Canada
may have hit the straw that broke the
Camel's back when the Canucks loss 2-1
to Mexico in Mexico City. The loss was
the second in four days after the Canucks suffered a devastating home loss to
Honduras at the
Saputo Stadium in Montreal.
Canada comes up short in 1:2 loss to Mexico
(CSA MEDIA REPORT)
Ali Gerba had fire in his eyes when he cut the Mexican
lead in half with 13 minutes to go. The team was
resolved to salvage a point after it dug a two-goal
deficit in the second half. On this particular night,
however, it was too little too late.
Despite its best efforts, Canada couldn't come back
against the confederation's top-ranked country. After 90
minutes, it was a 1:2 loss to Mexico in Tuxtla
Gutierrez, Mexico. Through three games in the 2010 FIFA
World Cup South Africa Qualifiers, Canada is stuck on
just one point.
"This one was always going to be a tough one, probably
the toughest game in CONCACAF - playing Mexico away from
home," said coach Dale Mitchell. "We did everything we
could to get a result tonight, but we didn't get it."
Mexico played to its reputation, maintaining possession
and creating numerous offensive chances throughout the
game. Canada's defence, which featured goalkeeper Lars
Hirschfeld in net for the second-straight match, held
the game scoreless for the first half.
After the half, Mexico returned to its game, keeping
Canada in its own end with the pressure on. Then in the
59th minute, Omar Bravo open the gate with a header to
the back of the net. Bravo, who came on as a substitute
for the teenaged Giovanni Dos Santos, redirected the
pass from Ricardo Osorio.
Up 1-0 with the crowd on its feet, it didn't take long
for Mexico to double its lead. Off the corner kick, it
was Mexican captain Rafael Marquez's turn to score for
the home side.
Desperate for some offence, coach Mitchell inserted the
offensive-minded Gerba and Iain Hume with roughly 20
minutes to go. Sure enough in the 77th
minute, it was a Hume free kick that led to the Gerba
goal, the 10th of Gerba’s international
career. Hume fired the shot from the right side right
into the penalty area; Gerba was well in position to
jump and head the ball past Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo
Sanchez.
With a goal in hand, Canada continued its pressure in
the Mexican end. As the final whistle drew near,
however, Mexico regrouped and rebuilt its attack on
Canada. Fortunately, Hirschfeld was up to the task to
stop the late Mexican attack. At the other end, though,
Canada was unable to beat Sanchez a second time.
On the road to Canada’s next game on 11 October in
Honduras, at least two players will be unavailable to
the Canadian team. Dwayne De Rosario and Adrian Serioux
each received their second cautions of the stage and
will thus be suspended from the match in Honduras.
In what the third match in CONCACAF Stage III of the
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers, coach
Mitchell made two changes to his starting XI. Tomasz
Radzinski (injury) and Patrice Bernier (suspension) were
not available, so in came Jim Brennan and Issey
Nakajima-Farran. Up next on the Canadian schedule is the
11 October match in Honduras, the 15 October match in
Edmonton (against Mexico), and the 19 October match in
Jamaica.
“There are still three matches left to play, said coach
Mitchell. “We have to approach them with the right
mentality."
Last
option for Canadian Caribbean soccer fans
Montreal:
Just when the Canadian Caribbean fans were anxiously
awaiting their teams making a move for the top two
positions of their group 2 of the CONCACAF World Cup
qualifiers the
Canucks blew an early lead and came up short in a 2-1
loss to Honduras while the Jamaica Reggae Boyz did the
unthinkable and gave up an early goal against Mexico in
Mexico City to set the tone for a smothering 3-0 defeat
at the hands of the Mexicans.
Haiti did not do much for their cause by being trounced
by El Salvador 5-0 and Cuba on the other hand was on the
short end of a 1-0 loss to USA. As a result at present
the burden of the Canadian Caribbean World Cup hopes
seems to sit squarely on the shoulders of the Trinidad
and Tobago Soca Warriors who slipped up somewhat by
conceding the equalizing goal to Guatemala at the 95
minute after taking the lead in the game ten minutes
earlier.
