United States Archive

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Quon’s stunning switch highlights Canada roster for June 2 BMO friendly

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/22/2013

Rachel Quon

Rachel Quon

For months, Canadian national team coach John Herdman has been lamenting the women’s national team’s lack of wing players, and how he needs to find young players who can bring width to the side.

Enter Rachel Quon. In what has to be described as a surprising, maybe even a shocking switch, the former U.S. national team prospect is changing shirts. Quon, ironically, could be set to make her Canada debut in June 2‘s friendly against the U.S. at BMO Field — pending FIFA approval. On Wednesday, she was named to the roster for that June 2 game.

Quon, a fullback, was a standout with Stanford University, a regular for the Chicago Red Stars, played for the Americans at the U-20 World Cup in 2010, and started every game for the U.S. that same year at the CONCACAF U-20 Championships. She has been part of the U.S. national-team program since she was 14. She was born in Illinois. On the surface, you’d find nothing that links her to Canada.

“I am hoping that she can give us that little something different in the fullback position,” said Herdman in a conference call.

The Canadian Soccer Association is now working with FIFA to ensure that Quon is eligible to play. Herdman said that a national coach needs to invite a player to camp before the FIFA process can begin.
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3

The fine lines: Labour law, competitive balance, Canadians and MLS

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/24/2013

D.C. United's Kyle Porter: Canadian player, American club

D.C. United’s Kyle Porter: Canadian player, American club

Just a little over a month ago, The 11 ran the first two parts of a series exploring if, one day, Canadian players could ever be treated as domestic players on the U.S-based MLS teams.

We have looked at the issue from the perspective of Canadian immigration (CLICK HERE) and U.S. immigration (CLICK HERE). Now, in the third part, we ask if it would pass the labour-law sniff test and, if not, why does USL-Pro, the third division of American soccer — allow Canadians to be treated as domestics on its teams’ rosters?

The whole series was spawned after MLS Commissioner Don Garber told TSN’s Jason DeVos during a March 2 First Kick broadcast that MLS would run into labour-law issues if it changed its rules and allowed the 16 U.S.-based teams to recognize Canadians players as “domestic” workers.

The reason the third part has taken so long to complete? I talked to several major law schools in the U.S. and labour-law specialists. I made contact with MLS. But what I underestimated was that, when it came to U.S. labour law, how complex the question was. Over and over, U.S. legal experts told me that the notion of Canadians being treated as domestics on American team rosters would have them venture into a legal grey area. And that meant they didn’t want to go on the record, because there really was no true legal test for the question. In a way, I felt like I had asked Deep Thought the answer to life, the universe and everything, and he replied, “tricky.”
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12

The MLS “domestic” rule: Why allowing more Canadians in wouldn’t run afoul of U.S. Immigration

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/22/2013

americanflagMLS Commissioner Don Garber has gone on the record stating that allowing Canadian players to be recognized as domestic players on the rosters of the 16 U.S.-based teams would cause legal issues south of the border for the league.

The 11 has been working to get legal opinions on the commissioner’s statement. Last week, we offered the Canadian side of the argument (CLICK HERE). Now, to the real meat of the matter — U.S. law and how it affects Canadian workers, and athletes in particular.

And the opinion that The 11 has heard is that — when it comes to U.S. immigration laws — the distinction in roster rules between the three Canadian MLS teams and the 16 American teams are solely the jurisdiction of the league. To break that down? That MLS could change the rules if it wished, and wouldn’t run afoul of U.S. immigration law. (That’s not to say changing the rules wouldn’t open up other legal issues: More on that, later.)
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3

Taking it to the experts: Exploring the Canadian “domestic” question in MLS

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/16/2013

canadianflagMLS has publicly claimed that it can’t change its domestic-player because of labour-law issues in the U.S. Over the next couple of weeks, The 11 will try and steer its readers through labour law, and understand why an American CAN be a domestic player in Canada, but why a Canadian player CAN’T be considered a domestic in the United States.

There have been rising cries from Canadian MLS followers about the roster rules, which require the three Canadian teams to carry domestics outside of the eight designated international slots per team roster. Under MLS rules, those domestics who can be Canadian OR American. (Of those, a Canadian team must carry a minimum of three Canadian citizens or permanent residents). But, in the U.S., a Canadian takes up one of the international slots, and cannot be a domestic.

In a halftime interview during the March 2 First Kick match that saw Toronto FC lose to the Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS Commissioner Don Garber responded to commentator Jason DeVos’s question about the domestic distinctions between the two countries. Why can’t Canadians be “domestic” in the U.S.? Garber’s answer:

“…in the United States, if you are considered an international from a labour perspective, you can’t discriminate between one nationality and another. So we would have a challenge if a Colombian player believed that they were treated differently than a Canadian player.”

Fair enough. And you can’t find anything in the P-1, O-1 or H2B U.S. work visa applications that specifically mention Canadians. But this begs another question — if it’s considered discriminatory for Americans to single out Canadians for preferential treatment, why is it NOT discriminatory for Canadian teams to give that same preferential treatment to Americans?
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0

Ousted from the U-20s: Americans punish Canada’s defensive miscues

By
Gavin Day
– 02/27/2013

Dasovic: Disappointed

For about five minutes in the first half, Canada was in position of getting into the draw for the 2013 FIFA under-20 World Cup.

