Jorge Gordon scored his third goal of the tournament to send Canada through.

[theaub]

January 23, 2010

Groups Drawn for 2011 Gold Cup

BRIDGETOWN (CP) - Canada has been placed in a group with the United States for the 2011 Gold Cup.

Teams were seeded based upon a mixture of 2010 World Cup Qualifying positions and FIFA ranks. Canada, USA and Mexico qualify automatically for the tournament. Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti and the Netherlands Antilles qualified through the Carribean Cup, which left out Trinidad & Tobago, who couldn't even make it out of the first round. Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama advanced from their results in the UNCAF Nations Cup.

The last Gold Cup had Mexico defeating the United States in the final. Canada lost in the quarterfinals to Honduras. The Canadians have won the Gold Cup once, back in 2000. The groups are listed below, with CONCACAF rank in parenthesis.

Group A
Canada (3)
Guatemala (17)
Haiti (10)
United States (1)

Group B
Costa Rica (5)
El Salvador (13)
Honduras (4)
Netherlands Antilles (18)

Group C
Barbados (11)
Jamaica (6)
Mexico (2)
Panama (8)

[Whitesox]

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[theaub]

April 15, 2011

Groups Drawn for 2011 U-20 World Cup

Canada will be in a group with Croatia, Yemen and Sudan in the U-20 World Cup, to be held in Colombia in September of 2011.

The tournament, which used to be held in June of every odd-numbered year, has been moved to September to garner extra publicity. However, with the tournament taking place near the MLS playoffs, many are not sure if Canada will be able to call its best players from Toronto FC, Montreal or Vancouver who are all now in the top division.

Group A
Argentina
Honduras
Ireland
Zimbabwe

Group B
Benin
Brazil
Finland
South Korea

Group C
China
Colombia
Germany
Mexico

Group D
Chile
Iran
Mozambique
Portugal

Group E
Canada
Croatia
Sudan
Yemen

Group F
Guatemala
Russia
Uruguay
Vanuatu

[theaub]

May 8, 2011

Canada preps for Gold Cup

TORONTO (CP) - Stephen Hart has named a 22 man squad for a friendly against Cuba that will not include some of Canada's best players.

Kevin McKenna, David Hoilett, Patrice Bernier, Atiba Hutchinson and Olivier Occean will all miss the match due to various club commitments. However, all three are expected to feature in the Gold Cup, which will start this June.

Cuba did not make the Gold Cup, and many of their best players will not make the trip to BMO Field, in what should be an easy win for the Canadians.

Senior Roster
Nana Attakora l D l Toronto FC (Canada)
Brandon Bonifacio l M l SC Cambuur (Holland)
Julian De Guzman l M l Toronto FC (Canada)
Marcel de Jong l D/M l Roda JC (Holland)
Dwayne De Rosario l M/F l Toronto FC (Canada)
David Edgar l D l Burnley (England)
Rob Friend l F l Gladbach (Germany)
Ali Gerba l F l Toronto FC (Canada)
Andrew Hainault l D l Houston (United States)
Lars Hirschfield l GK l FC Cottbus (Germany)
Iain Hume l M/F l Barnsley (England)
Simeon Jackson l F l Gillingham (England)
Dejan Jakovic l D l D.C. United (United States)
Will Johnson l M l Real Salt Lake (United States)
Mike Klukowski l D l Mouscron (Belgium)
Nicolas Ledgerwood l M l Montreal (Canada)
David Monsalve l GK l FC Inter Turku (Finland)
Satish Muralidharan l M l Vancouver (Canada)
Jamie Peters l D/M l Montreal (Canada)
Adrian Serioux l D l Toronto FC (Canada)
Josh Simpson l M/F l Manisaspor (Turkey)
Adam Street l GK l Toronto FC (Canada)