fabregas

this is crap, read 'Me and My Crewe' instead.

spurzgrrl

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brian of Nazareth:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by spurzgrrl:
In CM4, Canada often ended up HOSTING the World Cup in 2010, or 2014, which was kinda cool (if, as yet, quite unlikely). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Could I lay a sneaky bet that if the USA qualified their group games would be at Vacouver Island, Halifax and Labrador? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't be silly. We'd offer our neighbours full three-coast goodness: one game in Victoria, one game in St. John's, and one in Iqaluit. In February.

Chezwig©

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fabregas:
this is crap, read 'Me and My Crewe' instead. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is great! even though this is all fiction, i'm nervous for the guy! Go Canada!

Onita

Colin, that is one tough ass group! Good luck, buddy!

Pierroth

(Well, let's see how tough those Nicaraguans are in FM now. )

August 3, 2004

Paul Stalteri is sold by Werder Bremen for £350,000 to Real Mallorca. Although the fee was cheap, Stalteri is still highly valued and I feel this move will give him more exposure while still allowing him to face a high level of competition.

August 4, 2004

MacKinnon names squad for Cuba match

TORONTO (Canadasoccer.com) - Colin MacKinnon has named a 23-man squad to face Cuba on August 18, the first match in Semi Final Group 2 of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

"I feel that this squad provides us with an explosive mix of talent which should allow us to take the game to Cuba and come out of Havana with an important first 3 points," said MacKinnon. "We cannot underestimate Cuba, but we also cannot take any chances by calling up a weakened squad for the game. It's important to put our best foot forward and send a message right away."

The squad is largely unchanged from the team which beat St. Kitts & Nevis in June, with the addition of veteran Fernando Aguiar from Penafiel in Portugal. He replaces Tam Nsaliwa, who has been fighting for a squad spot at Saarbrucken in Germany.

The squad named for the match against Cuba:

Goalkeepers:

Lars Hirschfeld (Dundee United, Scottish Premier League)
Pat Onstad (San Jose Earthquakes, MSL)
Greg Sutton (Montreal Impact, A-League)

Defenders:

Jim Brennan (Norwich City, English Premiership)
Jason De Vos (Ipswich Town, English Championship)
Kevin Harmse (Rochester Raging Rhinos, A-League)
Stathis Kappos (AEK Athens, Greek National A Division)
Mike Klukowski (La Louviere, Belgian First Division)
Kevin McKenna (Hearts, Scottish Premier League)
Marco Reda (Sogndal, Norwegian Premier Division)
Adrian Serioux (Millwall, English Championship)
Paul Stalteri (Mallorca, Spanish Premier Division)

Midfielders:

Fernando Aguiar (Penafiel, Portuguese Premier Division)
Patrice Bernier (Tromso, Norwegian Premier Division)
Marc Bircham (Queens Park Rangers, English Championship)
Maycoll Canizalez (Hannover 96, German Bundesliga)
Julian De Guzman (Hannover 96, German Bundesliga)
Iain Hume (Tranmere Rovers, English League One)
Atiba Hutchinson (Helsingborg, Swedish Premier Division)

Forwards:

Dwayne De Rosario (San Jose Earthquakes, MLS)
Oliver Occean (Odd Grenland, Norwegian Premier Division)
Rob Friend (Molde, Norwegian Premier Division)
Tomasz Radzinski (Fulham, English Premiership)

Pierroth

August 17, 2004

Qualifying continues without two top teams

(Reuters) – CONCACAF qualifying for the 2006 World Cup starts again tomorrow night with 6 matches, although both Mexico and Costa Rica are conspicuously absent from the lineup.

Both teams, participants in the last World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, were unceremoniously eliminated in the last round by Nicaragua and Belize, respectively. That left the United States as the only entrant from the last World Cup still alive in the competition.

The Semi Final round consists of three groups of four teams each. Each team will play the others in their group home and away, a total of six matches. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Final round in 2005.

Group 1: The United States should have no problems advancing to the Final, as manager Bruce Arena has put together a solid side rich in talent and experience. Honduras will be looking to steal first place in the group from the Americans, with stars such as Saul Martinez and David Suazo leading the way. Panama will be aiming for a respectable performance, while Grenada will likely aim to learn from this experience.

Group 2: Canada and Jamaica should battle it out for top spot in the group. The Canadians are focusing on youth this time around, with few players under the age of 30 in the mix. Jamaica has a strong lineup of players from the English leagues who bring with them a unique blend skill and experience. Both teams will be wary of Nicaragua, who stunned Mexico to reach the Semi Final and will be looking to build on that achievement through players such as Jose Bermudez. Cuba rounds out the group.

Group 3: Likely the toughest group in this phase, with three teams all with realistic hopes of qualification. El Salvador’s always viewed by teams in the region as difficult to play against, especially at home with their rabid fans. Guatemala will be hoping that Carlos Ruiz continues his fine form, while an aging Trinidad & Tobago squad will hope that they have enough energy left for one final run towards the World Cup. Belize, despite eliminating Costa Rica in the last round, will likely find themselves the odd man out.

Pierroth

August 18, 2004

FIFA World Cup – CONCACAF Qualifying – Semi Final Group 2, Matchday 1
Cuba vs. Canada

Cuba (4-4-2): Molina, Diaz, Driggs, M. Rodriguez, Marquez (c), Alvarez, Gandara, Martinez, Torres, Amikale, Delgado. Subs: Castellano, More, Faife, Colome, Cruzata, R. Rodriguez, Galindo.

