I posted this in another thread, there are three versions of why players were not included in the squad 1: Lineup of Canda anounced No Mention of any Ottawa players, but the first anyone learns that they are not on the roster QUESTION - WHY Not take the lineup for the Sweeden game? If you want to prove you can win, you take the same players - simple principle, build momentum for the program. 2:Hooper calls out the Ottawa Players 3: No One asked ? Of course they quoted a player that is not on the national Team.... http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Can...10352-sun.html Somebody made the decision..... 4: NJ blows up and Pellerud states that NJ did not make the request until 6 days before. I could have told you that Karina would not be playing the game 2 weeks prior VANCOUVER (CP) - A whiff of controversy surrounds this weekend's W-League women's soccer championship after the coach of the New Jersey Wildcats says his team was cheated out of a spot in the final four. Charlie Naimo was furious after his team lost 3-2 to the Ottawa Fury in a playoff game Sunday night. Two of the Wildcats top stars - goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and veteran striker Charmaine Hooper - missed the game because they were playing for Canada's national team in a friendly against the U.S. Four members of the Fury, who also are national team players, were allowed to miss the friendly and played against the Wildcats. Naimo's blood pressure was pushed even higher because Canadian national team coach Even Pellerud didn't play LeBlanc in the 2-0 loss to the U.S. "You hate when your team is cheated out of the best opportunity to be successful," Naimo said in a telephone interview. "It's foul play, there's no doubt about it." The W-League final four will feature the hometown Vancouver Whitecaps, Ottawa, the Charlotte Lady Eagles and the Seattle Sounders Saints. The W-League is part of the United Soccer Leagues and is recognized as North America's best women's developmental organization. Ottawa (10-1-1) will face Charlotte (10-4-0), while Vancouver (11-0-1) will play Seattle (5-4-3) in Friday's semifinals. The final will be played Sunday. The defending W-League champion Wildcats were 14-0-0 this season. They led the 37-team league with 42 points, while scoring 61 goals and allowing only three. Wildcat owner Vincent Baldino added a conspiracy twist to the final, suggesting the host Whitecaps had a hand in his team missing the finals. "Vancouver is not afraid of Ottawa," Baldino said. "They are afraid of us. "I understand it was the pressure of someone from Vancouver. They want to make sure the Whitecaps came out of the championship. If we go there, there is a chance we can beat Vancouver." Whitecap coach Bob Birarda, who also sometimes acts as a national team assistant, scoffed at any suggestion his team wanted the Wildcats out and the Fury in. "It never happened and it never would happen," said Birarda. "Clearly Ottawa is a pretty dangerous team. To win a championship you have to play who ever you have to play. " Pellerud also denied he selected his national team lineup with an eye to giving Ottawa the edge against New Jersey. "It has nothing to do with it," he said. "That is the perception, but that is not the case." Pellerud does understand Naimo being frustrated over LeBlanc being left on the national team bench instead of playing for the Wildcats. "I would of had the same feelings he had," Pellerud said. "At the same time, you look at your players and select your team the day before the game." Prior to Sunday's friendly, 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 the W-League playoffs. Pellerud said he would have considered a similar request from the Wildcats had it been made earlier. "The one thing that surprised me is New Jersey didn't ask for the release of their players until six days before," the U.S. game, said Pellerud. "At that time I said if that question had come up before I would have considered it. They asked too late." The Wildcats playoff loss was their first defeat at home since the 2003 season. The whole incident has left Hooper bitter. "If the Wildcats . . . were kept out of the final four, then the Vancouver Whitecaps . . . would secure their chances of winning the championships and protecting their investment there in Vancouver," Hooper wrote on her website. "In the end, this is the sad reality of this whole soap opera and I, as a representative of Canadian soccer, am embarrassed that this is what some very desperate people have to resort to in order to try to win." "Well, as I always say, there is a funny thing called karma and maybe neither Vancouver nor Ottawa will win the W-League championship." Maybe NJ figured that he might want to take the Candian national team to play the US and not 3/4 of the team ???? I am sure that NJ would have gladly payed for her ticket and a ticket for the benchwarmer
I was able to make it to the NJ-Ottawa game and first of all let me say that it was a well-played game and a pretty exciting one too. The loss of Formiga hurt the Wildcats tremendously. She's a great player. As far as the off the field scandal, from the way it was explained to me at the game, here's the situation: -- The Wildcats were the top seed in the playoffs and them and Vancouver were the favorites to win it all. The Wildcats were definitely the team that Vancouver feared the most. -- Vancouver has absolutely no worries about playing Ottawa. Vancouver's lineup is almost all Canadian national team starters and Ottawa's lineup is basically two national team players in Mathison and Wilkinson, a backup national team goalie, and a bunch of other Canadian players that aren't good enough for the national team. If you think that Vancouver is worried about beating Ottawa, think again. -- Well here's the twist. The owner of Vancouver is a billionaire and he contributes a lot of money to the national team and basically pays Evan Pellarud's salary. Also, apparently Pellarud lives in a house that the Vancouver owner owns. Can you really dispute any of that? When you look at it that way, then what Pellarud did sounds really suspicious. At the least, it's completely unethical to treat the Ottawa players differently than Leblanc and Hooper when all of those players are playing for a team that's fighting for a championship. I think the fact that Hooper is upset about this says a lot. She's a highly respected player - a member of the USL hall of fame, a FIFA world all-star, the WUSA leading scorer. BIO HERE The last thing that I have to say is that I don't think Ottawa would have won without #12 Wilkinson. She sent perfect crosses in for the first two goals and probably created four or five more chances. According to the stats, Ottawa only had 11 shots. Without her, I don't see them scoring three goals.
