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Okay, so I'm officially a candidate for "most absent-minded manager of the year". Ante Razov walks into my office this morning and he says "you know we've been drawn in the North American Gold Cup, don't you? It'll be a great tune-up for the World Cup qualifiers". I was stunned. "Jeez! Thank you for reminding me", I said. That was embarrassing. It's not like me to just neglect the tournaments like that, but I swear I've been so focused on getting us into the World Cup that I haven't been able to think of anything else. Hell, I've been sleeping at work lately. "Who's in our group? Who did we draw first?" I asked. Razov sighed heavily. "Want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked. "Okay, the good news", I replied. "We're in a group with St. Martin", he said, only slightly confidently. "And the bad news....?" I asked, nervously. "Brazil is the other team in our group, and we play them first. We have less than two months to prepare. We open on January 19th."
Maybe the nights of sleeping at the office and not getting to sleep until 4am are getting to me. Maybe I just completely lost my head for a second, but the moment the word "Brazil" came out of his mouth, I chuckled. "What's so funny?" Razov asked, annoyed that he felt I probably wasn't taking this seriously. "Ahh..it's just our luck to draw Brazil in a tournament like that." I replied. But honestly, I'm not concerned. Not that I want to lose. Hell, I'd love to walk in there and upset them and show the world that we're a force to be reckoned with. On the other side of it though, we still have time to use the two round robin games (we play St. Martin four days later, I saw the schedule myself) as tune-up matches for our World Cup run. I'm allowed three subs per game, so I will use that opportunity to rest the 30-plus year olds in the second half of each game (we have three guys 30 years of age or over on the starting eleven) and give some young kids an opportunity for one half per game to show me that they're worthy of inclusion on the big stage which comes up a short few weeks later. At any rate, we will certainly be competitive, and I'd like to think that we have an upset in us. I just hope that I see some bright sparks out of the young guys when they're given a chance. They're the foundation and the future of this squad, as corny as that sounds. They will be the ones who will carry us into future World Cups, beyond 2014.. It's time for them to step up now and show me some quality.
North America Gold Cup First Round - Jan 19/2013 Brazil 3 Canada 0
Personal Thoughts
This wasn't even close. We didn't even go into it with the starting 11 that I had intended. Jonathan DeGuzman will miss the entire Gold Cup tournament as well as (at least) the first three qualifying matches for the World Cup. He's being treated by a specialist for a broken foot. He was replaced by Jamie Peters (age 25, contracted to Luton) who, admittedly, was rusty as he hadn't played a competitive match for us in almost a year.
We'll make some roster adjustments and get ready for St. Martin. It's a must-win game.
Brazil 3Dani Alves (27), Rafael Sobis (40, 63) Canada 0 MOM - David (Brazil)
Canada 5 St. Martin 1 - North America Gold Cup Round Robin Match 2 Jan 23rd, 2013
That's more like it. A very VERY well rounded performance from the boys. I won't get too into it, as I have to prepare for our quarterfinal match (versus the USA). Suffice to say that I am VERY confident going into our next game, a short 3 days from now.
Canada 5 (Andrea Lombardo 21, 57, Will Johnson 23, Atiba Hutchinson Pen 28, 40) St. Martin - 1 (Francois Shmitt Pen 3) MOM - Andrea Lombardo - Canada
USA 16 Canada 1 North America Gold Cup Quarterfinal, January 26, 2013
I don't even know what to say. I've never lost a game this badly. Not at Hereford, and certainly not with this team. I will admit to a bit of roster experimenting, I removed all of our 30 year olds from the starting roster (and left them on the substitution list), in an attempt to test out some of our younger guys. It didn't work. I'm expecting to be fired. Maybe I'm overblowing it, but I probably SHOULD be fired after that piece of crap performance.
We were down 8-0 at the half. I didn't even say a word to the squad in the locker room at the half. I just called out the subs for the second half (including replacing our starting keeper Begovic with 34 year old Lars Hirschfeld). Apparently 34 years of age is old enough to ensure your reflexes are completely gone, because he let in eight in the second half. We lost Atiba Hutchinson with a twisted ankle. He could be gone for a month. We had two players sent off, both in the first 30 minutes of the game. Michael Abusabal was sent off in the 3rd minute, and David de Rosario was sent off in the 29th. Both players will be suspended for our first World Cup qualifying match against this same United States team on Feburary 6th.
There's no point in going over all the goals. Michael Klukowski scored on a free kick for us in the 66th minute, but that's basically irrelevant. I suppose it's worth mentioning that striker Eddie Johnson had a double hat trick for the States.
