Canadian roster announced for Luxembourg friendly

[Canadian_Supporter]

# Player Pos. DOB Caps G/S Club Hometown
33 Hirschfeld, Lars GK 10/17/1978 18 5 Tromso (Norway)
1 Stamatopoulos, Kenny GK 8/28/1979 2 0 FC Boden (Sweden)
3 Pozniak, Chris D 01/10/1981 13 0 Haugesund FK (Norway)
4 McKenna, Kevin D 1/21/1980 31 9 Energie Cottbus (Germany)
5 Grande, Sandro M 9/29/1977 9 1 Viking Stavanger (Norway)
6 Jazic, Ante D/M 2/26/1976 12 0 FC Kuban (Russia)
7 Hume, Iain F 10/30/1983 13 0 Leicester City (England)
8 Imhof, Daniel M 11/22/1977 31 0 Bochum (Germany)
9 Johnson, Will F 1/21/1987 0 0 Chicago Fire (USA)
10 Bernier, Patrice M 9/23/1979 13 0 Tromso (Norway)
11 Brennan, Jim M 05/08/1977 41 5 Norwich City (England)
12 Sulentic, Ive M 12/24/1979 1 0 St. Pauli (Germany)
13 Hutchinson, Atiba D/M 02/08/1983 17 2 Helsingborg (Sweden)
14 de Rosario, Dwayne M/F 5/15/1978 34 7 San Jose Earthquakes (USA)
15 Simpson, Josh D/M 5/15/1983 12 0 Millwall (England)
17 Ademolu, Stephen F 10/20/1982 0 0 Tromso (Norway)

CSA Press release
Canadian squad from Luxembourg friendly
Men's World Cup Team
Monday, November 07, 2005
Yallop Announces Squad for Luxembourg


Josh Simpson and Frank Yallop
Photo: Dale MacMillan/CSA
Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s Senior National Team Head Coach, Frank Yallop, has announced his 16-man roster for the upcoming November 16th international friendly against Luxembourg. The match will be played at the Stade Alphonse Theis in Hesperange, Luxembourg and will be broadcast live at 2pm ET on all of the Rogers Sportsnet channels.

Yallop has recalled several players who featured in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Spain on September 3rd in Santander, Spain.

“This match against Luxembourg will give us an excellent opportunity to take a look at a few players who have been doing very well with their clubs recently,” said Canadian Head Coach Frank Yallop.

Sandro Grande, who netted Canada’s only goal in Santander, will be returning along with several others who have been ever-present in Yallop’s squad of late – Energie Cottbus defender Kevin McKenna; Tromso midfielder Patrice Bernier; Millwall-based winger Josh Simpson along with highly sought-after Atiba Hutchinson of Helsingborg and Major League Soccer MVP candidate Dwayne de Rosario.

FC Boden goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos was rewarded for his performance in Spain with a recall. This time Stamatopoulos will be joined by Bernier’s Tromso teammate Lars Hirschfeld who has been instrumental in the Norwegian club’s march into the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

The Luxembourg match will also provide Yallop the opportunity to see a handful of players that have been in and out of Canada’s lineup over the past year. Haugesund defender Chris Pozniak, FC Kuban’s Ante Jazic, Daniel Imhof of St. Gallen, Leicester City’s Iain Hume and veteran midfielder Jim Brennan of Norwich City have all been included in Canada’s squad of 16.

The friendly will also be a chance for Ive ‘Johnny’ Sulentic, Will Johnson, and Stephen Ademolu to impress Yallop.

For Sulentic, the recall is the first since he made his debut for Canada on January 18, 2004 in a 1-0 victory over Barbados. The invite is also the first since his move from the Vancouver Whitecaps to FC St. Pauli for the 2005/6 season.

Ademolu, who last donned a Canadian jersey during Olympic qualifying in February 2004, earns his first call-up to the senior squad after an impressive season with Norway’s Tromso.

Chicago Fire striker and youth team standout, Will Johnson, has also been included in Yallop’s squad. The 18-year-old played in all three of Canada’s matches at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland this past summer and has been tipped by many to shine when Canada hosts the biennial event in the summer of 2007.

Several players were unavailable for selection – Olivier Occean, Ali Gerba, and Marco Reda are all carrying injuries while Molde FK striker Rob Friend, fresh off his side’s 4-2 victory over Lillestrom in the Norwegian Cup Final (thus guaranteeing a spot in next year’s UEFA Cup) will remain with his club as they prepare for their two-legged series (November 13 and 19) against Moss FK for the right to stay in the Norwegian Premier Division.

Fulham striker Tomasz Radzinski, Deportivo La Coruña midfielder Julian de Guzman, and Tottenham Hotspur defender Paul Stalteri will all remain with their clubs during the international break. Several USL-based players who have featured in the Canadian team of late will also be absent.

“Unfortunately for the USL-based guys, the friendly comes at a time when they have been off for close to two months,” said Yallop. “But at the same time, it allows us to perhaps add to the depth of the squad which would certainly be beneficial down the road.”

The squad will arrive in Luxembourg on Sunday after the weekend fixtures and will train twice before the match on November 16.
www.canadasoccer.com

[USvsIRELAND]

Good squad!

Will Johnson is very promising! MLS Reserve League will/is really help his development. I'm glad to see DeRosario included as well. He had a great season. That freekick should win MLS goal of the year.

[TopDogg]

Here's Neil Davidson's take (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2005/11/07/1296803-cp.html).

