the CONCACAF pre-olympic qualifying tournament isn't all that far off in march, and i haven't seen a thread here or even in CONCACAF, so i thought it couldn't hurt to start one. will certainly be a good barometer for the third round of WC qualifying in any case.
Here's a bit more info from Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_CONCACAF_Men's_Pre-Olympic_Tournament
how was canada one of three automatic berths to the final tournament? and OFC gets one automatic berth to the olympic finals? what?? i think FIFA gets it right by putting new zealand in a WC playoff, and that's to make it to a 32 team pool, not 16!
The 3 North American teams get automatic berths to every international CONCACAF tournament. Only the Caribbean and Central American nations hold qualifiers to international CONCACAF tournaments. For whatever reason CONCACAF still wants to divide itself into 3 separate regions.
We don't have the depth to compete at this level. I don't see us getting far. Hopefully next cycle we will have enough young pros.
http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/news/newsid=1540795/index.html Details are out. Group stages will take place from March 22-26 in Nashville and LA. Semi finals will take place in KC. I can't understand why they would rent out such a big facility like LP Field when there are plenty of other venues that are much better and smaller.
Maybe its because they are contractually agreed. The event was held there in 2008. **I could be wrong**
On Thursday, the Sounders FC announced that Sodade had signed with the club, joining Andrew Duran on the squad after both were selected in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. He also let it out of the bag that he would join the Canadian National Team at U23 camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from March 13-20 as they prepare for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament from March 22-April 2. In Fort Lauderdale, the group of invitees will be whittled down to a 20-man qualifying roster. http://myseattlesports.com/sounders-fc/sodade-off-to-canadian-u23-camp
Canada M23 announces pre-tournament roster Men's U-23 Team (Olympic) 9 March 2012 Canada has announced a 23-player roster for its Men's U-23 / Olympic camp in Sunrise, FL from 13 to 20 March. The eight-day camp will give U-23 coach Tony Fonseca and his staff the opportunity to assess the players and select a final 20-player roster for the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Canada will leave Sunrise for Nashville, TN on Tuesday 20 March. The 2012 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying tournament runs 22 March to 2 April in Nashville, TN (Group B), Carson, CA (Group A) and Kansas City (semi-final and final stages). While Canada, Cuba, El Salvador and USA are featured in Group B, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago are featured in Group A. From the eight teams competing in the tournament, only two will qualify for the London 2012 Olympics. Players must be born 1989 or later. For the 23-player pre-tournament camp, coach Fonseca has selected players from professional clubs in Canada, USA, England, France, Germany, Scotland, Singapore and Uruguay. The oldest players were born in 1989 while the youngest players were born in 1994. Of the 23 players, 15 of them have participated in a previous Men's U-23 camp with coach Fonseca. Three of the 23 players have experience with the national "A" team, including Nana Attakora and Marcus Haber who have participated in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Fourteen of the 23 players have experience in a CONCACAF tournament, be it at the national "A", U-23, U-20 or U-17 level. Haber is the lone returning player from the last CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying tournament in 2008. Four years ago in 2008, Canada finished third at the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Carson, CA and Nashville, TN. Canada in fact came within a win of qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, falling to the USA in the semi-final match in Nashville. Canada has previously qualified for both the Montréal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics (with a fifth-place finish in 1984). Canada also won gold at the St. Louis 1904 Olympics. CANADA GK- Adam Janssen | USA / Minnesota Stars GK- Michal Misiewicz | CAN / FC Edmonton GK- Simon Thomas | ENG / Huddersfield Town D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Jose Earthquakes D- Drew Beckie | USA / University of Denver D- Sherif El-Masri | SIN / Courts Young Lions D- Andrés Fresenga | URU / Racing Club de Montevideo D- Tristan Grant | URU / Club Nacional D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC D- Matt Stinson | CAN / Toronto FC M- Bryce Alderson | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC M- Kyle Bekker | USA / Boston College M- Philippe Davies | Unattached / sans club M- Mozesh Gyorio | USA / Sporting Kansas City M- Evan James | CAN / Impact Montréal M- Samuel Piette | FRA / FC Metz M- Shaun Saiko | CAN / FC Edmonton M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / Club Nacional F- Marcus Haber | SCO / St. Johnstone FC F- Carl Haworth | CAN / Impact Montréal F- Kyle Porter | CAN / FC Edmonton F- Babayele Sodade | USA / Seattle Sounders
it's a decent side- i don't think they'll qualify but i have more faith in them to make some noise, than i do the senior team.
There are quite a few eligible players missing, but this is only a camp and some may be called in later. What is encouraging is the tiered approach the CSA was talking about years ago and how it is starting to come to fruition. They took the realistic approach that three or more MLS teams supported by several second and third tier teams will start to supply homegrown players to the NTs. This was at a time when others were espousing the pipe dream of a national league. Unless the MLS and NASL teams are part of a new national league that is a dream that is unlikely to pass. The best solution (IMO) is to someday add a CHL-like cross country junior league as a feeder to the top teams in the pro pyramid.
Tks to Jahinho Guerro at Vs Some other eligible players who may be called at a later date. Apparently REB is a yes. Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Eintracht Braunschweig) Andrew Barsalona M (Eintracht Braunschweig) Adam Straith (FC Energie Cottbus) on loan Julien Latendresse Lévesque G (FC Energie Cottbus) Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC) Oscar Cordon M (Toronto FC) Keven Aleman F/M (Real Valladolid) Joseph Di Chara M (FC Krylia Sovetov Samara) Roberto Stillo G Ethan Gage M (Reading FC) Gino Mauro D (Minnesota Stars) Josh Janniere M (Colorado Rapids)
i wonder if Matthew Lam would be possible since he's been returned to FC Edmonton from his loan to Japan..
Why was Ashtone Morgan not called up for this?! And Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew) has a Canadian parent, the CSA should be in contact with him.