We're in trouble. At this point, the way I'm feeling - I almost wish I could pull us out of the World Cup qualifiers. We don't deserve the opportunity. Good grief.
Better, But Still A Loss - World Cup Qualifying, Phase 3 Match 1, 3 Feb 2013. USA 4 Canada 2
Well, I suppose I expected the outcome, but it was a better performance than I expected it would be. We lost 4-2. I think we just came out a little bit too fired up. We scored VERY quickly, as Andrea Lombardo showed great skill with a goal in the fourth minute.
It sort of fell apart from there. We weren't making the kind of short passes our system requires, our goal kicks were longer than they should have been, and they were winning everything in the air.
Eddie Gaven (midfielder) had a hat trick for the States, earning Man Of The Match honours in the process. The amazing Freddy Adu had one, and Lombardo had another for us in the 87th minute, but it was too little too late.
I honestly liked what I saw, in many ways. I'm happy, first of all, that I was given a reprieve by Soccer Canada, and I really think that we still have a chance to get something done. We probably can only afford to lose one more match, though. It'll be difficult, but I think we have it in us. Next up is Mexico on March 23.
My starting 11 were as follows:
GK Asmir Begovic DR Paul Stalteri DL Michael Klukowski DC Kevin McKenna DC Jason DeTullio MR Peter Blicharski ML Jim Brennan DMC Steve Gazzola AMC Nick Gazzola FC Andrea Lombardo FC Will Johnson
I'm thinking of replacing Blicharski with Iain Hume at my right midfielder, just because I know Hume can score better than Blicharski. It was nice to see both Gazzolas on the pitch. I'm not sure how long that will last. Nick is only 21 and was the youngest player out there for us today. We'll see. I've decided that I'll give myself the freedom to change my mind on my roster situation until I'm asked to submit it officially, about a week before the game. There are certain veteran players who I won't change, but my midfield seems to be one big experiment. I've got a couple guys coming back off suspensions for the next game. I'm not sure what I'll do with them. They've probably been punnished enough by being suspended for this game. I may just keep them on my seven-man substitution list for the next one though, we'll see.
I just don't know anymore. This program has gone so far downhill in the last couple of years. As I sit and write this, we're winless halfway through the third World Cup Qualifying Phase, with only draws against Cuba and Guatemala (two teams which were sufficiently weak that I thought they would be easy wins) to show for our effort (and I use the word "effort" VERY loosely). We sit at 0 wins, 3 losses and two draws. We're four points out of a playoff spot, and five points out of the last of three guaranteed qualifying slots.
We've lost Jason Kindel, a promising 21 year old striker who had a goal and a couple of assists for us. He broke his leg and will be gone for five months. We're a couple of yellow cards away from losing two players to suspension. We can't play defense the way we need to, we make stupid decisions when we have the ball. We'll have someone wide open ready to receive a pass and we'll just hoof the ball fifty rows up into the stands. Maddening. We've even scored a damn own goal (centre defender Kevin McKenna, versus Costa Rica). We only scored (to my memory) one own goal in four years with Hereford. When we DO manage to work the ball into the area, we shoot as if we're drunk and can't see where the goal is, in spite of the fact that it's right in front of us. Andrea Lombardo, who had been such an incredible force for us, has been reduced to a near non-factor since scoring two goals in the first match of the third phase versus the USA. In the four games since, he has a mere two goals. Not bad for some, but I've come to expect better from him.
Speaking of Hereford, I have to comment on them for a moment. The mighty have fallen, and I'm saddened by it. I had an opportunity between matches to go online and have a look at their team. It's an absolute shell of what it used to be. They're no longer in the League one. They stayed up in League One the year that I left, but the year after, they finished dead last in the league and were relegated back to league two. They've sold off the starting keeper (this guy once had sixteen clean sheets for us in one season), they've sold off the guy who used to be our captain. They are (at last check) in 12th place in league two. In the back of my mind, I'm hoping Mr. Turner will call me and ask me to come back. I'd go back in an instant, and the negotiation would go something like "alright Ian, how much do you want us to pay you?" to which I'd reply, "Whatever you can, sir! I don't care!" Okay, now I'm daydreaming. I really don't expect that call will come. That I miss club football is an absolute certainty. I miss the day to day stuff. I miss playing 4 or 5 meaningful games a month instead of 4 or 5 meaningful games a year, the way we do now, in an off-year for World Cup qualifying activity.