Canada (4-4-2): Onstad, Serioux, Brennan, De Vos (c), McKenna, Hume, Stalteri, Hutchinson, Bernier, Radzinski, Occean. Subs: Sutton, Reda, Klukowski, Aguiar, De Guzman, Harmse, De Rosario.

One word could describe this game – temperamental. Radzinski streaked into the box 3 minutes in and had a great chance at goal, but was tripped up by Mario Rodriguez, earning us a penalty kick and earning Rodriguez a yellow card. Torres received a yellow as well for dissent. After everything was cleared up, De Vos calmly converted the penalty to put us on the board. Occean showed some great skill two minutes later in reading Hume’s cross, which went off Occean’s boot and Diaz’s thigh into the back of the net for our second goal. The main problem after those goals was discipline. Cuba sucked our players into taking some stupid fouls and earning some yellow cards; De Vos’ in the 32nd minute ensured he would be given a one-game suspension by FIFA, by virtue of having two to his name already. Cuba had some chances early in the second half, but their attempt at a comeback was halted in the 68th minute when Amikale earned his second yellow card for mouthing off at the referee, causing Cuba to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. Some poor finishing meant that we couldn’t expand on our lead, but we didn’t need to in the end.

Cuba 0 (Katsudi Amakale s/o 68)
Canada 2 (Jason De Vos 6pen, Oliver Occean 8)

Man of the Match: Oliver Occean
Attendance: 17,990
Referee: Armando Rosales

spurzgrrl

Come one you reds!

Pierroth

CONCACAF WCQ Semi Final Day 1 reports

(AP) – Match reports from today’s games in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying:

Grenada 2, Honduras 2

Grenada had a shock 2-1 lead after the first 6 minutes, Saul Martinez’s early marker being wiped out by two quick goals from Tony Bedeau and Shalrie Joseph. Carlos Alberto Pavon tied the game in the 42nd minute, but Honduras could not break down Grenada’s defense in the second half.

Panama 0, United States 1

Brian McBride’s goal in the 21st minute off a pass from Carlos Bocanegra was all the United States needed to beat Panama. Claudio Reyna left the game in the dying moments with what was reported to be a shoulder injury.

Cuba 0, Canada 2

Jason De Vos scored a 6th minute penalty and Oliver Occean followed with a well-placed strike 2 minutes later to lead Canada to a comprehensive victory over Cuba in Havana.

Nicaragua 2, Jamaica 2

In Managua, Wilber Sanchez scored twice for the surprising Nicaraguans, who came back twice after Jamaica went ahead through Kevin Lisbie and Tyrone Marshall in each half. Sanchez could have secured a stunning upset in the 87th minute, but his strike just grazed the top of the crossbar.

Belize 2, El Salvador 2

Diego Armando Mejia’s brace had El Salvador in control after the first half, but Dean Flowers came back with goals in the 50th and 65th minutes, allowing Belize to steal a point against the run of play in front of just over 4,000 fans at the People’s Stadium.

Guatemala 1, Trinidad & Tobago 2

In Guatemala City, Andre Boucaud and Marvin Andrews led Trinidad & Tobago to a 2-1 victory over 10-man Guatemala, who had Nelson Noel Morales sent off in the 36th minute for a hard shove on Stern John. Carlos Ruiz scored for Guatemala.

Pierroth

August 20, 2004

MacKinnon makes one change for Nicaragua and Jamaica matches

TORONTO (Canadasoccer.com) – The Canadian men’s national team squad only saw one change made to it ahead of the next two matches in Semi Final Group 2 of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, at home to Nicaragua and away to Jamaica.

The change sees Fernando Aguiar being dropped, with Chris Pozniak of Norway’s Haugesund taking his place.

MacKinnon said, “I was extremely pleased with the efforts of the squad against Cuba. With little time between that match and the deadline to name the squad for the upcoming matches, I decided to keep faith with the current squad; however, depending on how things go I may take a look at some new faces in October.”

The squad named for the matches against Nicaragua and Jamaica:

Goalkeepers:

Lars Hirschfeld (Dundee United, Scottish Premier League)
Pat Onstad (San Jose Earthquakes, MSL)
Greg Sutton (Montreal Impact, A-League)

Defenders:

Jim Brennan (Norwich City, English Premiership)
Jason De Vos (Ipswich Town, English Championship)
Kevin Harmse (Rochester Raging Rhinos, A-League)
Stathis Kappos (AEK Athens, Greek National A Division)
Mike Klukowski (La Louviere, Belgian First Division)
Kevin McKenna (Hearts, Scottish Premier League)
Chris Pozniak (Haugesund, Norwegian First Division)
Marco Reda (Sogndal, Norwegian Premier Division)
Adrian Serioux (Millwall, English Championship)
Paul Stalteri (Mallorca, Spanish Premier Division)

Midfielders:

Patrice Bernier (Tromso, Norwegian Premier Division)
Marc Bircham (Queens Park Rangers, English Championship)
Maycoll Canizalez (Hannover 96, German Bundesliga)
Julian De Guzman (Hannover 96, German Bundesliga)
Iain Hume (Tranmere Rovers, English League One)
Atiba Hutchinson (Helsingborg, Swedish Premier Division)

Forwards:

Dwayne De Rosario (San Jose Earthquakes, MLS)
Oliver Occean (Odd Grenland, Norwegian Premier Division)
Rob Friend (Molde, Norwegian Premier Division)
Tomasz Radzinski (Fulham, English Premiership)