Just a rundown of what the players on the 2001 WYC team accomplished after playing for the Canadian U20 team. Obviously I will make mistakes, but it is a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. Pieter Meuleman - Played with Durham during the 2001 season in the CPSL. - Played for the Canadian Francophone Games team (U23) 2001. - Briefly dressed for the Montreal Impact in 2002. Signed in June. - Played for the Mississauga Olympians (CPSL) in the 2002 season. - Possibly had a tryout with Orebro (Sweden) during the winter of 2002. - Spring of 2003 had a tryout and played a few games with Moss in the Norweigan first division. - Current location - unknown Bernard Ouassa - Recently graduate from West Virginia University where transferred from St John's University. - Drafted by the Montreal Impact in the 2005 A-League Draft. Terry Dunfield - Currently with Bury in the English League 2. - Has appeared for the club 16 times this year, scoring one goal. - Was with the Manchester City youth set up previously, where he was voted Youth Player of the year. - Hasn't really lived up to his potential. Victor Oppong - Played with Saarbrucken in the German Oberliga, where he has appeared 19 times for the club. - Now with Waldhof Mannheim (Oberliga Baden-Württemberg). Mike Klukowski - Currently with Brugges in the Belgian first division. - Previously he played with La Louviere in the Belgian first. - Was in the Lille (France) youth set up. - Has played a few games with the full Canadian national men's team. Tam Nsaliwa - Has played a few games with the full national men's side. - Currently with Saarbrucken in the German 2nd division. - Spent two seasons with FC Nurnberg in Germany. - Also had a spell with SSV Jahn Regensburg in the German 2nd division. - Hasn't played for the national team since 2003. - Had a few caps with the U23 side in 2004. Maycoll Canizalez - Has five caps for the full national team. All of them coming in 2003. - Has scored one goal for Canada vs Libya in 2003. - Spent time with Werder Bremen Amateurs - Now with Hannover96 Amateurs (Oberliga Nord - 4th division) in Germany. Julian De Guzman - Currently with Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga. - Will be transferred to Deportivo La Coruna in Spain this summer. - Has appeared for the full national team over a dozen times. - Played with FC Saarbrucken in the German 2nd division during the 2001-02 season. More to come later....
That's great, I was just wondering where Meulemans is these days! Bernard Ouassa, wasn't he the one that got burned in the first game against Iraq and subbed out for Nsaliwa.
Poor Berhard. Yeah that was him. He was clearly not ready for that level. And to be anal, Nsawila dropped back from the midfield and someone came into the midfield for Ouassa (I think it was Atiba or Chris Williams). True story, Canadian Supporter was in Edinburgh and was at practice and said there was a new player called in, but wasn't sure who it was. There was a guy that had cornrows that was believed to be the new call-in and me and the guy who I was travelling with were wracking our brains trying to figure out who it could be. My suggestion of Bernard Ouassa was not greeted favourably (I was kidding). It turned out that DeGuzman had the cornrows and Hutchinson was the call-up. Good stuff Canadian supporter. I just found a photo of the 1994 U20 team in a Canadians soccer magazine. It was funny trying to pick the players out without a cutline. I could pick out Franks, Nash, Xausa, Clarke, Kindel and apparently Brennan was on the team, but either he wasn't in the picture or he's got a hillarious haircut and looks about 12. Nash's blonde highlights are pretty funny anyway. Almost as good as DeRo's shaved head from 97's Malaysia U20s. He and Arristedmo look like they could be related. cheers, hobbes
He was definitely the goat that day but seems to me the real problem was trying to squeeze Terry Dunfield into a team that was already settled after qualifying. He had a bum knee at the time but the side looked nothing like they did in Victoria earlier that year. Hope Mitchell doesn't make the same mistake with DeGuz jr!