That aside, we still have five matches to play, at least. We have the United States and Mexico up next. Those two matches will do one of two things. They'll either seal our fate and our dream of two World Cup appearances in a row will fade to black, or, we'll get the kick in the ass we need to propel us through the last half of this phase of qualifying. I know that all of us, players and staff alike, have something to prove - to the fans, and to eachother.
I'll post screen shots of the final scores. I won't go into roster detail because at least one or two changes were made prior to each match, for various reasons.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? CANADA QUALIFIES FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUP
Personal Thoughts - 10 October, 2013
Unbeliavable. Absolutely unbelievable. This is as big an accomplishment as a manager and coach as I have ever acheived. We've done it, we've done it, we've done it! After our first five matches, we were 0 and 3 with two draws. We started the second half of the ten match third qualifying phase with losses, 4-0 versus Mexico and 3-2 (not bad, really) verus the USA. I honestly figured after the loss to the Americans that we were just going to play out the string and be done with it, our dreams of qualifying for a second World Cup seemed dead in the water. How wrong was I?
I don't have a clue what got into us, I honestly don't. Maybe it was the fact that we were at home at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton for the last three matches. Maybe it was just desperation, I don't know. Whatever it was, we went 3-0 in our last three matches, outscoring our opponents by a combined total of 13-2.
It started with a 5-1 win versus Costa Rica. Will Johnson re-emerged for us as a major scoring threat with a hat trick, with goals in the 2nd, 18th and 55th minute. Kurt Harmese, a brilliant 21 year old striker (I seem to have a knack for finding young strikers) added one in the 26th, and Peter Blicharski tallied one in the 53rd. Will Johnson, deservedly, was named Man Of The Match. Carlos Rojas scored Costa Rica's lone goal in the 81st minute
Next up was Cuba. This was one of the matches we should have won in the earlier part of this phase. We didn't disappoint, with an impressive 3-1 win. Midfielder Julian DeGuzman opened the scoring in the 11th minute with his first ever goal for Canada - a great strike from about six yards out. Centre midfielder Nick Gazzola, who has really become a rock in the centre of our midfield, scored in the 71st, and Defender Paul Stalteri rounded out the scoring for us in the 89th. A tremendous, well-rounded performance.
I obviously had a certain level of expectations for us going into the last game. At that point, we had already secured the one playoff spot that was available should we need to go to a playoff to determine the third and final qualifier. We didn't need it. We absolutely blasted Guatemala - they stood absolutely no chance. The final score was 5-0. All scoring was done in the first 45 minutes. Nick Gazzola again showed why he has been a part of our starting 11, and will be starting for us in the World Cup if he remains healthy. He tallied two goals, in the 4th and 33rd minutes. Will Johnson added yet another goal in the 15th, Andrea Lombardo finally got back on the score sheet with a goal in the 25th, and young midfielder Jason Franks scored one in the 30th.
The second half was uneventful, they attempted to mount a couple of attacks but our back four stopped everything they needed to, with ease. It was such a release after the referee blew the final match to a close and I knew that we were going to Spain. I just stood there and shook my head, in a sort of happy, stunned state of complete disbelief. At this point, I may just allow myself a few days holiday to unwind. These World Cup qualifying matches have certainly been the most draining I've ever been involved in.
We have a couple of friendly matches scheduled in the next little while. In a month, we play Jamaica, which should be a bit of a walk, and then against the Cubans three or four days later. I guess we'll find out in a couple of months time who we're grouped with come next Summer. The host nation this time around will be Spain. Argentina are the defending Champions.
I never ever thought we'd be at this point, based on most of our matches this year. We won when it counted, though, and we'll need to do the same for a month in Spain.
A few months back, I wrote that we were seventeen matches away from the World Cup Finals. Seventeen has now become seven. Three of those seven are guaranteed. This will be the most difficult test we've ever faced, more so even than the World Cup four years ago. We're younger at most positions, we lack some of the veteran leadership that we had going into the last World Cup four years ago. The defensive and ball handling mistakes we've made are certainly concerning. But those issues are for another moment, another time. Now is a time for celebration. Canada ought to be proud of this, as a nation.
November 1, 2013 The Canadian Soccer Association, along with Manager Ian Eckstein, held a news conference today at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton to discuss the upcoming World Cup, and the state of Soccer in Canada.
Opening statement from Manager Eckstein
"Thank you, everyone for being here today. First of all, I would like to address my future with the Canadian Soccer Association. Almost from the beginning of my tenure, there have been rumours surfacing that I am the leading candidate for any number of jobs with any number of nations or clubs around the world. Let me state categorically, I will not be leaving the Canadian Soccer Association for the forseeable future. Furthermore, I wish to announce today my intention to remain as the Manager and Head Coach for the Canadian Men's program at least through the 2018 World Cup.
