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Nakajima-Farran, Piette the only real surprises on Canada roster

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/17/2012

Issey Nakajima-Farran, with Canada back in 2010, PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

Canadian men’s national team coach Stephen Hart had been stating over and over not to expect too many surprises when he unveiled the roster for a June 3 friendly against the United States and two World Cup qualifiers to follow.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised that we weren’t surprised. For the most part, it’s a squad very similar to what we saw through the first phase of World Cup qualifying, which saw Canada eliminate St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and Puerto Rico.

Of the 22 men named to the roster, only two — teenager Samuel Piette and veteran Issey Nakajima-Farran, who plays in Australia — would be considered eyebrow-raisers.

Piette, at 17, was a major part of Canada’s team at last year’s U-17 World Cup and the recent U-23 squad that came within one game of securing a berth at the London Olympics. He is reportedly close to a deal with Fortuna Dusseldorf, who earlier this week secured its return to the Bundesliga.
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Deja vu: Whitecaps let TFC escape Vancouver with an advantage, again

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/17/2012

Joe Cannon: Point-blank save on Nick Soolsma

It is the nature of two-legged Cup ties that the first game is often forgotten. Quick. Think back to the first leg of the Chelsea-Barcelona Champions League semifinal. Doesn’t come back to you as quickly as that epic second leg, does it?

And when we think of the 2011 Voyageurs’ Cup final, we remember the second leg, not the first. The rainout and subsequent replay turned that second leg into a strangely epic affair, and Whitecaps fans still lament losing a second-half 1-0 lead because a downpour at BMO Field aborted the first attempt at playing the game.

Almost conveniently forgotten was the first leg, which the Whitecaps dominated in terms of possession and chances. But the ‘Caps squandered chance after chance and settled for a 1-1 draw, which set up TFC to take that home leg.

Fast forward to 2012: Again, the Whitecaps get a 1-1 draw at home. A 91st-minute wonder volley from Eric Hassli, which came just minutes after keeper Joe Cannon denied TFC striker Nick Soolsma a vital insurance goal on a point-blank chance, gave the draw a euphoric feel for Vancouver fans.
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Hassli’s thumping volley allows Whitecaps to draw level with TFC

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/17/2012

Eric Hassli

It was another Eric Hassli special.

With the Vancouver Whitecaps down 1-0, the big Frenchman reached into his bag of magic tricks and pulled out one his finest efforts yet, hitting a powerful volley into the top right corner of Milos Kocic’s goal.

The wonder strike ensures it’s all squared up at one apiece going into next Wednesday’s second leg at BMO Field, after Ryan Johnson fired Toronto into the lead with a 66th minute header from a cross from Julian de Guzman.

“Alain [Rochat] gave me a great ball,” Hassli told reporters following the match. “I practiced yesterday. I killed some birds [with wayward shots] and today was pretty good – lucky too. It’s a good goal.”
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Rago’s return to starting XI has been a major boost for FC Edmonton

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/16/2012

Shaun Saiko, left, and Antonio Rago at FCE practice Wednesday at Clarke Stadium.

Before the kickoff of the 2012 NASL season, FC Edmonton’s coaching staff pulled right back Antonio Rago aside to give him some bad news — that he’d lost his place in the starting XI.

Rago, a local product and fan favourite, was almost an automatic choice in coach Harry Sinkgraven’s starting lineups throughout the 2011 season. So, when Rago began the year on the subs’ bench, it was an eyebrow-raiser of a move.

But, over the last two weeks, Rago has reclaimed his starting spot. Before Rago came in as a started, Edmonton was winless in four league games. Since he came back, the team has won its two NASL matches by an aggregate 5-0 count and showed very well in an Amway Canadian Championship semifinal loss to Vancouver at BC Place — in which Rago set up Yashir Pinto’s goal for the Eddies.

Rago brings the kind of intangibles that you don’t find on a stat sheet. Intensity and an ability to judge when is the right time to go forward, and when he needs to remain at his post.

And, through the process, he said he never allowed himself to get bitter.

“It wasn’t a surprise (being dropped),” said Rago after FCE completed the first of two training sessions at Clarke Stadium, Wednesday. “The coaches came to me and told me that I wasn’t playing at the level that they knew I was capable of. They didn’t feel like I had a good preseason. And, to be honest, they were right. But I am a team player. I don’t sit on the bench cheering against my teammates just because I am not playing.”
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Richmond-based club asks for court injunction to stop BCSA-Whitecaps deal

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/15/2012

Colin Elmes

The B.C. Soccer Association is being sued.

Late last week, Sportstown B.C. Holdings and Total Soccer Systems Inc. filed their suit in the province’s Supreme Court which asks for an injunction that would prevent the provincial soccer body from continuing its partnership with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

All items reported in the statement of claim have yet to be proven in a court of law.

The TSS Academy, based in Richmond, is a for-proft academy that isn’t allowed to become a full BCSA member. And it is angered that the BCSA entered partnerships with the Whitecaps, which is a for-profit MLS team. The Academy believes that is an unfair barrier to its business. According to TSS, the issue is not the Whitecaps, it’s the BCSA.

Even though the case is a long way from being heard, in the meantime TSS and its lawyers are asking for “a temporary injunction prohibiting the Defendant (the BCSA) from receiving any funding from the Vancouver Whitecaps or from the Province of British Columbia” until the case has been resolved.
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Canadian women work on mixing up their attack as Vancouver camp continues

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/15/2012

Coach John Herdman, left, passes on instruction to Melissa Tancredi, middle, and Christina Julien in Foxboro, Mass. ahead of a friendly against Brazil, last March. PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

Two months to go until London 2012.

It’s the big tournament the Canadian Women’s National Team has been waiting for since the disappointment of last year’s World Cup, in which Big Red crashed out in the group stage with three straight losses to Germany, France and Nigeria.

The team is in the midst of a residency camp being held throughout Metro Vancouver, as head coach John Herdman prepares his charges for the biggest tournament under his tenure since taking over from Carolina Morace in September, 2011.

“It’s huge,” captain Christine Sinclair told The 11 after a training session at North Vancouver’s Kinsmen Stadium Monday evening. “It’s our camp preparing for the Olympics. It’s a unique opportunity for us to be in Vancouver together for two or three months. We’ve got a lot to work on and that’s giving us that chance.”
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