Props to Canada (R)

[Crazy_Yank]

Sorry if the title gives away to result for those of you who taped to game :D. This is an excellent result for Canada and a good wake up call for the US. Like all of you I had to follow the match on the internet. Arena give your number 10 a lot of praise, which should help his case for getting a contract with the Metrostars. Maybe now we can get a good rivalry ala US-Mexico going.

[Captain Canuck]

Thanks - though because we didn't see the game & have only seen poor-quality highlights and a few photos, I'm not sure who wore #10 for us. Serioux maybe?

[Daniel from Montréal]

Yeah, Serioux.

We need to play more often in official matches for it to be a decent rivalry, unfortunately.

[CanuckFan]

The guy wearing number 10 was Sandro Grande and I assume from the lineup that he was in the number 10 spot on the field as well.
So there's a bit of confusion here.

[AndrewW]

Serioux wore No. 8.

An article on TSN quoted Arena saying that No. 10 caused us problems all night. The author of that article penned in the name Serioux in brackets.

Adrian Serioux was also stellar for Canada, commanding the midfield with his ball skills and making penetrating forays into the American backfield.

''Frank allows me to be free and play my game,'' Serioux said. ''I went out and did my thing and that's all I wanted. It's too bad we couldn't score, but that's the way it has been.''

Serioux and De Rosario's work drew praise from U.S. coach Bruce Arena.

''Number 10 (Serioux) did a good job. He was around the ball all night. De Rosario almost pulled off a couple of plays that won them the game.''

So one has to wonder whether Serioux was as impactful as this article suggests or whether it was Grande. I'm hoping that he actually interviewed Serioux for the piece (which I'm sure was a wire job) instead of interviewing Grande and assuming it was Serioux. Although I don't think we could get two players on the team that look less alike that SG and AS. :p

[perucho79]

Bad result, I havent seen the game but if we cant beat the US b squad then theres a problem, there a lot of work to be done!:mad:

[Canadian_Supporter]

Erm... it wasn't necessarily our best team either. :rolleyes:

[jpg75]

It's O-O Canada for U.S.
Americans' effort falls way below World Cup standards in a scoreless tie with their neighbors.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-soccer23jan23,1,4870500.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true

By Grahame L. Jones, Times Staff Writer


Somewhere in Prague this morning, Czech soccer fans are smiling.

In less than six months, the Czech Republic will play the United States at the World Cup in Germany.

ADVERTISEMENT

Six months, then, is how long the U.S. has to get it right.

On Sunday evening at the University of San Diego, the Americans most assuredly did not get it right. In fact, they were booed off the field after a 0-0 tie with Canada in their opening game of 2006.

It might have been a harsh judgment but it was also accurate.

There were some good individual performances, certainly — most notably from goalkeeper Matt Reis and defender Jimmy Conrad — but on the whole the U.S. effort was poor and definitely not up to World Cup standards.

Coach Bruce Arena admitted as much. He wasn't even surprised by the frequent breakdowns in a game in which the lowlights included teenager Freddy Adu making his national team debut — at 16 years 234 days, the youngest for a U.S. player — and promptly getting a yellow card for faking a foul.

"I think a draw was a fair result," Arena said. "Match fitness is only going to occur by playing games. We need to get a couple of games under our belt to move the players along. I think our first touch was off a little bit tonight, partly due to the field being a little bit bumpy and a little bit slick, and the pressure the Canadian team put on the ball.

"The goal is to be better next week against Norway."

The U.S. plays the Norwegians on Sunday at the Home Depot Center in its second of 10 pre-World Cup games.

Midfielder Landon Donovan was a little more harsh in his assessment of the U.S., which outshot Canada, 10-9, and in no way dominated or even controlled the match.

"For a lot of people, this could be their last chance," Donovan said of players striving to make the U.S. World Cup roster. "It's disappointing. It's hard because it's your first game, but I expect more, frankly. But we'll get better."

Arena's first starting lineup of 2006 featured goalkeeper Reis; defenders Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Pope, Conrad and Heath Pearce; midfielders Ben Olsen, Donovan and Clint Dempsey, and forwards Taylor Twellman, Josh Wolff and Brian Ching.

On paper, it looked offensive. On the field, it was offensive, but in a different sense.

Canada created a couple of good scoring chances in the first 15 minutes, its most glaring miss coming when midfielder Marco Reda headed the ball over the crossbar from close range.

The U.S. countered immediately but also squandered two chances, first when Ching headed a sharp cross from Wolff wide of the left post and then when Twellman skied the ball into the sagebrush behind the Canadian net.