It was a lot more than just squeezing him in. He gave him the Captain's armband. The whole squad in 2001 looked up to Julian de Guzman as he already had major rep with the players. But James dissed him and handed the armband to an injured Dunfield because he was part of a big English club. Julian is on his way to Spain and Dunfield is headed for the English conference leagues. Typical CSA coaching acumen there. Our problems started real early as James panicked on the first Iraqi goal and unsettled the team making tactical and personnel changes right away. BTW, I don't think we'll have to worry about any Jonathan De Guzman team chemistry issues.
Victor Oppong as far as I can remember. I will try to add a few more names this weekend. I was just surprised to see how strong our team was based on where the players have ended up. Unfortunately, the team couldn't put it together at the 2001 WYC. Bah.
I believe the achilles heel of the 01 and 03 teams were the back line and consistent goal-scoring. Regardless of putting Dunfield in, I think the critical mistake in 01 was thinking that our backline could survive without Nsaliwa back there. I think with a Nsaliwa-Oppong Cb pair and Pozniak sweeping we maybe had a shot. Plus Hume and Ngon failed to create much in the tourney (or get much service) and Thompson (and I think) Borsellino ended up getting time. Mind you Thompson came the closest to scoring. In 03 the backline was in trouble until Hutchinson dropped back to fill in. Of course we didn't figure that out until midway through the tourney as well. Hopefully this time around we're doing enough prep to realise our difficiencies and correct them before we drop the first game. Also had Hume not been on his game we wouldn't have had that run because he really helped carry the team. I'm not sure we have anyone capable of that now. It might be asking too much of even Peters to do that at 17. Now DeGuzman might be a different story if he walks on water like we expect him to. The reason I'm excited about the current U20s is that Haineault, Kassaye and Ledgerwood we have the makings of a very good backline (not positive on Stewart, but he looked good in qualifying, but Peetoom and Ramahlo are in interesting plus Edgar in the middle). However I'm worried about our scoring. Gyaki was the man in qualifying, but can Johnson or Uccello or O'Neill fill the net? Will Hughes show up (probably not). Where's Jeremy Sheppard? Is he in the mix? Sorry about the rambling .. . cheers, hobbes
Sorry but Ngon didn't even get on the field in Argentina. That's a story that noone will tell. I think the Dunfield stuff had a lot to do with our poor performance. But mainly the poor result in the first game put us behind the 8 ball. Without Ngon, we were trying to reinvent an attacke that was largely based on the big man being a target up front. It all went to pieces in the end didn't it. And Bernard Ouassa was pulled for utility man Justin Thomson early in that Iraq game.
Right, my mistake. Thanks for correcting me. I just checked and Borsellino and Friend each started the second and third game as lone strikers. Or was DeGuzman up top as well? I guess I tried to forget. I totally forgot Friend played. And was it Borselino that has his shot saved off the woodwork against Germany? I thought it was Thompson, but he didn't play in that game. Did we really play a 3-6-1 or was it some sort of 4-5-1. Canuck fan> do you remember where Thompson came in against Iraq? I was pretty sure Nsaliwa moved into Ouassa's spot, but clearly I can't remember anything from four years ago properly. I have these games on tape, but I don't particularly feel like reliving any of it. Even Wyn Belotte's run through Brazil is depressing for its own reasons. cheers, hobbes
Hobbes and CanuckFan, you have forgotten more than I ever knew about this team so I'll defer to your memory, but was not the spot on the team and the armband part of the deal to entice Dunfield to Choose Canada over England who were courting him as well? Dunfield never panned out. But if Jonathon Deguzman would commit to Canada but only if he started and that meant that Gyaki would have to sit, would you support it? Hypothetical, of course, and I expect that it would be someone other than Gyaki who would ultimately sit, but lets say that is the way it worked out. Or if it were Hargreaves making the same demand in 2001 (can't recall if he were eligible that year)? And I am not trying to be a smart a$$. I am just wondering how far we expect the CSA and coaches to go to cap-tie prominsing players with other international options?
