With the US-Mex rivalry about to kick off in a week, I was wondering when was the last time the US-Can played each other in a friendly in Canada? I think with the continuing success of TFC, Montreal, Vancouver and other teams, along with the Canadian national team, it would be beneficial to both sides to embrace the Northern rivalry more. I would love to see the US and Canada square off in the Rodgers Centre, BMO field or where ever.
We haven't played the US in a friendly in many years, home or away. I think the last friendly was in LA (your LA, not Lethbridge AB) in March 1993. (Dominic Kinnear scored for you guys, in a 2-2 draw). Long overdue.
The last friendly between the two countries was Jan 18, 2003 in Fort Lauderdale. The last time the US played in Canada was in a WCQ on Nov. 9, 1997 and the last friendly between the two countries in Canada was on Sept 3, 1992--in St. John's, Newfoundland of all places... http://www.canadasoccer.com/tourney/FIFA_WC/games.asp?display=all
Didn't we tied the USA in January 2006, 0-0 I think, with Braz telling Freddy Adu not to dive in a famous picture?
January 2006 in San Diego. 0-0. but yes, it would be great to see more games, and a bigger rivalry develop.
Yes, that Jan 2006 was closer to an A team but still not a real A team for us, as it did not involve the players who have full winter seasons in Europe. I would like to see a full on friendly between us in Canada but it is not very likely to happen.
Canada has a lot of great soccer history that has been played out in Newfoundland. I say bring some of these Caribbean teams here for WCQ, they won't stand a chance.
Oh, I know...the greatest game in Canadian history was played there... St. John's is a stunningly beautiful, fun and sophisticated city. Absolutely one of my favourate parts of the country. We could play in worse places, that's for sure.
We are getting a new (plastic) pitch in Corner Brook that will be a lot like King George, apparently it will have a similar capacity as King George but the permanent number will be lower as there will be some temporary seating in place for the provincial games, or so I hear.
Not that I'm opposed to friendlies with the US (or anyone else, for that matter) but we do get to play the US quite often in real competitions. A friendly against them would just mean one less chance to have a friendly against a side we wouldn't normally see.
and playing a team we wouldnt normally see is better than getting experience against one we're going to have to get results against in wc qualifying, gold cup...etc?
Half a dozen of one, six of the other....although, I would suggest that we should be playing central/South American teams if we are looking to get a taste of what to expect in WCQ. The Yanks are just a deeper version of us. Edit to add: That said, I have always thought that the two federations should try and play an annual, or biannual, fixture. There is a lot of shared soccer history between the two countries and I think there is value in embracing that. Maybe a game on either July 1 (when in Canada) or July 4 (when in the US) every other year, in non-WC/Gold Cup years.
Like I said, I'm not opposed to playing the US. If we want experience that will help us qualify for the World Cup, however, we'd be better off playing teams from Spanish speaking countries. Those are the teams we need to beat to qualify (since, for now, we have to assume we're fighting for spot number three and conceding the first two to Mexico and the US). For friendlies, though, I'd rather see Asian, African, or European countries just for the sake of variety.