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Guyana
Undefeated streak intact
Guyana men's national team under head
coach Jamal Shabazz former national
coach of the T&T women team has secured
a spot into the 2007 Digicel Caribbean
Cup final with a convincing 4-0 win over
the Dominican Republic to clinch first
place in Group H. The win also extended
Guyana’s undefeated streak to 14
international matches dating back to the
2004 World Cup preliminary round.
Guadeloupe clinched second place in
Group H and also secured a spot into the
Digicel Cup after a 3-1 win over Antigua
& Barbuda to finish with a 2-1-0 record
for 6 points. Guyana and Guadeloupe will
now join Martinique, St. Vincent & The
Grenadines, Barbados, Cuba and the host
Trinidad & Tobago to compete in the
Final Round of the 2007 Digicel
Caribbean Cup scheduled for January.
The 8 and final team will derive from
winner of the best third place finishers
and four out of the eight will qualify
to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup that is
scheduled for June 6-24 in cities across
the USA.
Canada women lose Heartbreaker USA
Canada’s women soccer team
suffered a heartbreaking loss to USA on
a penalty kick called in the dying
seconds of the second half of overtime.
The game was played at the Home Depot
Center in Carson, California and the
infraction occurred when Canada’s #18-
Robyn Gayle, attempt to screen out a USA
player. Canada entered the game having
secured a spot at the women World Cup
2007 in China after defeating
Jamaica 4-0 in the semi final days
earlier.
Unlike
the Jamaica game Canada fell behind
early. USA
took a 1-0 lead against the run
of play on a
goal scored by Leslie Osborne from a
rebound. Canada showed character
and returned the favor in the 40th
minute after
midfielder Randee Hermus pounced on a
rebound and unleashed a left foot half
volley into the roof of the USA net.
The second half saw USA in total command
but not exactly in control. As a result
time expired in regulation play with the
score still tied to send the game into
overtime.
Overtime usually spells p-r-e-s-s-u-r-e
for the favorite team and in this game
it looked no different. The pressure was
clearly on USA to get a score before the
introduction of the dreaded penalty
kicks. The arrival of penalty kicks
means that the ego of favored team can
be broken and in that light, the
underdog’s chances are better.
USA,
desperate to end the game was moving
forward with everything in attack which
opened up their defensive coverage
somewhat, and Canada’s striker Christine
Sinclair shot wide from a golden
opportunity to score. On the other end
of the field Canada’s goalkeeper Erin
McLeod was kept busy and responded well
with some brilliant saves that kept
Canada in the game.
With no ticks left on the clock USA made
a long throw into the Canadian 6 yard
box that created the untimely penalty
that was scored by
USA
striker Christine Lilly. As a result USA
defeated Canada 2-1 to win the Gold Cup
2006.
Canada
and USA women team advance to the World
Cup 2007 in China while third place
Mexico will play Japan in a home and
away series to advance. The Mexicans
clinched third spot by eliminating
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago by the
same score of 3-0.
Canada women Advance to W/C
Canada women's soccer team lead by captain
Christine Sinclair two goals, secured a
spot at the women World Cup 2007 in
China. They defeated Jamaica 4-0 in the
first semi final of the CONCACAF Gold
Cup played at the Home Depot Center in
Carson, California and will meet the
winner of the Mexico versus USA on
Sunday. Jamaica will have to wait to
play
the loser of
the next semi final for the third spot to face Japan (from
the Asian Football Confederation) in a
home-and-away playoff for the final
berth in the FIFA tournament.
Christine Sinclair led the Canadian
attack with two goals in the 40th and
70th minute while Rhian Wilkinson and
Melanie Booth both scored in the 51st
and 88th minute respectively. Although Canada had defeated Jamaica four times
previously (with a
goal differential of 31:0), this game
was anticipated to be a close encounter
by the recent showing of the Jamaica
defense.
The Jamaica
women started well but as the game progressed
Canada shut down their early advances
and systematically took control of
the midfield. Canada missed several
good scoring
opportunities and one was beginning to
wonder if those missed chances was going
to be their downfall. However
the talented Sinclair made no mistake in
the 40th minute when she chest trap a
cross from the right side at the far
post and buried a left foot volley into
the net to open scoring just before the
half.
The
second half started with Canada piling
on the pressure but for the most part
the play was a little shabby.
Rhian
Wilkinson scored the second goal with a
neat placement from a backward cross
along the ground from
Sinclair after Sinclair
ran out of real estate after eluding the
Jamaica defense. Sinclair closed out
her play after pouncing on a rebound off
the cross bar and showed the calm of a
veteran when she hammered home the ball
pass the stranded Jamaica goalkeeper to
give Canada a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Although Canada had their way in terms
of the run of play, the Jamaicans
deserve a lot of credit for keeping
their composure and doing a decent job
of ball possession in the second half of
the game in spite of the score. In
future Canada would have to concentrate
on more ball possession in games where
they have a sizable lead. This tactic
can be very effective in preventing
injuries.