Yallop, meanwhile, says he is keeping an eye on de Guzman's younger brother Jonathan, a midfielder who has cracked Feyenoord's first team in the Netherlands and has been earning rave reviews.

De Guzman, 18, has not yet committed to Canada and will have options down the line through his years in the Netherlands.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Yet again, a solid article by Davidson. Good to see he touched upon Jonathan DeGuzman. There was no way that Yallop would not be in contact with JDG2.

Yes, it is a decent squad. Canada is able to field two teams (or so) of players who can compete at this level. More of a squad for Yallop to get a look at a few of the 'usual' suspects who didn't get a chance in the game with Spain? Wasn't that the point of the two friendlies from quotes from Yallop before the game against Spain?

I was surprised to see Simpson called up. I'm still not 100% sold on him and he hasn't been getting a lot of playing time with Ipswich as of late.

[AndrewW]

I was surprised to see Simpson called up. I'm still not 100% sold on him and he hasn't been getting a lot of playing time with Ipswich as of late.
Well, they'd have to buy him from Millwall first.:D

I agree though, Rhian Dodds of Killie should have been called ahead of him, IMHO. Playing regularly (something Yallop says is important, but doesn't practice in terms of selection), and says he's keen to play (from articles posted during the Gold Cup).

[CanuckFan]

Well, they'd have to buy him from Millwall first.:D

I agree though, Rhian Dodds of Killie should have been called ahead of him, IMHO. Playing regularly (something Yallop says is important, but doesn't practice in terms of selection), and says he's keen to play (from articles posted during the Gold Cup).


Yallop is full of sh1t on that front. He continually calls Simpson who hardly ever plays. Do I need to mention Jaime Peters? It's a convenient excuse that he trots out when he needs to defend a particularly glaring omission.
This squad should beat Luxembourg handily however. Brennan, Bernier, Hirschfeld, Hutchinson (all absent in our opening WCQ's) along with McKenna, Imhof, de Rosario etc give us a solid core group even without our 3 top stars.
Hopefully Hume and Ademolu will show us something up front.
I think Will Johnson has good potential as well. Would have preferred to see Nik Ledgerwood over some of his other choices though.

[AndrewW]

Yallop is full of sh1t on that front. He continually calls Simpson who hardly ever plays. Do I need to mention Jaime Peters? It's a convenient excuse that he trots out when he needs to defend a particularly glaring omission.
This squad should beat Luxembourg handily however. Brennan, Bernier, Hirschfeld, Hutchinson (all absent in our opening WCQ's) along with McKenna, Imhof, de Rosario etc give us a solid core group even without our 3 top stars.
Hopefully Hume and Ademolu will show us something up front.
I think Will Johnson has good potential as well. Would have preferred to see Nik Ledgerwood over some of his other choices though.
You don't need to mention Jaime Peters (please). ;)

The other thing that ticks me off is he selects a fairly veteran squad (not all first teamers but pretty seasoned) and mentions how the result is not really important because he's experimenting. With what?

I also agree with Ledgerwood getting a chance versus the aging and (physically) fragile Jazic. I would also prefer for McKenna to be called in to play striker (great strike rate for both club and country) and Hutchinson to be in the midfield (where he earns raves), thus blooding some young players at centreback. Simply, I don't see those two doing us as much good in the centre of defence compared to what they can do elsewhere on the field.

[TopDogg]

I think bringing in 3-4 new players per friendly is about right.

You still want to have sme coherence, and having a consistent core of vets that are familiar with each other is a good way to go about this, as long as those vets are young enough to still be around when the real games start, and if they're good enough to be called ahead of the younger players.

That said, I'm also puzzled by his comments that he is bringing in a lot of new faces, experimenting, etc. I don't think anyone expects him to bring in the U-20 squad, but any Canadian fan will immediately recognize over 80% of this roster.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Well, they'd have to buy him from Millwall first.:D



AAAhhhh, at least you knew what I meant. ;)

[Canadian_Supporter]

Hirschfeld has withdrawn from the squad because of an injury sustained during a UEFA Cup match last week.

Asmir Begovic will replace him on the squad. Asmir is 18-years old, on the books at Portsmouth, but on loan to La Louviere in Belgium.

[Captain Canuck]

Geez, what does Daniel Fernandes have to do to get called?

[K_19]

Good to see Hume and Brennan back.

I haven't seen Jim play for the NT for god knows how long now... I hope he plays this time.

And THANK GOD for Sportsnet actually showing this game. And not on tape delay this time either.

[TopDogg]

Geez, what does Daniel Fernandes have to do to get called?
I sincerely hope that we'll see him early in the new year (whenever the CSA actually schedules the next friendly).

[Canadian_Supporter]

Geez, what does Daniel Fernandes have to do to get called?

Maybe they asked, and he declined this time around? It is very hard for us to know because as you said on another board... there has been no talk of Fernandes by Yallop.

Hopefully one of us (ie Daniel) will get some answers about the situation.

Is it possible that Fernandes wants to concentrate on his professional career, and doesn't want to have anything to do with the national team?

[AndrewW]

Maybe they asked, and he declined this time around? It is very hard for us to know because as you said on another board... there has been no talk of Fernandes by Yallop.

Hopefully one of us (ie Daniel) will get some answers about the situation.

Is it possible that Fernandes wants to concentrate on his professional career, and doesn't want to have anything to do with the national team?
If that's the case then it should be included in the articles along with the mentions of others (like Rob Friend) who have opted out or not selected for club reasons.

I think that's only a fair expectation on our behalf. That's why I want the Fernandes question answered directly.