Sportsnet announces Whitecaps deal; fans still wait on NCC TV pact 3 Mar 2011 With TSN becoming the official national broadcaster of MLS in 2011, Rogers Sportsnet has ensured it won’t be left out in the cold. Sportsnet announced Thursday that it will be the official regional broadcaster of the Whitecaps. Rogers announced that it will produce 21 Whitecaps games in 2011. Eleven of those will air on Sportsnet Pacific, nine more on premium specialty channel Sportsnet One — and one additional game, June 4 at Real Salt Lake, will air on Citytv, which is owned by Rogers.
Surprenant could have Impact on FC Edmonton lineup 3 Mar 2011 FC Edmonton announced that it has inked a former member of the Montreal Impact to deal to spend the 2011 NASL season in the Alberta Capital. Alex Suprenant, who struggled to find time in the Impact lineup — and played for the club’s Canadian Soccer League affiliate, the Trois-Rivieres Attak. The defender played a part in the Impact’s run to the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals in 2008-09, when then-coach John Limniatis had to juggle his roster because of a busy USL schedule mixed with the CCL.
FIFA gives itself right to ‘intervene’ over fears of match-fixing 3 Mar 2011 Lost in Thursday’s announcement of the awarding of the 2015 Women’s World Cup to Canada and the decision not to change the geographical arrangements of slots for Brazil 2014 was quick mention by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke of some coming changes to regulations to help police match-fixing.
Vancouver, Edmonton or Montreal? Who should get the WWC final in 2015? 3 Mar 2011 Now, the next part of the debate: Which cities will get the plum games — Canada’s home games, semifinals and final? FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association released the names of the seven “candidate” cities to host games. Toronto wasn’t on that list, as expected, because of the conflict between the WWC and the Pan Am Games. The seven cities: Halifax, Moncton, Montreal Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.
FIFA keeps status quo for 2014 World Cup; no extra slot for CONCACAF 3 Mar 2011 The status quo will remain for the 2014 World Cup. The allocation of slots by regions will remain exactly the same as they were for the 2010 World Cup, despite hopes coming out of CONCACAF that this confederation would be bumped from three spots and a playoff berth to four clear slots.
Kreamalmeyer leads Impact past weakened FC Dallas side 3 Mar 2011 Luke Kreamalmeyer led the way as the Montreal Impact finally beat an MLS team in preseason play. After loss to Portland and Sporting Kansas City, Montreal defeated FC Dallas 3-0 Wednesday in Arizona. But it has to be noted that FCD left most of its starting lineup well away from the pitch for this game. No sign of league MVP David Ferreira, striker Brek Shea, midfielder Daniel Hernandez or Winnipeg-raised defender Ugo Ihemelu. Regular starting keeper Kevin Hartman didn’t play, either.
Matheson, Zurrer star as Canada beats Scotland 2 Mar 2011 When Christine Sinclair was asked in December about which players she thought had benefited the most from the possession-and-passing style of Canadian national women’s team coach Carolina Morace, she didn’t have to think long about the answer. Midfielder Diana Matheson. While Sinclair is no doubt the face of Canadian women’s soccer, Matheson has flourished as the distributor under Morace. She displayed her worth Wednesday in Canada’s 1-0 win over Scotland in the opener of the Cyprus Cup.
Morales, Williams lead RSL to rout of the Crew 2 Mar 2011 On a brisk but tolerable night at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, Real Salt Lake was able to show what many had expected out of it coming into this CONCACAF Champions League Quarter-final matchup against the Columbus Crew. Its 4-1 victory showed the dominance over their opponent that many had expected given the relative stability of the two lineups.
Cann leaves TFC, begins holdout 2 Mar 2011 Adrian Cann can’t go on. Toronto FC’s reigning team MVP has walked away from the club, beginning a holdout as he continues to look for an improved contract from the club. Cann did not travel with the team to Charleston, S.C. where the Reds will participate in the Carolina Challenge Cup. Cann signed a four-year deal to come to Toronto FC last season, but he made a huge impression as the safety-first centre back, providing some stability in the club’s fragile back line. Both Cann and Toronto FC were working on a new deal, but Cann rejected the club’s latest offer before packing his bags.
Canada’s U-23 team shuts out Chivas USA 2 Mar 2011 Canada’s U-23 team scored twice in the second half as it downed MLS side Chivas USA 2-0 in Carson, Calif. Tuesday. The game was the first of two the Canadian youngsters will play against Los Angeles-based MLS opposition this week. The Canadians will face the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 4.