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Canadians can expect Panamanian gamesmanship, even at the U-17 level

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/15/2013

PHOTO: Canada Soccer/MEXSPORT

PHOTO: Canada Soccer/MEXSPORT

It doesn’t matter if it’s men or boys on the pitch — when Panama is hosting an international soccer match, there’s going to be gamesmanship.

Canada faces the Panamanians in the semifinals of the CONCACAF U-17 championship on Wednesday. And, even though Canada clinched a berth in the U-17 World Cup with the 4-2 quarter-final win over Jamaica, coach Sean Fleming was clear that the team’s goal is to win the confederation championship.

“We let the boys enjoy it for 48 hours,” said Fleming in a conference call on Monday. “And today it’s back to work.”

But it won’t be easy. The semifinals will be staged at the national stadium, on grass — where a large crowd is expected to support the home side. Canada’s group-stage matches and quarter-final match was staged on an unpredictable artificial surface.

Will Canada get the chance to train on grass ahead of the game? No. Fleming said they’ve been allocated a turf field. Funny that no grass fields were available. And that’s a big thing: Anyone who has trained on turf in the heat knows that not only is it harder on the knees, but it reflects the heat in a way that grass doesn’t. If it’s hot outside, it’s even hotter on the turf.
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Canadians rally from two deficits and book their spot in U-17 World Cup

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/14/2013
Gordon_Andrew_D2012www

Andrew Gordon

For the second game in a row, a Canadian team faced adversity on Central American soil, And, unlike so many editions of Canadian national teams we’ve seen before, they rose to the occasion.

Canada fell behind twice to Jamaica in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship quarterfinal in Panama. And twice they came back — and then some. Final score, Canada 4, Jamaica 2 — and coach Sean Fleming’s crew wrapped up a spot in this year’s U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Late last week, Canada fell behind 1-0 to Costa Rica in its final group-stage match, but rallied with a late goal from Hanson Boakai to ensure the end of that match wouldn’t be a nervous one — and clinched the Group B title.

And Canada trailed to Jamaica, too. The quarter-final, the most important game of the tournament for the Canadians as it acted as a single-game World Cup qualifier, didn’t start off well for the boys in red. Jamaican striker Khalil Stewart got behind the backline and converted the chance, just five minutes after the kickoff.
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Canadian U-17s will have to deal with heat, bad turf in key CONCACAF quarter-final

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/12/2013

Sean Fleming

Sean Fleming

Jamaica is a quick team that works hard and has no issue getting stuck in.

But the Canadian U-17 team can’t just prepare for the opponent in their do-or-die CONCACAF U-17 Championship quarter-final match. Already having to wrestle with the heat and the turf in Panama, the Canadians found out the Jamaica match had been moved up. It’s now a late-afternoon/early evening match. And that means Canada and Jamaica could be playing in forecasted temperatures of 33 C — and that’s before the humidity is factored in.

And the old artificial surface, which doesn’t see the ball roll or bounce consistently, amplifies the heat at field level. It reflects heat and shoots it right back at the players.

Still, coach Sean Fleming said his team will not use the conditions as an excuse. They have come down here with one goal: To qualify for the semifinals, which, more importantly, earns Canada a berth at the U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates later in 2013.
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Boakai’s wonder strike steers Canada toward U-17 knockout phase

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/11/2013

Hanson Boakai

Hanson Boakai

The Canadians looked to be set for a nervy finish to their final group-stage match at the CONCACAF U-17 Championships.

Canada went into its final group-stage match Wednesday knowing that all it had to do was not lose to Costa Rica by two goals or more. Do that and the Canadian U-17s would win Group B and get a spot in the elimination rounds. But, after 75 minutes, Canada found itself down 1-0, and had seen another Costa Rican effort strike the woodwork.

And that’s when Hanson Boakai, the teenager who is set to become the NASL’s youngest player, unleashed a wonder strike that put Canada in the safe zone. The FC Edmonton midfielder showed us all why his club’s brain trust deemed him ready for a move to the pros and promoted him to the senior side, even though the midfielder is just 16 years of age. Final score, 1-1. We could all exhale.

Out of nothing, he scored maybe the goal of the tournament so far. Cutting off the right wing, he came across the top corner of the box, then unleashed a curler of a left-footed shot that swung back towards the near post and in.
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England gets late goal to earn well-deserved win over the Canadian women

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/07/2013

Ellen White

Ellen White

England got an injury-time header from Ellen White, giving the home side a 1-0 win over Canada in a friendly in Rotherham.

But, troubling for followers of the Canadian women’s program, is that this scoreline clearly flattered the visitors. It used to be that a match against the English was pretty well in the territory of “automatic win” for Canada. But the English beat the Canadians in the Cyprus Cup final and dominated Sunday’s friendly. That’s right — dominated. Sure, the English left it late, but the truth is that the English bossed the match by a wide margin. And, if not for the heroics of Canadian Erin McLeod and some help from the woodwork, the score would have (deservedly) been far more severe.

Now, before we smack a bunch of red warning buttons, some context: Canadian coach John Herdman is in the midst of teaching his team a new way to play, a passing game that, like fruit on the vine, needs time to mature. The maturation date for the Canadian new system is 2015 — when we host the Women’s World Cup.