However in retrospect the Honduras game was a
devastating loss for Canada and with Mexico on their
plate this Wednesday at press time the Canucks could
find themselves up a creek without a paddle in Mexico
City in search of at least a point to have any shot of
advancing out of Group 2.
Heading into the Honduras game last Saturday I though
the game was even since Canada had the home field
advantage but that theory was blown to bits as soon as I
arrived in Montreal and Saputo Stadium looked like San
Pedro Sula Stadium in Honduras with an 8:1 advantage of
Honduras supporters in national colours.
In
spite of the disparity in supporters Canada scored on a
powerful header by Adrian Serioux from a Patrice Bernier
left side corner kick to silence the crowd as a small
number of Canada fans celebrate the goal.
However Honduras clawed back into the game and adapted
to the heavy stadium field a lot better than to add to
Canada woes their best offensive player in the game
midfielder Thomasz Radzinski had to leave the game at
the 15th minute mark after suffering a
serious cut to his hand after he slid into the touch
line signs while making a last effort to convert on a
scoring opportunity.
That was a big blow for Canada since their offensive
punch disappeared and Honduras took control of the game
with long periods of ball possession. Honduras struck
for two goals just after halftime to defeat Canada 2-1
to the delight of pro Honduras crowd.
The
CONCACAF W/C qualifiers continues on
September 10 (press time) as Canada face off with Group
2 leader Mexico in a critical game at Tuxtla Gutierrez
in Mexico while Jamaica plays Honduras in another tough
game for the Reggae Boyz at San Pedro Sula in Honduras
but Reggae Boyz coach Simoes remains optimistic and said
that his team would perform better with the extra time
in preparation for the game compared to the last minute
fiasco of Hurricane Gustav.
The big showdown on Wednesday will be for first place in
Group1 when the Trinidad & Tobago Soca Warriors play USA
at the Toyota Park in Chicago while Guatemala tries to
get back in the swing of the group race against Cuba in
Guatemala City.
Costa Rica in Group 3 play will try to secure a spot
into the second round when they play Haiti in
Port-Au-Prince while El Salvador will play Surinam at
Paramaribo in Surinam.
Canada
lose big second game 2-1 to Honduras
After taking an
early 1-0 lead
on a powerful header by Adrian Serioux
from a Patrice Bernier corner kick at
the 5th minute of play, Canada could not
keep up the momentum as
Honduras managed to regrouped after the
break and scored two goals
early in the second half and held
on. Canada made a late
surge with 10 men that was too late.
Stay Tuned for
full article!
Canada
missed Golden opportunity vs Jamaica
August 20, 2008
The opening Group 2 World Cup qualifier match between
Canada and Jamaica at BMO Field in Toronto lived up to
its billing as the Reggae Boyz and Canucks continue
their impressive run in the CONCACAF World Cup
qualifiers in an effort to re-emerge at a World Cup
after a long absence.
The Jamaica-Canada game was played before a record crowd
of 21,978 fans at BMO Field and although
Canada enjoyed the better of the exchanges and the 12th
man advantage their lack of production and continuity on
offense was their main obstacle.
For many die
hard Canuck’s fans the tie may come back to haunt the
team
since Canada did not capitalize on their territorial
advantage and as a result Jamaica managed to create set
plays from several counter attacks down their flanks to
gained momentum heading into the second half.
To
me there was no question that the Reggae Boyz vertical
game was more dangerous than Canada’s although it took
the Boyz a while to unleash their offense but after
creating the space it was obvious that on every run the
Boyz made on the flanks it seemed that their player had
a clear path to goal to the delight of their cheering
fans.
I
thought the early yellow card to Dwayne De Rosario for
retaliation affected his game somewhat and work against
him since he did not get the benefit of a few of the
referee calls that should have gone his way.
I also thought that Canada’s
Tomasz Radzinski
and Bob Friend were struggling with their game in the
offensive zone and I was baffled to coach Mitchell
reasoning behind striker Ali Gerba absence from the
starting line up or his late replacement of Rob Friend
at the 87th minute of play.