But after jumping in front, the back-line shut off and turned out a performance that couldn’t handle an American side that capitalized on just about any mistake the Canadians made.

In the end, Canada saw its World Cup dreams dashed with a 4-2 loss to ots most hated rivals Tuesday night in the quarter-final at the 2013 CONCACAF under-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico.

“We just never got our foot on the ball and tried to play,” said head coach Nick Dasovic. “We kept hitting the long ones and it’s difficult to as a striker that’s playing on his own to fight against two or three guys — and that’s just the way it goes.”
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Dasovic: Canada’s previous wins over Americans mean little ahead of Tuesday’s key U-20 quarter-final

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/25/2013

Nick Dasovic PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER/MEXSPORT

As part of its preparations for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, coach Nick Dasovic’s Canadian team beat the Americans.

Last year, in Nashville at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, the Canadian team beat the Americans, 2-0. Centre back Doneil Henry scored in that game, and midfielder Samuel Piette played 90 minutes.

Both of those players will likely start in Tuesday night’s CONCACAF U-20 quarter-final against the Americans, as the Canadian side has stated that the team has no injury issues and that all players are available. The winner not only goes to the semifinal, but earns a berth in the U-20 World Cup, to be held later this year in Turkey.

So, what will all those recent positive experiences against the Americans means for the Canadians? According to Dasovic, nothing at all.
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4

Canadian U-20s relishing a quarter-final date with the Americans

By
Gavin Day
– 02/23/2013

Caleb Clarke

A Canadian qualification for a FIFA under-20 World Cup for the first time since 2007 is now tantalizingly close.

Canada’s youngsters advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 CONCACAF under-20 championship with a overpowering 5-1 win over Nicaragua Friday night in Puebla, Mexico.

The win sets up a dream match against the United States on Tuesday.

Samuel Piette scored early and Caleb Clarke led the way as Canada was in no real danger from the Nicaraguans who had a man sent off in the prelude to Canada’s third goal of the night.

“We got the result we wanted in the first half. Unfortunately for Nicaragua they got the man sent off,” head coach Nick Dasovic said in his post-match press conference. “We were quite comfortable at 3-0 and obviously with the penalty at halftime they made it 3-1 but with a man down it was always a difficult task for them.”
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1

Results are in: Canada will just need a draw against Nicaragua to advance at U-20s

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/21/2013

All Canada will need to do is get a draw with Nicaragua Friday to get into the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

On Wednesday night, Cuba got two goals from Daniel Luis Saez and a cherry-on-top marker from Maykel Reyes as it routed Nicaragua by a 3-0 count. That win establishes two things: a) That Cuba will win Group B, leaving Nicaragua and Canada to scrap it out for the second spot in the quarters and b) That Cuba is officially THE surprise team of tournament.

Both Nicaragua and Canada enter Friday’s final Group B match with identical won-loss records. But Canada goes in with a -1 goal difference, while Nicaragua is a -3 (we can thank Cuba for laying a bigger beating on Nicaragua than it did on Canada). So, a draw will be enough for coach Nick Dasovic and his Canadian charges.
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2

Toronto confirmed for rematch with USA, as time runs out to get pre-WWC friendlies into host cities

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/19/2013

Peter Montopoli, in Edmonton in 2011.

The Canadian Soccer Association is running out of time.

In 2011, CSA General Secretary Peter Montopoli told media gathered in Edmonton for a FIFA Women’s World Cup site inspection that a number of women’s team friendlies would be booked for the host cities. “We’d like to take advantage offered to us and take on top competition,” he said. “We’d play in the stadiums at the different host cities.”

It made sense: The friendlies would help the cities prepare for the U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014 and the big tournament in 2015.

Fast forward to today’s announcement, that the Canadian women’s team will hold its hotly anticipated rematch with the United States June 2 at Toronto’s BMO Field. Since the CSA organized a press conference in Toronto for this announcement — the venue is not a surprise. And, having the women play in Canada’s largest media market makes some dollars and cents; the Blue Jays don’t play till 10 p.m. that night (in San Diego) and Toronto FC plays the day before.

But, there’s also a real need to look at the prep for the Women’s World Cup. As Toronto isn’t a host city, this game against the Americans isn’t fulfilling a promise that the CSA has made to Canadians. Read the rest of this entry »

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1

Canada’s draw with the USA “means the world” to Miller

By
Gavin Day
– 01/30/2013

Canada’s Tosaint Ricketts, left, eyes the ball as U.S. defender Justin Morrow is set to head it away. PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

At a time when the Canadian senior men’s team is trying to regain some of the momentum it lost on that fateful day last October in San Pedro Sula, a scoreless draw by a makeshift Canadian side against a team largely made up of MLS regulars will go down as a good first step.

Facing a near-constant American attack, the Canadians held on and came out the other side with a 0-0 draw in Houston, what is seen by the group as a more than satisfactory end to its January camp.

Though the Canadians gave up 11 shots compared to their four, only two American attempts were on target with Simon Thomas picking up his first clean sheet for Canada in his first start.

If anything, Dwayne De Rosario had the best chance of the game when he blasted a left-footed attempt at goal that American goalkeeper Sean Johnson punched away. Read the rest of this entry »

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