Here is the basics on how to throw an International friendly Match for a W-League team Something smells of FIXING - BTW, Pellerud lives in a house paid for by the Vancouver Whitecaps...mmmmmmmmmmm Bet he does not Start LeBlanc Artilce Link Hooper slams players skipping USA match Charmaine Hooper Canadian Press 7/28/2006 5:01:21 PM Veteran national team striker Charmaine Hooper, who is never afraid to speak her mind, is furious members of the Ottawa Fury of the W-League won't be playing for Canada in an international soccer friendly against the U.S. Hooper didn't mince her words Friday, saying it's a "no-brainer" that playing for the national team should take precedence over "some stupid W-League team." The Canadian women play their arch rival the U.S. Sunday in Cary, N.C. The W-League is part of the United Soccer Leagues and is recognized as North America's best women's developmental organization. "There are players that have been allowed to stay behind to play for their W-League teams which is absolutely ridiculous," Hooper said in a telephone interview. "I'm pissed off about it. "I don't know whose decision it is, but that's beside the point. I think if there isn't a player here to play an international match, then there's a big problem." National team coach Even Pellerud seemed perturbed by Hooper's comments. He said he had talked with the Fury six months ago and agreed the players could remain with the team so they could compete in this weekend's W-League playoffs. "I need to keep my commitment, whether it's to a player or a club," Pellerud said. "This time it was to the club. I have no regrets on that. "The Ottawa Fury has been a fantastic partner. They have (provided players) a lot of times and hurt themselves by that." Canada goes into Sunday's game on a six-game unbeaten streak but with a roster depleted by injuries. Fury players who won't dress for Canada include midfielders Robyn Gayle and Diana Matheson, forward Rhian Wilkinson and keeper Taryn Swiatek. Gayle and Matheson both played in Canada's 4-2 win over Sweden last week. "Injures are not a problem," said Hooper. "We don't have players to fill our roster because they are off playing for their W-League teams when we have an international friendly. "The players are partially at fault. The players need to make the decision. Just to say they are caught in the middle is an excuse. Make a decision as to where you want to play and say you want to be there and be there." What frustrates Hooper even more is that she and national team goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc both play for the W-League New Jersey Wildcats. The Wildcats are also involved in the playoffs. If New Jersey and Ottawa win their semifinal matches Saturday night, the two teams will play Sunday with the winner advancing to the W-League finals in Vancouver. "We are not allowed to play in that game," fumed Hooper. "The Ottawa players are allowed to play in that game. You explain that." Pellerud has other problems to deal with besides an angry Hooper. A problem with connecting flights resulted in Pellerud, assistant coach Ian Bridge, plus players Brittany Timko, Christine Sinclair and Andrea Neil being stuck in the Chicago airport. They are not expected to arrive in North Carolina until late Friday night. Other members of the team were able to practice in North Carolina Friday. "This is nothing we can resolve and it's a great test for us," said Pellerud. "It's not a bad thing to happen in a friendly game." Hooper, who grew up in Ottawa, leads all national team players with 130 caps and 71 goals. She has scored six goals in her last three games with the national team, including three in the win over Sweden. The 38-year-old mother of one is looking forward to this year's qualifying for the 2007 women's World Cup in China. She also hasn't ruled out playing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics if Canada qualifies. "Right now my health is probably the most important thing," Hooper said. "If I'm healthy enough to play until the Olympics, then I may. If I'm still motivated to play until then, I will still play. My health and my desire to play are the two most important things."
What does this have to do with the Vancouver Whitecaps or their owner? Vancouver has released all their players. If the Vancouver owner really has the pull with Pellerud that you are inferring, I think he would probably have worked his supposed magic and kept all the Vancouver players in town. A chunk of their team has been missing in the lead up weeks to the Final Four because of being released for International Friendlies. Furthermore, there is no connection between Ottawa and Vancouver, if anything there is a great deal of competition. I think the Vancouver owner could care less if Ottawa makes the finals. Love how people will turn any situation into high drama and conspiracy theory. If anything the Vancouver owner should be applauded for stepping in and not only supporting the Vancouver Whitecaps women at a level unseen throughout the WLeague (examples: their attendance and the marketing prominence of the team in the community), as well as given props for helping support the Canadian women out of his own pocket, since their own soccer federation won't step up to the plate and do it. In all this talk of "throwing the match", I will be really interested to see what everyone has to say if Canada wins this one, which they have the capability of doing even minus all the aforementioned players....