Canada
Ali Gerba is the second leading scorer in the CONCACAF
World Cup qualifiers and it is no secret to be a
productive scorer like Gerba one has to feel that he has
the confidence of his coach to perform and be productive
at that level.
However in spite of these offensive kinks and the
defenses outweighing the offenses in a 0-0 halftime
score the big question was which team would gained the
early momentum at the beginning of the second half and
no sooner than two minutes into the second half the
answer came as Julian De Guzman unleashed a well hit 25
yard grounder through the leg of a Jamaica defender and
off the finger tips of Jamaica’s goalkeeper Donavan
Ricketts.
Not
to be outdone the Reggae Boyz responded with a goal of
their own (somewhat) when Canadian goalkeeper Pat Onstad
reacted late and mishandled an Andrew Williams in
swinging corner kick from the left side into his net at
the first post.
With
this unfortunate turn of events and two goals in just
seven minutes after a scoreless first half most fans
were on needles and pins since the two defenses were now
playing a little less conservative and the winning goal
seemed to be in the next offensive play.
Although there was no more scoring in the game there
were a number of near misses and fantastic saves by the
goalkeepers on both ends of the field. With big saves
being the order of the day lady luck show up for Jamaica
when “Man of the Match” Julian De Guzman sizzled a shot
of the paint of
the
cross bar at the 87 minute mark
In retrospect I think Canada missed a golden opportunity
to move up in the Group 2 standings since Mexico came
from behind to defeat Honduras 2-1 and now leads the
Group with three points and with Honduras on the menu
for Canada on September 6 in Montreal it is imperative
that Canada gain a result in that game before taking on
Mexico in Edmonton.
Jamaica on the other hand dodged a bullet against Canada
and should feel good about the one point gained in
Toronto at BMO Field. However the Reggae Boyz are not
out of the combat zone and would have to live up to
their impressive home record when they meet #1 seed
Mexico next at the “Office in Kingston Jamaica for their
next game.
Soccer Update:
Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors made a strong bid for
a spot in the final round of six and return to the World
Cup after defeating Cuba 3-1 in Havana. With the win T&T
sits at the top of Group I standing with USA after the
US defeated Guatemala 1-0 after being outplayed.
Guatemala in a must win situation has to travel to play
T&T in Port of Spain next while Cuba with lots at stake
remains in Havana to play USA.
In Group 3 heavily favored Costa Rica weather the storm
to defeat El Salvador 1-0 while Haiti relied on the
dramatics by scoring two goals in the last minutes of
play to tie Surinam 2-2. Costa Rica can move into the
Group 3 driver seat with a win at home in their next
game against Surinam while Haiti and El Salvador will do
battle in San Salvador to posture with Surinam for the
second spot of the group.
Its
Canada
vs Jamaica
at BMO Field
The
final week of preparation for the third round of the
CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers is here and all the action
and excitement in the first leg match of Group 2 between
Canada and Jamaica will be coming to you live and direct
from BMO Field in Toronto on Wednesday.
When last I checked the two teams match up beautifully
since Canada has a renewed sense of confidence that will
keep them up to par with the Jamaica Reggae Boyz speed
and rhythm. Although the game is in Toronto no one would
venture to predict which team would ride the rhythm of
the 12th man advantage come Wednesday.
What I can tell you is that there was a late rush for
tickets from a large contingent of Caribbean fans and
that does not clarify that scenario either. There is
also supposed to a “Go for Goal Tour” arriving from
Jamaica for the game but rest assured on game day the
TFC season ticket holders may have the big say in which
way the crowd support may swing.
However the major factor towards the outcome of the game
is always the scoring summary and my estimation is that
if either team scores an early goal that will open up
the other team defensively or at least wake up the
conceding team and allow them to turn up the power to
overcome the deficit.
The last scenario seems more likely and should it be
Canada which can get off to an early lead it would no
doubt present a sticky wicket for the Jamaica’s
defensive coverage in an effort to curtail the ever
dangerous Canadian midfielders in Dwayne De Rosario and
Julian De Guzman.