It looks to me that Dale Mitchell is his own man. He has no qualms about starting university players over European based players if need be. The best player will win out. Wagenaar has been starting over hot prospects Begovic and Giacomi. On Inside Soccer he stated that sometimes a European based player is overrated and not any better than A-Leaguers at the U20 level. http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6237&whichpage=1
That's a bold statement but Mitchell seems to know what he is talking about. I like the fact that he seems to not really care too much about convincing anyone to play for Canada. Team chemistry and preparation were the downfall in '01, but seemed to be decisive in '03. I say let Hughes and DeGuz rot. They'll be kicking themselves when we're in the semis. What did Ali Ngon-Gerba do to get dropped anyways? Did he make a pass at Mrs. James? Why did he have to change his name? Taxman chasing him? Immigration issues? Paternity suit? Canadian Soccer is full of mysteries!
I recall we started with a 3-5-2 (3-6-1) against Iraq with Ouassa, Oppong and Pozniak at the back and Hume and de Guzman up front (more like Hume up front on his own). After the early goal, Thompson came in for Ouassa and Tam dropped back to form a back 4. We then had Williams, de Guzman, Dunfield, Klukowski and Canizales across the mid, Hume alone up front.
To Gordon, Well we might have been better served if the CSA HAD rolled out the red carpet for Hargreaves instead of Dunfield. I know that the truth was the exact opposite. Intimidation only works if the person being intimidated has doubts and Hargreaves was not one to intimidate. I like Mitchell but he and all Cdn coaches I've seen have a real hard time dealing with players with ego. The best players have egos; it comes with the territory. Calling up 18 A-leaguers with no European ambitions (or 18 NCAA students) will solve the ego problems but you leave a lot of talent off the field that way. What to do??
I don't disagree with you CanuckFan about the Dunfield selection being a mistake. I also don't disagree with you overall about the issues of player ego, and dealing with it. Of course, coaches have them as well. It seems that the CSA and coaches are damned if they do (Dunfield) and damned if they don't (Hargreaves) and that the players themselves are absolved of all responsibility. You know from previous debates that I do not hold Hargreaves in contempt for his decision - unless it really was because he was cut from a youth team (which I do not believe) - even though I don't agree with it. I also think it is fair play to hold the CSA responsible for the coaches they select - and a pattern - until recently anyway - of picking anglophiles with a preference for big strong players over techincal players. But I do no want to see national teams picked on the basis of who has the most international options. I personally would not favour cutting deals with any player who needed to be persuaded or enticed to play for Canada, no matter the level of talent involved. Yeah, make the effort to recruit them, show some interest, maybe some flexibility if it is needed, but no guarantees.
Kudos to Cdn Supporter for starting this thread but he missed some info on Tam. Good to see Tam getting a look at the senior side again. I think he and Klukowski definitely need to see some action together as they could be the backbone of our defense in WCQ for 2010. Your info on Tam is a bit off or at least misleading as he was with Saarbruecken prior to Jahn Regensburg. 04 / 05 Jahn Regensburg to 1.FC Saarbrücken - signed again with Saarbrücken after 1 yr contract with JR expired 03 / 04 1.FC Saarbrücken to Jahn Regensburg - moved to JR when his 18 month contract with Saarbrücken expired. Played full season but JR relegated. 02/03 1.FC Saarbrücken - played full season with top team in RL South 01 / 02 1.FC Nürnberg to 1.FC Saarbrücken - with help from J. de Guzman's agent, got a chance to go to Saarbrücken and played mainly reserves but got in 12 games with B2 squad as season wound down, FCS relegated at end of season (Julian de Guzman to Hannover, Tam still with FCS) 00 / 01 Edmonton (CAN) to 1.FC Nürnberg - signed by Nurnberg to their amateur team in June 2000. Made his pro debut (Bundesliga 2) late January 2001. Played 3 games total (he was 19). Left Nurnberg in disarray end of season after being called away several times to Canuck senior nats. 99 / 00 Energie Cottbus (A) to Edmonton - left Cottbus to go back to finish high school