Whassup Canadians. Over in the Concacaf forum, there's a thread on which at least three or four folks have been arguing that Canada will be the dark horse to get out of the semifinal WCQ group of death, and perhaps even make it to WC06. See https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106474&page=4 I gotta say I just don't get it. Not that I think the Canucks will suck, I just don't know much about them, and what I do know doesn't seem to suggest they'll necessarily be better than the likes of Costa Rica, Guat, or Honduras. Can anyone fill me in on why so many people think Canada is the team to watch this upcoming WC cycle? I suppose Radz and DeRo make a good tandem up front, with De Guzman and Stalteri in the back or as dmid. And Onstad is a solid keeper. But I think the other teams in their semi group have as much if not more talent. Or perhaps Canadians themselves don't think they're the dark horse and this is just the fashionable opinion of the moment (kind of like Poland was everyone's favorite dark horse in WC02--until they actually played). Anyway, as a potentially interested US supporter I'm interested to hear more about your team. Thanks.
I get the feeling that most non-Canadians are picking Canada because of the Yallop factor - they've seen what he did as San Jose and figure he will be able to do the same with Canada. And to a certain extent that is one of the reasons why many Canadians are optimistic about our chances. One of Yallop's strengths is supposed to be to create a great team feeling & to get all of his players to want to play together & to play for him (and for Canada), something that has been missing from the Canadian team for arguably the past 10 years. I don't think Canada has had their full team together, with none of their best 18 missing, since perhaps 1997 (which was the last time Radzinski faced Concacaf opposition, incidentally). With an un-precedented (for Canada) number of players playing at a high level of play in Europe, including several strikers that can actually score (unlike in 2000 when we pinned all our hopes on a 3rd division striker for reasons still not known) it is hoped that this will give us enough depth to see us through qualifying. The other things is that while the semi-final group we will be in has no easy teams, there are no teams that we can't beat either.
Yallop is correct, but they're hyped, they're determined and they have ian hume. They have more players than deguzman and stalteri. I think they can make it too.
Interesting. The Yallop explanation seems plausible. But who are the Europe-based players you're referring to? Any other midfielders other than DeGuzman? Defenders other than Stalteri? And while a group of forwards consisting of Radz, DeRosario and Hume is impressive, am I leaving anyone off that list?
Other midfielders in Europe include: Jim Brennan (left sided midfielder with Norwich, EPL-bound for next season) Fernando Aguiar (defensive-midfielder with Benfica) Tam Nsaliwa (young right-sided midfielder with Regensburg in the Bundesliga 2), Daniel Imhof (plays for St.Gallen in Switzerland but is rumoured to be headed to Borussia Moegenblach (sic)) or FC Cologne in Germany), Atiba Hutchinson (attacking midfielder for Helsingborg in the top Swedish division), Marc Bircham (with QPR, just promoted to the English 1st Division), Mike Klukowski (with La Louviere, mid-table team in the top Belgian division), Jason Bent (former Colorado Rapids player just released from Eng. Div. 2 champs Plymouth due to being to injury-prone) and Rhian Dodds (with Kilmarnock in the SPL, Yallop hasn't called him yet but wants to take a look). In defense there is Jason De Vos (central defender with Wigan in the English 1st Division), Ante Jazic (left-back with Rapid Vienna but rumoured to be moving to Hannover 96 next year), Kevin McKenna (with Hearts in the SPL, though he splits time with being a central defender and a striker with both club & country), Marco Reda (in the top Norwegian tier with Sogndal, another central defender). Other possibilities include Stathis Kappos, a right back with AEK Athens who earned his first cap for Canada in Yallop's only match to date. There are a number of other players playing in 2nd tier Norway & Dutch teams & in the A-league that could pinch in every now and then at the back, but none would likely be regular starters. It allows us some depth though. Other Strikers - there's Kevin McKenna, who has already been mentioned, Paul Peschisolido helped keep Derby County in the English 1st division this year, and the youngster that is opening everyone's eyes is Olivier Occean, who spent the pre-season with the Metrostars but ended up getting a better offer with Odd Grenland and is currently the top scorer in Norway. And the big keeper we haven't mentioned thus far is Lars Hirshfeld, who has been with Tottenham the past 2 years but will be looking for a new club for next season after not getting any playing time behind Kasey Kellar.
1-canada rules 2-i'd give canada about a 35-40% chance of making WC06 and i'll be rootin' foe them all the way
To me, Canada is the wild card. They have a lot of players with a nice CV. Too bad more of them couldn't stay "at home" and play in the MLS.
Most of them make a decent living in Europe. Can't see them leaving Europe for the MLS given the salary range.
Thanks for the info. Very interesting--sounds like there is a solid core of players, though few from the top euro leagues. But I would not be surprised if Yallop formed them into a strong unit. Speaking of which, I take from the above that Yallop has already coached Canada in an international game. Is this right? If so, what was the result?
From the CSA site: Ottawa, Ontario - Canada’s Men’s World Cup Team earned a 1-0 win against Barbados Sunday in Bridgetown, Barbados. Carlo Corazzin scored the game’s only goal in the 10th minute to give the new head coach Frank Yallop a win in his first game in charge. Corazzin scored from within the 6th yard box thanks to a great pass from Dwayne de Rosario who was a handful for the Barbadian defence all game. Several players made their debut with the World Cup Team including: goalkeeper Greg Sutton, defenders Gabriel Gervais and Adam Braz, midfielders Josh Simpson, Johnny Sulentic, Stathis Kapos, and David Frondimadis. Yallop played four Olympic team players as a result of injuries. “It’s good to start off with a win,” said Yallop. ”We had to make some adjustments and several players earned their first caps tonight. It was a great opportunity to see what some of these players can do.” The Canadian team returns to Florida on Monday to continue their camp until Friday. January 18, 2004 – International Friendly Bridgetown, Barbados Canada 1 (1) Barbados 0 (0) Goals: Canada – Carlo Corrazin (10) Greg Sutton; Nevio Pizzolitto (Adam Braz, 42); Chris Pozniak; Gabriel Gervais; Mark Watson – C; Nick Dasovic; Patrice Bernier (David Frondimadis, 90+); Johnny Sulentic (Stathis Kapos, 75); Corrazin (Rob Friend, 62); Martin Nash (Josh Simpson, 55); Dwayne de Rosario; Head Coach: Frank Yallop