The fact that Vancouver would rather not have the Wildcats in the finals next week.... and trying to make it an all canada final As far as Vanvouver releasing it's players ? there is nothing to release them from Vancouver does not have to Qualify for the final 4, if they did, Canada would not be playing this weekend... The announcement of this game was not made until Vancouver was selected, but It was tentative until just after the selection. In reality, not that they would have - Vancouver could have tanked every game and still get in the Final four, so having their National team players present was not a risk... that and the fact that their competition is not up to par with them
If the Canadian Team was the same as the one that bested Sweeden, I would give Even odds on the game... but you change the Chemistry a little bit and their chances don't look so good. It is up to a Coach to put the best team on the field and Canada is not fielding the best that they can be this weekend, 15 players, 4 SUBS to the US having 6 Subs available Technically they will have only 3 subs, unless the reserve keeper goes and plays on the field, it should be hot and that alone is trouble... Would be one huge upset if Canada pulls it out, but I bet a suitcase on the US I simply think KK is amazing, but I have lost all respect for Pellerud
Y'all have been misled by the press. The Canadian team is almost identical to the one that beat Sweden. Let's have a look at the Ottawa players left off the roster: Rhian Wilkinson - Great Forward, had a slight injury and didn't play vs Sweden Taryn Swiatek - one of Canada's 3 excellent keepers, didn't play vs Sweden Robyn Gayle - subbed on in the 75'th minute when Canada was up 4-1 Dianna Matheson - starting M/F, played 90 min against Sweden Matheson will surely be missed but that will be somewhat offset by the addition of Sophie Schmidt who has been a starter on Canada's back line but wasn't available for the Sweden game. As for subs, Canada only made 3 against Sweden and 2 of the 3 will also be available gainst the USA. Bottom line, this Canadian squad is pretty much just as strong as the one that beat Sweden 4-2. In fact, it would have been even stronger than that squad with the Ottawa players - especially if Wilkinson was healthy. btw KK is a great GK, but she didn't play against Sweden either - that duty went to Erin McCleod. The conflict with the W-League schedule put Pellerud between a rock and a hard place. He was sure to come under severe criticism no matter what he did. Two things he couldn't do: a) Leave Vancouver players at home - their roster is full of CWNT starters b) Leave Hooper at home - no explanation required He probably made the only W-League concession he could. Ottawa won their game 3-0 today, so they're happy. Wilkinson scored one of the goals. We'll see how Canada does tomorrow.
I just verified with a player on Team Canada that there will not be any Fury players this weekend ... Amanda Cicchini from the Toronto Lynx arrived today, and another Lynx player will join the roster tomorrow (Dennis) ... perhaps those are the players you saw at the practice today Andy?
so? hooper is just stating her opinion. club vs country has always been a big controversy in football, and when it's a friendly, most clubs don't send their players to play for their country. i know w-league is not a pro league, but, in general, if it's not a wc qualifying or gold cup or similarly important game, ottawa doesn't have to send the players. not really. countries play friendlies all the time without international players that were not released by their club. they did make a decision. it was to stay and play an important playoff game with their team. now this is where the problem lies. who made the ruling that hooper and leblanc are not allowed to play for their club team in the playoffs? and does that person have jurisdiction over ottawa as well? and did that person allow other national team players to stay and play with their club (ottawa)? that's what we need to know.