And, the English side is an older, experienced team that’s played together for years. And, in a telephone conference held before the Canadian team left to play its friendlies in France and England, Herdman warned that the English side isn’t working in young players — and has yet to show it has a new generation of footballers who can pick up from the likes of veterans White and Rachel Yankey.
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Canadians open CONCACAF U-17 tourney on right note

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/07/2013

Jordan Hamilton

Jordan Hamilton

Because only one of the players on the Canadian U-17 roster is currently playing with a club contract in hand, it’s not quite accurate to use the term “professional performance” to describe the team’s 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in their CONCACAF Championship opener.

But, while it wouldn’t be accurate, it would be at least be somewhat fitting. Canada got the goals it needed in Panama and the back line didn’t allow too much to trouble Marco Carducci. And, at no time did you feel that Canada had to shift into third or fourth gear, that this team should have plenty in the tank for its second group-stage match against Costa Rica.

In other words, a professional performance.

Canada dominated the match through the first half, but had to wait until just before halftime before the deadlock was broken. Marco Bustos made like he was going to take the free kick from right outside the Trinidad and Tobago penalty area, but instead turned and touched the ball to Marco Dominguez-Ramirez, who smashed a shot into the roof of the net.
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Fleming cuts four, adds Lopez to Canada’s U-17 roster

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/06/2013

CONCAPANAMASean Fleming, coach of Canada’s U-17 team, has cut four players from the roster and added one new face ahead of Saturday’s opening game of the CONCACAF Championship.

Canada opens group-stage action in Panama Saturday (streamed on Sportsnet.ca) with a match against Trinidad and Tobago. If Fleming’s Canadians can make it to the semifinals of the tournament, the side will qualify for the U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Fleming had 23 players called to a pre-tournament cap in Florida. But, he had to bring the Canadian roster to the 20-player CONCACAF limit 24 hours ahead of the kickoff of its first match of the tournament.
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Kyle’s last-gasp goal gives Canada a fortunate draw with the French

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/04/2013

Kaylyn Kyle

Kaylyn Kyle

The Canadian national women’s team is beginning to get a knack for stunning the French with late goals.

In 2012, it was Diana Matheson’s late shocker in the Olympic bronze medal match that gave Canada a 1-0 win over the French. Even though the stakes weren’t nearly as high on Thursday, this time it was Kaylyn Kyle’s turn to play the hero. Her last-gasp injury-time goal gave Canada a 1-1 tie in a friendly in front of 5,783 fans in Nice, France.

Elodie Thomis gave the French a 1-0 lead before halftime. It should have been more, but Louise Necib’s 20th-minute effort struck the bar. Just as in London in 2012, the French likely deserved a better fate, but in the end had to look at themselves for not converting their chances.
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Canada confirms May 28 friendly in Edmonton: Kickoff time, ACC conflicts are issues

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/03/2013

29008-e1349905961919-300x15111The worst-kept secret in domestic soccer was confirmed Tuesday, when the Canadian Soccer Association announced that it has booked a friendly against Costa Rica for May 28 at Commonwealth Stadium.

This has been on the radar since the middle of March: FIFA posted the match on its international calendar and the Costa Rican federation announced the game officially, then retracted it. The story about an Edmonton game was confirmed on the Costa Rica Football Federation website then was taken down.

The reasons on why this game is important to Edmonton are obvious: Not only has Edmonton City Council been hesitant to green-light millions in dollars worth of renovations to Commonwealth Stadium ahead of the Women’s World Cup, but that same council has also told FC Edmonton it needs to see a surge of soccer support this season if a stadium is to be built for the NASL franchise. Of course, a Canadian men’s national team match that has good support is a very significant carrot for Mayor Stephen Mandel and his council.

But, there are two major issues here. Read the rest of this entry »

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Herdman still searching for young female players who fit his team’s changing philosophy

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/27/2013

Kadeisha Buchanan

Kadeisha Buchanan

Canadian national women’s team coach John Herdman is trying to introduce a new formation and is attempting to change the DNA of our soccer program from one of counterattack to useful, dangerous possession.

On Wednesday, he named his roster for two upcoming friendlies — April 4 in France and an April 7 rematch of the Cyprus Cup final, which will see Canadians travel to Rotherham to face an English side that beat Big Red 1-0. Each game will give Herdman the chance to assess the work in progress.

The roster Herdman named for the two friendlies features more veterans than each of the previous two tournaments — the Yongchuan Cup and the Cyprus Cup — in which the Canadian women have participated. But defenders Ashley Lawrence, who played for Canada’s U17 and U20 teams in 2012, is on the roster. And Kadeisha Buchanan, who played in this year’s Cyprus Cup at the age of 17, keeps her place.

“Kadeisha Buchanan has grabbed a hold of a shirt and she hasn’t given it back,” said Herdman.

But, despite what he’s seen from Buchanan and Lawrence, Herdman is concerned that there simply aren’t enough Canadian youngsters who will be technically able to keep up with the improving standards of play in the international game. Read the rest of this entry »

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