"QUESTION - WHY Not take the lineup for the Sweeden game? If you want to prove you can win, you take the same players - simple principle, build momentum for the program." RETURN QUESTION - Why keep asking the same question and then ignoring the answer? The only missing starter from the Sweden game was Matheson. But Schmidt (another starter) who missed the Sweden game, was available for the USA game. The bottom line is that it was close to a wash. Let's face it, the USWNT is a tough nut to crack - no team has cracked it for more than a year. If Canada needed to beat the USA to gain momentum, they'd be in trouble - but they don't. Recent wins over Italy and Sweden are a step in the right direction and there are double headers coming up against China and France in August for the CWNT to test their mettle, build momentum and prepare for WWC qualification.
"I think the fact that Hooper is upset about this says a lot." Hooper doesn't give a crap about the W-League or the conspiracy theory. Her issue is that no player should be allowed to opt out of a CWNT game for a W-League game - there should be no choice. She had quit the CWNT before Pellerud was hired because the Canadian program was so 'mickey mouse'. Her message then was the same as it is now - make the CWNT a top priority and do it right and she has no beef. Stray from that path and she's going to make noise. I happen to agree with Hooper in principle and if Pellerud had a bigger budget and deeper player pool he could lay down the rules - but he doesn't. He makes comprimises where he can.
..... bigger budget, deeper pool blah blah blah - what good is the pool if you don't use it You have just said he is at the will of the money men.... that is exactly what I have been saying Matheson and Gayle would give Canada more options to use and a deeper bench - the subs they brought on were no where near the 2 ottawa players in terms of skills and experience - Schmidt missed the sweden game and was not involved in the team that WON - period... there is no wash, Matheson is a better player. I honestly believed that Canada could have won against the US. as far as needing momentum.... soccer is all about momentum and confidence - Those other teams are not in the the same PLAYING REGION... They should always field the best when playing their border rival who they have to face this year to QUALIFY Mexico is just as good as Canada in this point in time
Charmaine Hooper's comments from her website http://charmainehooper.com/news.html Go to link for her full comments
Apparently you have no clue. Quoted from Charmaine's website: The deal was if Even would allow those four national team players to play in the game and not allow Charmaine nor Karina to take part, then Ottawa would have a greater chance of winning the Division Championship. If the NJ Wildcats, 2005 W-League Champions, were kept out of the final four, then the Vancouver Whitecaps, who is hosting the W-League Championships and is overseen by Even Pellerud, would secure their chances of winning the championsips and protecting their investment there in Vancouver. In the end, this is the sad reality of this whole soap opera and I, as a representative of Canadian soccer, I am embarrassed that this is what some very desperate people have to resort to in order to try to win. Well, as I always say, there is a funny thing called KARMA and maybe neither Vancouver nor Ottawa will win the W-League championship next weekend. http://www.charmainehooper.com/news.html
I humbly stand corrected. As you point out, Hooper has entered the fray and does indeed have a strong opinion regarding the 'conspiracy'. This is a departure from her original interview and reference to "some stupid W-League team." Just as an aside, I wonder how the people in NJ feel about that comment? Frankly I am amazed that she would take things this far in public. She went from the high ground (we need to better support our National Team) to throwing out accusations that she can't hope to prove. I can't imagine any good will come from this.