Wilkinson looked pretty good for a slight injury - hangnail perhaps, slight bruise? AGAIN - Vancouver did not have to play this weekend KK would mean more to the Wildcats, seeing as she is the Number one keeper in the W-League, Why her and Not Swiatek? The point is remove Gayle and Matheson from Ottawa and your chances of advancing decrease, remove KK from the Wildcats and leave those 2 players for Ottawa and Ottawa gets a major advantage that should not have. Pellerud is trying to control the outcome of the games in the W-League.. I would consider Metheson as important to the Canadian team as Nonen, she controls space and sets pacing I beleive he will need more subs because of the hotter weather they will play in. And against the US, quality subs are a premium MISLED BY THE PRESS ??? I think they were Hooper's statements and Canadian Press Wouldn't the Canadian team be better served in the BIG PICTURE by having the team that they Hope to field at the WCQ together against their toughest opponent in CONACAF - They absolutely need to avoid the Embarrassment that MEXICO caused them in the Olympic qualifiers. A win against the US at this time would serve them better than a loss -
The Coach of the Canadian team makes the decision. Yes, he has Juridiction over Ottawa players as well. National Teams take precedent over amatuer leagues. In cases where players do not get released, it is almost unheard of for women's teams. Teams can make requests to have players released from National team duty, I have never heard of such requests during the WUSA years. NJ Wildcats did make the request but were denied for both players
did the nj wildcats make the request too late? the coach said that he made the agreement with ottawa 6 months ago. was there a time limitation for these requests to not release certain club players? is it haphazard because it's a new thing to have to deal with for the canadian team? it certainly makes the w-league playoffs look mikey mouse on the face of it. but some people think the whole league is mickey mouse already.
My Understanding is that they made the request When Naimo was scheduled to return this season, I was aware that this game was being schedluled in January so I am pretty sure they knew about it and the Implications for the playoffs. LeBlanc did not play today, Canada lost, looks possitive for Ottawa.
WILDCATS LOSE TO OTTAWA, Pellerud has fixed the outcome of the game and sacrificed the Canadian team to do so
I think this does seem REALLY interesting that Canada wouldn't call up any of the Fury players, but they called up LeBlanc just to sit on the bench....
what's his motivation for wanting ottawa to win a silly game against nj while wanting the team he coaches and makes his living off to lose to the u.s? it still doesn't make sense folks!
OK, factor in his ties to Vancouver and them having a great fear of the Wildcats repeating as Champions, If they made it to Vancouver, they would make the final with Hooper and LeBlanc playing, spoiling the now high probability of an all Canadian final. Vancouver beat NJ on penalties in 2004
all I know is if he had the same team he played against Sweeden, he had a better chance to pull off a win yesterday.... can't fingure any other reason not to take the same team other than for someon's benefit
I don't think it's an issue of putting his job in jeopardy...it's sort of like, if the USA men's national team would have advanced to the Round of 16, and would have lost to Brazil. Would Arena have been fired because of that? Losing to the USA sucks for Canada, because they're rivals, but it's not like losing to the USA is shocking....I'd really like to read someone's follow up to this story. Did any newspapers in Canada jump on it? "Without Ottawa players, Canada falls to US 2-0"
So, let me understand this correctly.... So the conspiracy theory is that the Canadian National Team coach did not call up any Ottawa players and called up two of the Wildcats' key players in an effort to have Ottawa at the Final Four rather than New Jersey...with the idea that Ottawa in the Final Four would sell more tickets than a team from New Jersey (with two high profile Canadian national team players, and a handful of international stars). I guess that's possible, but I'm not willing to jump on the conspiracy bandwagon until someone asks Team Canada why the Ottawa players were left off the squad.
This conspiracy theory seems pretty far fetched (even as conspiracy theories go). Pellerud's reponse to the reporter's question seemed pretty straightforward and reasonable to me: "National team coach Even Pellerud said he had talked with the Fury six months ago and agreed the players could remain with the team so they could compete in this weekend's W-League playoffs. "I need to keep my commitment, whether it's to a player or a club," Pellerud said. "This time it was to the club. I have no regrets on that. "The Ottawa Fury has been a fantastic partner. They have (provided players) a lot of times and hurt themselves by that." Since Pellerud has a small budget for games/camps etc., he has to rely on US Colleges and the W-League to keep his players fit and improving. At times there are conflicts with the CWNT schedule and he has to make reasonable comprimises. What's so hard to understand?
I guess another thing I'm curious about is....if LeBlanc wasn't going to play in the USA/CAN game, do you think she would have wanted to leave the Wildcats? I guess you don't know if you're going to play before you go to camp, but I'm pretty sure the coaching staff usually knows which goalkeeper they want to play. Maybe I'm wrong...