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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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TFC moves de Klerk from pitch, promotes Brennan

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/14/2012

Bob de Klerk

Toronto FC announced two promotions on Monday. Bob de Klerk will move away from the coaches’ bench and will be the new technical manager for the club, while Jim Brennan moves from coaching the Academy ranks to the senior squad.

And, tacked into the body of Toronto FC’s press release was mention of an increased role for Director of Player Development Paul Mariner, who will have more of an on-field presence and work with the strikers.

Brennan will join Jason Bent as men who have coached the Academy but moved up to become assistants with the senior squad.

According to TFC, “In this new role, de Klerk will be responsible for Toronto FC’s technical program, including advance and international scouting, as well as serving as the technical conduit between the First Team and Academy program. He will also assist players transitioning from the Academy into the First Team and support the education of Toronto FC coaches at all levels.”
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Vukovic gets three more months to try and impress Impact

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/14/2012

Stefan Vukovic

The Montreal Impact announced Monday that forward Stefan Vukovic will have three more months to try and impress the club.

Vukovic, who led the CSL in scoring last season as a member of TFC Academy, and was in training camp with Toronto FC in 2012, was cut by the club before the start of the regular season. With TFC having no real academy program for players older than 18, there was no place for Vukovic to go if he didn’t get a contract from the big club.

Vukovic was also on the roster of coach Nick Dasovic’s preliminary U-20 squad that held camp late last year.
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10-man TFC eliminates listless Impact from the ACC

By
Mark Polishuk
– 05/10/2012

Reggie Lambe scored the opener

No matter how the teams may sit in the MLS league table, Toronto FC simply has the Montreal Impact’s number in the Amway Canadian Championship.  TFC scored its first victory of any sort at BMO Field this season, beating the Impact by a 2-0 score to send the Reds into the Voyageurs Cup final and handing Montreal another disappointing result in the national tournament.

With the Impact entering the game on a 288-minute shutout streak and an impressive 2-0 result in Kansas City on Saturday, the expansion side had to be considered the favourites, even on the road.  The Reds are on a record eight-game losing streak to begin the MLS season (a streak that included a loss at Montreal on April 8 and, after a 0-0 scoreline in the opening leg of the tie, the Impact could have advanced with a win or even a draw, provided they could score just one goal.
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New CSA president Montagliani strikes conciliatory tones

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/08/2012

Victor Montagliani

Victor Montagliani sounded a lot like a man who had just won a political-party nomination.

In his first telephone media conference after being elected president of the Canadian Soccer Association, he spoke about building relationships, about working with the people who had voted against him. Really, it was no different than hearing a new leader reach out to the camps of the other candidates in an effort to bring a political party together after a divisive campaign.

And, of course, there was unbridled optimism: Talk of being able to double the CSA’s operating budget in eight years, about working with the pro clubs, that the reform process is moving along, a promise to do what it takes to make the national teams better.

For those hoping that Montagliani would kick off his presidency with angry ultimatums to the MLS over Canadian-import quotas or some angry words for remnants of the old guard who remain in the CSA, well, that was never going to happen.
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TFC striker Ryan Johnson can’t hide frustration after Reds set dubious MLS record

By
Mark Polishuk
– 05/06/2012

Ryan Johnson: Says TFC's defensive style is "embarrassing."

Toronto FC’s early-season futility has officially hit a record low.  TFC’s 2-0 loss to D.C. United on Saturday dropped the Reds to 0-8 in Major League Soccer play, setting a new MLS mark for consecutive losses to begin a season.

Whereas the Reds have played hard or been unlucky in some of their losses, Saturday’s performance was that of a team that simply looked it gave up the ghost after Chris Pontius’ 55th-minute goal that put the visitors ahead.  After Hamdi Salihi scored in the 75th minute, the Reds attempted a last-minute flurry in search of a face-saving goal but to no avail, as TFC was shut out for the fourth time in five home matches.

“It’s just unbearable,” said striker Ryan Johnson.  “Something’s not right.  Something has to change.  I can’t go on like this, it’s eating me up inside.”
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Blame FCE’s losses, not City of Edmonton, for poor attendance at Commonwealth Stadium

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/03/2012

Commonwealth Stadium before the ACC match: Most of the seats remained empty

The number was painful to read, painful to report. In a concrete monolith of a stadium that’s built to seat more than 60,000, just 2,777 people came to see FC Edmonton play the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal.

And that number was bolstered by a healthy number of Vancouver supporters who made the trip to back the Whitecaps. In fact, from the broadcast booth on the other side of the stadium, the noise made by Curva Collective and the Southsiders drowned out anything the rest of the small FCE-suporting portion of the crowd could muster.

It was supposed to be a great scenario for the tournament in Edmonton. Unlike last year, when Edmonton faced Toronto, the Eddies would play a regional rival, with a chance to build something of a Western Canadian derby. The start time was at a more fan-friendly 8 p.m., when last year it was tacked onto the end of the work day to accommodate Eastern time zone TV watchers.

Yet the Whitecaps game drew far less than the 2011 edition against Toronto.
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TFC gets stalemate at Olympic Stadium

By
Mike Wyman
– 05/03/2012

The TIFO at Olympic Stadium might have been more engaging than the 0-0 draw. MIKE WYMAN PHOTO

Playing to a draw is usually the best a road team can hope for. Toronto FC came out of the first leg of its Amway Canadian Championship encounter with the Montreal Impact having achieved its objective, playing to a scoreless tie and setting the stage for next Wednesday’s second game.

“It was pretty clear what their intentions were in coming here,” declared Impact head coach Jesse Marsch in his post-game remarks.

“I think we had some good moments in the first half that could have led to a goal but we weren’t able to pull off a play,” he continued. “They came here and sat back and didn’t want to give anything away and they did it. I expected them to show a little more fight and energy in the midfield … As the second half went on, because we didn’t have a lead they were able to pack it in even more which made it more difficult for us to find a way to break them down.”
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