In the 56th minute, Arena took out the ineffective Twellman and sent Eddie Johnson on to liven things up a bit up front. That was the theory, at least.

But Johnson, who sat out most of 2005 because of an injured toe, went down with a bruised right calf in the 79th minute and was replaced by Adu in the 81st minute.

Almost before even touching the ball, Adu received a yellow card from Mexican referee Benito Archundia for diving in the penalty area under the challenge of defender Adam Braz.

Adu said it was all a bit of gamesmanship.

"In that situation, with two minutes left in the game, you go down," he said. "Either the ref gives you a yellow card or he calls a penalty kick. It's one of those things where you put the ref in a tough situation and it's either going to go your way or against you….You get contact in the box and you're off balance, you're going to go down. So why not?"

For the U.S., after Sunday, the only way to go is up.

[Daniel from Montréal]

Indeed, Grande was 10.

[CL_2004]

this result shows that the United States is really not that good.

[Gordon]

this result shows that the United States is really not that good.

And yet they won the hex and are going to their 5th Consecutive World Cup. :eek:

I think the result shows, as has been stated by Captain Canuck on another board, that perhaps we are not as bad as many think. Even more to the point was the observation of, I think CanuckFan, elsewhere, that while the US may not be that far ahead of us on the field, they are miles ahead of us off the field. The US consistently gets the best out of their player pool and while they are perhaps not a top 10 team, but they are a legit top 20 team and on any given day...

We have a long way to go to be consistently competitive with them, and while Canada has decent players, we consistently get the least out of that player pool. So the american program is a good one to emulate.

[redstriker06]

Listen don't get too ahead of yourselves... this is in no way shape or form is indicative of the style, players, and system we uswally play. Furthermore all these domestic players hadn't played a match in months. That said if Canada would just get its act together they probably have the potential to reach the hex.

[AndrewW]

Listen don't get too ahead of yourselves... this is in no way shape or form is indicative of the style, players, and system we uswally play. Furthermore all these domestic players hadn't played a match in months. That said if Canada would just get its act together they probably have the potential to reach the hex.
None of Canada's players in this friendly were in their season either. A mishmash of players from USL, Norwegian, MLS and a few other leagues not to mention a couple of FC Unattached players. So all those things were equal. Really it was mostly second tier playes versus second tier players.

Nobody is suggesting Canada is at the level of the first-team US squad, but it shows that our players who play in similar level leagues to MLS can compete favourably with some of the better US players from that league. It's a small thing but to those of us who need small moral victories it offers a small flicker of hope and promise.

[Captain Canuck]

Yes, any excuses based on US players being out of season does not hold water, because the exact same thing applied to Canada, only to a greater extent since some of the players (the Impact players & Serioux) finished playing before the MLS-based players on each team did. And IIRC our preparatory camp wasn't as long as the Americans was prior to the match

So if anything, we should be the ones making excuses! ;)

[jec1]

It was a draw and by my standards if they won the game it wouldve been a upset.

[K_19]

And yet they won the hex and are going to their 5th Consecutive World Cup. :eek:

I think the result shows, as has been stated by Captain Canuck on another board, that perhaps we are not as bad as many think. Even more to the point was the observation of, I think CanuckFan, elsewhere, that while the US may not be that far ahead of us on the field, they are miles ahead of us off the field. The US consistently gets the best out of their player pool and while they are perhaps not a top 10 team, but they are a legit top 20 team and on any given day...

We have a long way to go to be consistently competitive with them, and while Canada has decent players, we consistently get the least out of that player pool. So the american program is a good one to emulate.

Good post, I agree wholeheartedly.

I'm still pissed how I wasn't able to watch this one on TV. Is there any tape delay coverage or was this not a sanctioned match?

[perucho79]

lets be strait forward THE'RE BAD AND NO TALENT! period frustrating but its the truth

[Captain Canuck]

Good post, I agree wholeheartedly.

I'm still pissed how I wasn't able to watch this one on TV. Is there any tape delay coverage or was this not a sanctioned match?

The answer is no on both counts. No coverage and it was a sanctioned match.

There are some highlights available as the ussoccer.com website though.

[K_19]

The answer is no on both counts. No coverage and it was a sanctioned match.

There are some highlights available as the ussoccer.com website though.

Thanks. Just wanted to know because I heard that upcoming USA/Korea is not sanctioned. Plus, it was weird that no one showed this game at all. :confused:

Will check the website for highlights. Thanks for the info!

[pura_vida362]

Why was this match sanctioned anyways?