The last four years have been a time of growth and some struggle for our senior men's program. We appeared in the 2010 World Cup, winning a group stage match for the first time ever. We finished fourth and fifth in the two North American Gold Cup tournaments we participated in. And just recently, we qualified for a record second-consecutive World Cup appearance, to be played next summer in Spain.
In an attempt to ensure the stability and growth of both our Under-20 and senior men's international programs, myself and my assistant manager Ante Razov have recently added nearly every youth soccer player available, between the ages of 15-19 to the national player pool. This country, without question, has some talent in it, and everyone on our staff feels as though giving these young kids the opportunity to be exposed to a higher level of competition will only improve them as players, and will prepare them for inclusion in major Under-20 and International Senior Men's tournaments, such as The World Cup.
The future is bright for Canadian Soccer, both on the National and International stages. We will continue to grow, and that growth will, in turn, lead to prosperity, and a place among the elite programs in the world. With that, I will open the floor to questions.
Q: Ian, you just said that you feel that Canada will become among the elite soccer programs in the world. How far off do you feel you are now, and what do you feel you need to do to get there?
A: Obviously, we're growing as a program. I think, if anything, what we've done during our time here is to raise our own expectations, internally, first of all. We now expect to be able to compete on the same level as the traditional World Cup calibre teams.
How far off are we from being competitive with the absolute top tier teams like Brazil and England, for example? That's not a real easy question to answer. I think you have to compare us to some of the other more traditional soccer powerhouses, like a Brazil for example. Brazil produces soccer players the way we produce Hockey or (north american style) Football players. In this country, soccer isn't the first thing on people's minds when they think of sports. It's usually either hockey or football, followed by baseball, followed by soccer. What I think the success we've had is doing, though, is it's increasing our exposure as a sport. I saw that firsthand in the list of players we looked at, as I mentioned previously. We have a couple sixteen year olds who could be on our senior men's program as subs, immediately. Four years ago, when we got here, those players didn't exist.
Q: Ian, you had some issues with the United States both in the World Cup and in the Gold Cup. Can you talk about the disparity between the two countries, and do you feel it's closing at all?
A: That's an interesting question. The thing that not alot of people may remember is that when we got here, we played the States in a friendly and beat them 3-2. I think, honestly, if you look at the stats and scoresheet from the 16-1 game we played in the Gold Cup, it was an anomaly of the highest order. We had guys who had match ratings of ONE. Not seven, six or five..ONE. We had two guys sent off. I don't want to re-hash it. I think we showed alot of improvement against them in the World Cup qualifying matches we played.
That team is so strong though. I hate to praise another team so effusively, but I'd be shocked if they don't make the semi finals in Spain. They're THAT good.
Q: How do you feel your lineup will look going into Spain? Clearly you have some young talent, and your older players are perhaps slowing down a bit...?
A: I wouldn't say that. Although I do agree that we will likely only start one guy over the age of 30 in the Group Stage. All of that, of course, is depenent upon our health as a squad. Injuries may require that philosophy to change, but I really do like the group of younger guys we have. I questioned our leadership on some occasions during the qualifying phases, but I'm hoping some of our kids will step up and show me that they can lead us both on and off the pitch. Obviously, having an older veteran who's been to a World Cup before would be a valuable asset, though. Again, we'll see.
Q: How did you handle the rumours that you were leaving Canada again to manage elsewhere? Was that hard on you?
A: I honestly first of all just hoped that stuff didn't filter down to our players. The last thing we need as we're trying to build ourselves as a unit is a lack of confidence in the manager's loyalty. I made every effort publically to put a stop to those issues, but they just kept coming. Was it difficult on me, on a personal level? I mean, yeah. I had a job to do. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't flattered by some of the offers, but yeah. I did, as most of you know, take a brief journey to Wolverhampton, but that won't happen again.
Moderator: Last question...
Q: Assess your chances in Spain, Ian.
A: As I said when we went to the World Cup for the first time four years ago, if you're in it, you have a chance to win it. Obviously, we have to beat some teams we've NEVER beaten before, but I honestly thought we couldn't win three in a row to get in this year, in the first place. Will it be easy? Obviously not. Will it be impossible? Absolutely not. We have to be smart, we have to stay injury free and score like I know we can. If we do those things, we stand a chance of doing something. If we don't, we'll be out after the group stage, as we were four years ago.
Jesus H! Really enjoying this one. Go Canada!
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