All
in all it was a good display of
aggressive soccer by Canada and Jamaica
would have to regroup for their next
game for third place against most likely
Mexico.
Canada
– 22-McLeod, Erin; 2-Kiss, Kristina
(18-Gayle, Robyn, 77); 3-Booth, Melanie;
8-Matheson, Diana; 9-Chapman, Candace;
10-Franko, Martina; 11-Hermus, Randee;
12-Sinclair, Christine (C) (7-Morneau,
Isabelle, 75); 13-Walsh, Amy;
16-Wilkinson, Rhian; 17-Timko, Brittany
(5-Neil, Andrea, 83)
Head coach: Even Pellerud
Subs not used: 1-Alcia, Leisha;
4-Andrews, Sasha; 6-Schmidt, Sophie;
14-Tancredi, Melissa; 15-Robinson,
Jodi-Ann; 19-Vermeulen, Amy
Jamaica - 13–Paula Jackson;
4–Alicia Wilson; 6–Audia Sullivan;
9–Natalya Manyan; 11–Kimmia Parker;
12–Peta-Gaye Soman; 15–Nicola Bell;
16–Yolanda Hamilton; 17–Diane Hue;
18–Stacy-Ann Johnson (10-Hishamar
Falconer ,72); 19–Rochelle Bryan (10–
Omolyn Davis, 60)
Head coach: Vin Blaine
"Toronto
FC" new MLS Franchise
Toronto soccer fans
could look forward to a treat with the
arrival of its first Major League Soccer
franchise the Toronto FC, which is
scheduled to play its first game at the
new 20,000 seat BMO Stadium at
Exhibition Place next spring. Toronto FC
is the first MLS expansion outside of
the United States.
In an effort to boost attendance the
Toronto FC is in search of talented
local soccer players who are willing to
take their playing career to the next
level. The team will be conducting
tryouts at the Ontario Soccer Centre in
the City of Vaughan and registration can
be done online at www.torontofc.ca. The
try-outs are open to persons 14 years
and older and registration deadline is
November 27, 2006. The registration will
be limited to the first 1,000 people who
register on line.
On the national scene the Canadian women
senior team is in serious training for
the upcoming Gold Cup in California, USA
in November. The Canadian women will be
playing the winner of the Panama versus
Jamaica game in the semi final on
November 22. Reigning Women’s Gold Cup
Champions, USA will meet the winner of
the Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago game in
the next semi final.
The Champion team and the runner-up will
automatically qualify to the 2007 FIFA
Women’s World Cup in China. The
third-place finisher in the CONCACAF
event will face Japan (from the Asian
Football Confederation) in a
home-and-away playoff for the final
berth in the FIFA tournament.
The Canadian senior men team is also in
preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup as
they join Mexico and host USA in the
North Zone that waits the advancing
teams from the Caribbean Digicel Cup
tournament and Central American zone.
Four out of the twelve teams from the
Caribbean Digicel Cup will advance to
the twelve-team Gold Cup.
Final Round will be held in Trinidad &
Tobago with five teams from the Central
American Qualification zone (2007 UNCAF
Nations Cup hosted by El Salvador) and
three automatic qualifiers from the
North Zone (Canada, Mexico and USA), and
four teams from the Caribbean zone. The
2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup is scheduled from
June 6-24 in cities across the USA with
venues to be announced in November.
Haiti and St Kitts/Nevis Advance in
Youth World Cup
Haiti and St.
Kitts/Nevis won Group G and Group H
respectively in the Caribbean zone to
qualify for the CONCACAF/FIFA World
Youth Cup to be played in Mexico and
Panama in January and February. The big
surprise of the first round was the fact
that Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago did
not win their groups and as such will
have to play each other for the third
spot in the Caribbean Zone. The winner
will advance to complete in the final
eight of the CONCACAF U-20 Group. Four
out of the eight teams will advance to
the FIFA under-20 World Youth Cup, in
Canada next summer.
St Kitts/Nevis won Group F with a 2-1-0
record with wins against T&T (1-0) and
the Dominican Republic (3-1). T&T
clinched second place (on goal
difference) after opening with a 1-1 tie
with the Dominican Republic and an
important 3 goal margin win over St
Vincent and the Grenadines 3-0. Haiti
secured first place in group G after a
0-0 tie with Jamaica in Haiti.
Not so long it was customary Jamaica and
Trinidad and Tobago to be playing for
first place or the final of a
prestigious cup. Presently the Jamaica
football program seemed to be under
construction while their top brass is
under fire although the Jamaica U-20
team has been consistent in the
tournament.
On the flip side Trinidad and Tobago
World Cup success seemed to have created
problems for the T&T Football Fedefation
and an unfair distraction for their U-20
team. Nevertheless the T&T youth team
improved their play and final standings
after a spirited performance against SVG.
