|
Stop! Homer Time!
OVR: 35
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Thornhill, Ontario
Posts: 9,641
|
Re: Allez Les Rouges - Canada MNT (FM '10)
August 13, 2009
Canada hires Hart as head coach
TORONTO (CP) - After being named the interim head coach of the Canadian Senior Men's National Team back in April, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) have announced that Stephen Hart will take over the full-time role in an attempt to bring Canada back to its first World Cup since 1986.
The Trinidad-native, who has lived in Halifax since his teen years, has been the MNT's head coach in an interim role on two different occasions. In 2006, Hart stepped in for Frank Yallop, and managed the squad to a third place finish in the 2007 Gold Cup, losing a very controversial match to the Americans in the semi-final.
After Dale Mitchell took over and promptly ran the squad into the ground, picking up a measly two of eighteen points in the recent World Cup qualifying campaign, where Canada finished dead last in a group consisting of Honduras, Jamaica and Mexico.
Hart took over once Mitchell was fired in April, 2009, and managed Canada through the 2009 Gold Cup. The Canucks surprisingly finished first in their group, but got knocked out by Honduras in the quarterfinals. Canada have not played since.
The former T&T international will be expected to attempt to select players who can contribute in Canada's next meaningful international competition, the 2011 Gold Cup. With almost two years until that, the Canucks will be playing many friendlies to allow Hart to get familiar with some of his star players.
------------------------------------------------------------------
A look at the Canadian MNT
Although Canada has not made a World Cup since 1986, they do have some world class talent on their roster, and if the Canucks can find a way to get it together they will definitely challenge in CONCACAF (North America) competitions.
The vast majority of Canadian players feature overseas, due to the lack of a competitive domestic league in Canada. Rob Friend has scored 25 goals over the past two seasons for Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, and is the top striker for Canada. Three other forwards feature in the English League system. Iain Hume recovered from a fractured skull to return to play for Barnsley in the Coca-Cola Championship, while Simeon Jackson scored 19 goals last year for League 1 team Gillingham. One of the younger stars for the national team is David Hoilett, who comes off the bench for Blackburn of the English Premier League.
In the midfield, Josh Simpson became one of the first Canadians to sign with a Turkish Elite League team, moving from German squad Kaiserslautern to Manisaspor. He can play all three midfield positions. Atiba Hutchinson is probably the best foreign midfielder in the squad, as he plies his trade for FC Copenhagen in the Danish Premiership. A couple other of Canadians feature in Denmark; winger Issey Nakajima-Farran and midfielder Patrice Bernier. A couple of young Canucks who should feature extensively in the future are 22 year olds Will Johnson and Marcel de Jong. Johnson actually plays for Real Salt Lake, and had the 2008 MLS goal of the season. De Jong plays for Roda JC in the Dutch first division.
The backline is probably Canada's strength, led by Michael Klukowski, who stars for Club Brugge in the Belgian League. He is probably the one player who would start for most CONCACAF teams. Kevin McKenna is also a very strong defender, who plays for FC Koln in the Bundesliga. Canadian captain Paul Stalteri plays alongside Friend at Gladbach. David Edgar was supposed to be a star for Canada, scoring for Newcastle before his 20th birthday, but he has found himself floating along the British football system, although he does still play in the EPL for Burnley.
Canada's goalkeeping was a large question during their quick World Cup campaign, but Lars Hirschfeld should keep some stability intact. Hirschfeld plays for Cottbus in the German Second Divsion, and was impressive during a Champions League run with CFR Cluj a few years ago. It was expected that Asmir Begovic would be next in line, but even though he recently declared his allegiance to Canada on a national radio show, the Bosnian native has declared that he will play for the country of his birth.
There is a lot of young Canadian talent currently moving around Europe and North America. Robert Stillo, Michal Misiwicz, David Monsalve, Josh Waagenar and Adam Street are five young keepers who all have a very realistic shot of playing for Canada in the near future. Nana Attakora starts for Toronto FC, and he and Ethan Gage are two defenders who should be starting for the Canucks soon. Midfielder Jacob Lensky was looked at as one of the next great Canadian footballers, but he quit soccer back in 2008. However, he has returned, and although he showed slight interest in the Czech Republic, has stated that he will play for Canada if he's called*. Jonathan Bourgault and Brandon Bonifacio are two promising central midfielders for the Canadians. Up front, Marcus Haber and Derek Guadet headline a promising group.
However, the biggest contribution to Canadian soccer has been the expansion of Major League Soccer (MLS) up north. With a team firmly entrenched in Toronto, and expansion teams coming to Vancouver and Montreal in the near future, national team talent should slowly trickle back to Canada. TFC currently features Canada's two biggest "name" players, in midfielders Julian De Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario. De Guzman played in La Liga last year, before accepting an offer to become TFC's first designated player. De Rosario came from Houston, where he did not fail to make the playoffs, and is currently leading Toronto FC in scoring. As well, current Canadian goal leader Ali Gerba joined in July, and defenders Jim Brennan and Adrian Serioux also feature in the Canadian National Stadium at BMO Field.
Arguably the most important event over the past 12 months was the recent announcement that grass will be put in place at BMO. Derided by MNT players for not having a natural surface, the Canadians elected to play a crucial World Cup qualifier against Honduras on the grass of Saputo Stadium in Montreal. However, over 75% of the crowd showed up in blue, and Canada's hopes were effectively crushed after a 2-1 home defeat. By contrast, when the Canucks went up against Jamaica in Toronto, there was a decent home field advantage despite the very large Jamaican population that lives in the city.
As such, the hope is that Canada will finally have a national stadium, and as such, more success on the world stage. With a new manager in place, and having the most talent in the country's history at his disposal, supporters will be hoping that the Canadian anthem will be heard in Brazil come 2014.
*Coincidentally, three days after I typed this Lensky decided to go play for the Czechs.
__________________
Blue Jays, Blackhawks, Auburn
Last edited by theaub; 11-08-2009 at 09:49 PM.
|
11-04-2009, 07:06 PM