So you honestly believe that Canada could have done what numerous top 10 teams, including Germany, couldn't - they just needed a few Ottawa players. And at the same time believe that Mexico is as good as Canada. Both seem a bit of a stretch to me. What I don't get is why you seem so fixated on Canada's 'blown opportunity' to beat the USA? Or Canada's momentum going into WWC qualifications? Are there money wagers involved???
The only way the U.S. and Canada face each other in a game that will affect qualification is if the both lose their semifinal Gold Cup games. I'm not sure that anyone in Vegas would put odds on that happening.
woah, i'm not a canadian fan, but I think canada has as good a chance to beat usa in the gold cup as usa has to win itself. the match in cary was in incredible heat, in the early afternoon so I don't place too much emphasis on results in those conditions. Still, canada is better than mexico, generally. And even if canada gets into a play-off with japan, canada has a better than good shot against japan.
Yes, I would have to say that the same team that beat Sweden could have had better results against the US. The midfield was where the game was lost and I have seen Matheson play many times - Princeton, finals last year, playoffs this year Yes - I am Fixated, I have been fortunate to get to know LeBlanc and Hooper over the past 2 years and 1 year. I am a big fan of both and I like to see players my family admire have success According to the olympic qualifying, Mexico is just as good... haven't really seen them since, other than the youth team thay brought to Mia's farewell party
Yes I think you're going a little too far on this one too. That upset by Mexico in Olympics qualifying was a fluke. Canada is still better than Mexico by about two or three goals.
I don't believe she called the W-League stupid, just the Ottawa Fury. You can read into that, thinking that she's calling all W-League teams stupid, or you can think that she's just talking about Ottawa. Isn't it true that Ottawa has been trying to get her to play there for years since she's from there and that she chose the Wildcats instead this year?
Since the only games I really get to see are Olympics and when teams play the USWNT(When Televised) I can only go by what I have seen or have read... i do remember Dominguez giving the US a fit and the US barely winning a friendly prior to the Olympics and seeing them in the olympics. They brought a youth team to Mia's party so i would not count that at all. Since there has been no real activity until they Play the US, not much to judge on. so going back to the Fluke - They were better at that time, no real way to measure at the moment
Wow. Just wow. Canada is better than Mexico on the whole, but the results certainly don't back up the assertion that it's by "two or three goals". And losing a game here and there is not a "fluke". It's why leagues play seasons. Yeah, Real Salt Lake can beat DC United, but nobody pretends that DC isn't, by and large, the better team. It also doesn't make Real's win a "fluke". Canada is better than Mexico. But Mexico beating Canada certainly isn't a fluke. A "fluke" would be Canada win the 2000 Gold Cup by winning a series coin flips and penalty kicks. That was "flukey".
If this was Italy, FIFA would definitely have investigators on their way over here. This is matchfixing, plain and simple. Problem is, the "W" League isn't professional in the way that the WUSA was. If this was a sanctioned Division I league, this would receive the same attention as the "tapping up" of Rio Ferdinand, the Washington Redskins' third-string quarterback, and the ghost of Natalie Holloway.
okay it wouldn't have MATTERED WHEN the 'Cats made the request!!!!!!!! they could've made it a YEAR AGO and they would've been DENIED. I agree with ChargeFan, it was fixed. Pellerud's just a jerk. get over it. he wanted the 'Cats down so that OTTAWA would advance--- giving VANCOUVER a better chance to win it all.
Canada needed a coin flip to advance from the group (all 3 teams finished with 2 draws each). We never needed PK's to win in the knockout round. We beat Mexico 2-1 in ET, T&T 1-0 and Colombia 2-0.
Some retrospective thinking: 1) Out of all the Canadian teams in the W-League, Vancouver is the only one with a wealthy benefactor to finance the team. 2) Kerfoot gives $1 Million to the Women's national team. No national team, men or women, in any sport gets that kind of support from one individual. 3) Many of the Whitecaps players also are "carded" by the federal government and recieve monthly financial assistance. No doubt pressure would be on Pellarud from the Whitecaps to use their players over anyone elses.
What everybody seem to forget is this. I heard that coach Pellerud had put in place a "commitment agreement" with selected Canadian national players. His objective was to ensure that he would have these players available all the time for training and games. This commitment was to supersede any other interests of the players. The man wants to win and wants to have the players at his disposal. Were the Fury players part of this agreement initially? I don't know. But it certainly looks odd that some players were given dispensation while others not. The excuse that the Fury had requested to keep their players 6 month ahead of time and that he needed to keep his word is rather weak. As a National coach who looks after the best interest of a national program, he is entitled to change his mind in my view.