This was complimented with a better job
by T&T head coach Brian Williams.
It is clear that the other Caribbean
countries have improved their level of
play to be capable of defeating Jamaica
and T&T. Based on just completed first
round of play in the tournament it is
safe to say that the CONCACAF teams will
have to raise their level of play before
the finals in Canada.
The amazing results of the evenly
matched T&T Group F division are as
follows: St Vincent and the Grenadines
opened the Group F schedule with a 3-1
win over the Dominican Republic. The
Dominican Republic in turn, went on to
defeated St Kitts/Nevis 1-0 in their
next game. St Kitts/Nevis rebound to
defeat T&T by a score of 1-0 after T&T
tied 1-1 with the Dominican Republic.
The group winners were decided on the
last day of play when St Kitts defeated
Dominican Republic 2-1 to secure first
place and T&T overcoming SVG 3-0 to
clinch second spot.
The Jamaica versus Trinidad and Tobago
series will create a lot of hype but
these two teams still have a lot of work
to do to advance pass the next round.
Italia Shooters
upset Serbian White Eagles
Trinidad and Tobago-born 18 year old
Anthony Adur, the youngest player on the
field scored the lone goal at the 62
minute mark to help Italia Shooter upset
Serbian White Eagles to win the Canadian
Soccer League championship. The game was
played at Ester Shiner Stadium on Sunday
before a close to sell out crowd that
comprised of predominantly Serbian
supporters.
The
game was a see saw battle with lots of
action and the early surprise was that
Italia Shooters was holding their own
against the powerful Serbians attack.
The fact that the Shooters had the
better scoring opportunities after a 0-0
first half was good for the game. This
was the Shooters fourth attempt at the
league championship in as many years and
to sum up their thinking they were of
the opinion that “something had to give”
this season.
They
defeated arguably the #2 teams in the
Toronto Croatia to get to the final and
by their tenacity in this game it also
appeared that they were well prepared.
Tactically Italia made adjustments to
their team that seem questionable but
did work. One of these moves was moving
their offensive player and 2005 League
MVP (T&T born) Desmond Humphrey to the
central defense position where he
constructed their offensive plays by
spraying long precise passes to both
flankers in the first half. This
strategy seemed to confuse the Serbians
coaching staff and caught their defense
by surprise on a number of occasions in
the first half.
The second half was similar to the first
with Serbians turning up the offense a
notch and Italia using the counter
attack more frequently. It was from one
of those counter attacks that Anthony
Adur broke free and unleash a volley
from close up to give Italia the lead
they never relinquished. In the dying
moments of the game one could tell it
was not the Serbians night when one of
their headers from within the six yard
box rebound off the upright with the
Shooters goalkeeper beaten. However
these chances were not as frequent as
the Serbian White Eagles would have
liked due to the defensive efforts of
the Italia Shooters that proved to be
the difference in the game.
Kwesi Loney another Positive for the
Community
Kwesi Loney of Scarborough has followed
in the footsteps of his father by being
in the winners circle for a third
consecutive time. Kwesi was very
instrumental in securing three major
championships for his Ottawa St
Anthony’s Italia team over the past
month, and in doing so helped his club
create history.
Winning three of the major trophies is
a first. St Anthony's dethroned GS
United of Scarborough in the Ontario Cup
final and went on and prove they were
worthy Ontario Cup champions by
advancing to win the National
Championship in Vancouver.
Kwesi
is the son of Anthony Loney who was one
of the foundation players of the
(defunct) Iere Sports Club over the
years and a winner of numerous goal
scoring titles in his long illustrious
career. Similar to his father Kwesi is a
crafty player but unlike his dad, his
left foot is his bread and butter. He
can play all positions but has been a
reliable defensive player at the high
levels of competition. He does move
forward with confidence and has
developed a tremendous long throw-in
that was one of the offensive trade
marks of the now defunct dominant Ottawa
Wizards team. Kwesi was a member of the
Wizards when they won the CSL (formerly
called the Canadian Professional Soccer
League back to back in 2002-03.
He
was also a representative of an All
Canadian University team that traveled
to Seoul Korea for the the World
University games. After going full
circle from Amateur to professional and
back with success, maybe the Canadian
national selector will make that all
important phone call to Kwesi to add
some punch to the team.
Kwesi
mother is Mrs. Tressa Hislop Loney,
cousin of Shaka Hislop and given the
gene pool he's dipped in on both sides
of the family it is comes as no surprise
that Kwesi has evolved into a terrific
soccer player and a well rounded young
man.
Kwesi
, a past pupil of Mother Teresa High
School in the Malvern area, is a
graduate of Carlton University, Ottawa
with a B.A. in Political Science. He is
willing to take things in stride and
ladies he can be reached at 416-Ohshucks
or 613-AH Forget.
ICaribbean Stars has an abundance amount
of talent in the community just waiting
to be discovered or to be given that
important break.
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