This tandem is arguably at the top of their game since
they both received MVP and Player of the Year awards for
their exploits last with their clubs and Canada and were
outstanding in their last game for Canada. Dwayne De
Rosario plays for the MLS Houston Dynamo while his
Canadian team mate Julian De Guzman plights his trade
with Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna’s..
However in spite of the potency of De Rosario and De
Guzman the Reggae Boyz and their Jamaican fans would
tell you that they intent to leave Toronto with at least
a point from this encounter and with coach Simoes back
at the controls they are confident that it can happen.
It is conceivable that the Reggae Boyz defense may limit
the production of the Canadian strikers but the
challenge for Jamaica would be how they will adjust to
the Canadian midfielder’s transitional game. Canada’s
midfielders have improved their play dating back to Gold
Cup 2007 and although the teams split victories in their
friendly games in 2006 the teams were missing some of
the players now in the team.
Presently the Reggae Boyz team boasts tons of speed and
skill on their flanks which could force Canada’s
strikers
Tomasz Radzinski, and Ali Gerba (the most likely
starting strikers) up front
to track back to slow up the flank penetration to allow
their midfielders to solidify their defensive positions.
The Reggae Boyz defense lead by TFC own Tyrone Marshall
may bend but it may not break if Canada does not
maintain offensive momentum to apply direct pressure. In
failing to do that Marshall and company would be free to
do what they do best which is push forward.
However as the Reggae Boyz prepare for their game at BMO
Field coach Rene Simoes has made a brave push to install
the discipline and pride that he thinks would be needed
for Jamaica to advance to another World Cup and since
Simoes was the man at the helm that when Jamaica Reggae
Boyz made it to World Cup France in 1998 no one should
oppose.
Based
on Simoes fundamental policies it has been reported that
striker Marlon King has been omitted from the Jamaica
squad for the Canada game. King omission caught a lot of
the Reggae Boyz supporters by surprise but in a letter
to the media a month ago, Simoes cautioned that there
would be surprises in store after speaking to his troops
going public about discipline, self control, winning and
a positive and creative attitude for the Jamaica team.
Simoes letter can be seen in its entirety on
JamaicaWin.com and the most notable sections of his
letter read “I will not compromise my principles in the
name of a player, or the clubs or the persons who are
connected to them,”
With Simoes in control it is conceivable that Jamaica
could be coming into BMO Field with the same game plan
as Canada which is to strike first and early but I would
think that if Jamaica could limit Canada’s scoring
chances Simoes would trade the early goal for a late
lone goal and 3 points in hand to leave BMO Field.
For obvious reason Canada first option should be to take
the early lead and let the chips fall where they may
since Canada is at home and regardless of the support at
BMO Field I think Canada would have to initiate the
action to win this game.
Canada
defeat Jamaica in friendly 06-09-2006
Canada
defeated Jamaica 1-0 at the Claude-Robillard
Stadium in Montreal, on a goal scored by
striker Rob Friend in the 41 minute of
play. The large crowd (estimated at
6,500) was treated to a well played game
as Canada controlled the first half
while Jamaica controlled the second.
The
game was a typical meeting of the two
countries whose results were dead even
in their 11 encounters with each team
with 5 wins and one tie. In the early
stages of the game Jamaica was on the
defensive while Canada systematically
moved the ball around to create scoring
chances. Canada’s best scoring
opportunity was from a volley shot by
#10 Rob Friend at the 10 minute of the
first half. He received a Julian De
Guzman cross ball just behind the
Jamaican defense but hurried his shot
which cause the ball to raise high over
the crossbar.
Friend
persistence was rewarded just before the
half when he capitalized on a blunder by
Jamaican goalkeeper Shawn Sawyers when
the keeper miss judged a cross ball to
allow Friend to score a neat header that
give Canada a 1-0 halftime lead
The second half started with the teams
more patient and deliberate in
constructing and executing their plays.
The Reggae Boyz seemed more determined
to explore Canada weaknesses by using
their elusiveness players in isolated
situations. Reggae Boyz #7 Jamal
Campbell seemed to be the target and
the designated destroyer with his crafty
moves. Campbell success
created excitement for the crowd and
attracted two Canadian defenders every
time he had possession of the ball.
