“Complications” influenced Hart’s picking of the Canadian national squad 25 Aug 2011 From a scandal forcing the delay of the Turkish season to glaring holes at various positions, Hart was forced to pick some players who might be a tad rusty.
Hart sticks with veterans for Canada’s first two World Cup qualifiers 25 Aug 2011 Sixteen of the 19 players named to the roster were part of the team at the Gold Cup. The most surprising addition? Canadian player of the year Atiba Hutchinson, who is just coming back from meniscus surgery — and who Hart had indicated last month would likely not get the call for the first couple of World Cup qualifiers.
The case for NASL content on the Canadian national team 23 Aug 2011 What would be most interesting is whether or not Hart looks to the NASL ranks — especially for players who would have had experience playing the Puerto Rico Islanders. He said in August that, if players are doing well and getting regular time, he’d look to Div.-2.
Occean making his case for Canadian national-team recall 21 Aug 2011 At the Gold Cup, Canada’s strikers were the national team’s weakest links. So, with the start of World Cup qualifying just weeks away, can national coach Stephen Hart afford not to call Olivier Occean into the squad?
Here are the names Stephen Hart should think long and hard about 4 Aug 2011 As Canada prepares to begin its World Cup qualifying campaign — which kicks off Sept. 2 against Puerto Rico — coach Stephen Hart has a lot on his plate. With that in mind, The 11, with some input from our readers, has created a list of players — not including Junior Hoilett, he’s been talked about ad nauseam already— who didn’t take part in the Gold Cup and could inject some life into the Canadian squad.
Hutchinson likely to miss upcoming World Cup qualifiers: Hart 4 Aug 2011 Canada likely won’t have reigning national player of the year Atiba Hutchinson available for the beginning of the World Cup qualifying schedule. Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart said in a conference call Thursday that Hutchinson is still recovering from meniscus surgery in June. The injury forced Hutchinson to miss two of Canada’s three games at the Gold Cup.
Canada avoids U.S., Mexico in decent World Cup draw 30 Jul 2011 If Canada qualifies out of round two of the CONCACAF qualifiers, it knows that it won’t have to face continental powerhouses United States and Mexico in round three.
Doing the math: Canada must beat Panama by two goals 12 Jun 2011 Canada knows that it must go to Kansas City and beat Panama, which leads the group with six points. (The U.S. and Canada have three each). If Canada beats Panama, and the U.S., as expected, beats Guadeloupe, we would have a three-way tie for first. And this is where it gets interesting. The Gold Cup tiebreakers — when more than two teams finish even on points, that is — is the goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question. In real English: The goals in the Guadeloupe games won’t count.
Coach Hart talks about Gold Cup, injuries and Mexico controversy 10 Jun 2011 Canadian men’s national team coach Stephen Hart took some time Friday to chat with the media ahead of Saturday’s Gold Cup match against Guadeloupe in Tampa, Fla. After losing 2-0 to the U.S. in the opener of the regional championship, Canada looks to bounce back against the non-FIFA member island nation.
Canada can’t weather early storm in loss to the U.S. 8 Jun 2011 The U.S. stormed their rivals in the opening 15 minutes and were gifted an early goal before Canada could settle down in Detroit. The red and white played a much better second half but big plays at the right moments for the Americans were key to a 2-0 victory Tuesday in the Gold Cup opener for both sides.