This
situation created extra space for his
teammates as # 5 O’Neil Thompson was
allowed him to take controlled of the
game. The last 15 minutes of the game
was a good test for the Canadian team
defensively and was it not for
several brilliant saves made by Canada goalkeeper Greg Sutton
the out come of the game could have be
different as Canada secured
the 1-0 victory
The game was the first for Canadian
interim Head Coach Stephen Hart, a
native of Trinidad and Tobago and the
rematch is scheduled for October 8 in
Kingston, Jamaica. Judging by the
intensity of this game it is safe to say
that the rematch in Kingston should
produce more than one goal.
Jamaica
defeat Canada in friendly rematch
10-08-2006
Jamaica Reggae Boyz regrouped to defeat
Canada 2-1 in their rematch game played at
the National Stadium in Jamaica. The
Reggae Boyz lost to Canada 1-0 in
Montreal Canada in September, and was
later eliminated from the Digicel Cup
after suffering a surprising 2-1 lost to
St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and
their inability to score the 3 goals
needed in their 2-0 win over Haiti.
Jamaica failure to advance in the
Digicel competition also put them out of
the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 tournament.
In the rematch game against
Canada, the Reggae Boyz mustered enough
offense to come from behind to win
unlike their first game The Boyz fell behind in the 9th
minute of play on a goal scored by
Canada’s midfielder Tomasz Radzinski but
to their credit they kept their
composure and slowly clawed their way
back into the game. They were rewarded
when they caught Canada’s defense
napping and score two goals in quick
succession. The goals were scored by
Luton Shelton and Demar Phillips at the
35 and 38 minute respectively. The rest
of the game was a reverse in the roles
that the two teams played in their first meeting
in Montreal. This rematch ended with Canada
pushing forward in search of the tying
goal with no time left.
This was a huge win for the Reggae Boyz
heading into their next International
friendly against Peru on November
15 at the National Stadium in Jamaica.
The Reggae Boyz offense seemed to be
getting on track, but their defense
needs to keep opponents off the
scoreboard on a regular basis to allow
their offense the luxury of a lead. The
defense played well in
the second half to shut down
Canada’s aggressive offense and secure
the win.
Canada
-
Kenny Stamatopoulos, Kevin McKenna,
Marco Reda, Patrice Bernier (Ali Gerba
77th), Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman
(Martin Nash 58th), Tomasz Radzinski,
Rob Friend, Mike Klukowski (Gabe Gervias
24th, Adam Braz 92nd), Atiba Hutchinson,
Josh Simpson
Canada
W/C hopes dashed after 2-1 loss to
Mexico
To
me there was no question that the Reggae Boyz vertical
game was more dangerous than Canada’s although it took
the Boyz a while to unleash their offense but after
creating the space it was obvious that on every run the
Boyz made on the flanks it seemed that their player had
a clear path to goal to the delight of their cheering
fans. 
I
thought the early yellow card to Dwayne De Rosario for
retaliation affected his game somewhat and work against
him since he did not get the benefit of a few of the
referee calls that should have gone his way. 
With
this unfortunate turn of events and two goals in just
seven minutes after a scoreless first half most fans
were on needles and pins since the two defenses were now
playing a little less conservative and the winning goal
seemed to be in the next offensive play.
the
cross bar at the 87 minute mark 
Based
on Simoes fundamental policies it has been reported that
striker Marlon King has been omitted from the Jamaica
squad for the Canada game. King omission caught a lot of
the Reggae Boyz supporters by surprise but in a letter
to the media a month ago, Simoes cautioned that there
would be surprises in store after speaking to his troops
going public about discipline, self control, winning and
a positive and creative attitude for the Jamaica team.
Jamaica Reggae Boyz regrouped to defeat
Canada 2-1 in their rematch game played at
the National Stadium in Jamaica. The
Reggae Boyz lost to Canada 1-0 in
Montreal Canada in September, and was
later eliminated from the Digicel Cup
after suffering a surprising 2-1 lost to
St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and
their inability to score the 3 goals
needed in their 2-0 win over Haiti.
Jamaica failure to advance in the
Digicel competition also put them out of
the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 tournament.
