Canada's time at the FIFA U20 Word Cup has come to an end, well on the field at any rate.
The World Juniors of soccer continue on through the month of July in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria, but the homeland's red and white won't be on the field after their third consecutive loss today, this time at the hands of Congo by a score of 2 to nil as they say in football..
Canada has the unenviable record of not having scored a single goal in any of their three preliminary games, having lost to Chile and Austria last week. Of the 24 participating teams, only Canada failed to score a goal during the first round.
It's a kick in the er, um, shins, for The Canadian Soccer Association, which had high hopes of growing the game in the country by at least moving into the second round of 16. But that will have to wait for another try in some other year.
What has been rather positive for the Soccer bureaucrats has been the reaction of the Canadian fan to the game, with huge crowds in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto and respectable ones in Edmonton. Victoria and Vancouver were limited by stadium size, but for the most part have been able to put 20,000 or so into the stands for most of the games in their cities.
The Vancouver situation however is a bit silly, while Swangard is probably a decent enough stadium for the A league and rec park soccer the vision of Canada's third largest city showcasing itself in a tiny little park probably isn't the kind of "World Class reputation" that they might want. Perhaps that's why they kept referring to the events there as in Burnaby.
It makes you wonder why the City of Vancouver is giving the Whitecaps so much grief in their attempts to build (and pay completely for) a stadium in the downtown area over the railway tracks on the waterfront. It would have been the perfect venue for the games played in the GVRD and might have set the wheels in motion for a a bid on the big show the World Cup, which has already played in Mexico and the US, leaving us as the last holdout in North America for the world's second biggest circus after the Olympics.
That's something that The Canadian Soccer Association will want to work on we guess, trying to lay the foundation for an eventual bid. Maybe by then we'll have held enough soccer clinics to actually put a ball into the goal... Until then there's always FIFA 07 the video game, if nothing else our hand to eye coordination will get better.
For now Canadians can return to what they love to do when it comes to soccer, cheer on the old homeland with gusto. In a nation built on immigrants, we apparently took the best and the brightest but perhaps with a few shortcomings at kicking a round ball into a big net!
Canada eliminated from FIFA U-20 tournament
Updated Sun. Jul. 8 2007 10:13 PM ET
Canadian Press
EDMONTON -- No goals and no wins meant no joy for Canada at the FIFA U20 World Cup.
The hosts were eliminated from the 24-country soccer tournament with a 2-0 loss to Congo in their final match of Group A on Sunday.
Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell had said prior to the tournament that it would be a disappointment if his team failed to get out of the group stage.
While getting into the round of 16 would have been cause for celebration for Canada, it was the manner in which they failed to advance that demonstrates how far the country still has to go to compete with the world's elite in soccer at this age level.
What was surprising was Canada's inability to finish around the opposition's net as they were the only country not to score a goal in the tournament, despite numerous chances to do so Sunday.
Chile, Austria, Spain, Zambia, Mexico, Gambia, the U.S., Poland, Argentina, Czech Republic, Japan and Nigeria went through to the round of 16 by finishing first or second in their groups.
Congo, Uruguay, Portugal and Brazil also got in with the best records among the third-place finishers.
Canada stepped onto a wet and slippery Commonwealth Stadium pitch Sunday knowing they needed to beat Congo by three goals, which was a tall order for this goal-challenged outfit.
Congo had a single point from an earlier draw with Austria and needed just the win to advance.
The Congolese got the goal they needed to go through from Ermejea Ngakosso in the 26th minute.
They were then able to focus on defending that lead, while Canada had to open up and gamble for goals in increasingly challenging conditions as the rain fell.
Congo exploited Canada's desperation and Gracia Ikouma scored in the 60th minute.
In a bizarre development, Canadian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was sent off for handling the ball outside his own crease in the 734rd minute when his team had filled its quota of substitutions.
Midfielder Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault was forced to don the goalkeeper's jersey and take Begovic's place.
The Montreal native performed admirably as he stopped the ensuing free kick, rejected a hard shot later by the Congolese and then made a difficult save on a curling free kick in the final minutes.
Canadian co-captain Will Johnson put several corner kicks into the box for his teammates, who could not head the ball home.
Simeon Jackson, subbed in for Tosaint Ricketts to start the second half, just missed from well outside the box in the 55th minute as his shot sailed into the side netting.
Andrea Lombardo put a deft pass through two Congolese defenders in the 35th minute for a streaking Ricketts, but he ran out of room and put the ball off the side of the net.
Canada's all-time record in this tournament is 4-18-5 and the country has scored just 16 goals in 27 matches. Mitchell had said prior to Sunday's match that Canada lagged behind the top countries in generating offence.
"Our game is maybe not developed as much, or as well as the competition that you face against many of the team,'' he said. "That requires good technical ability and good savvy and ability to open people up.
"That's a part of our game at this level that we're still trying to develop.''
The challenge for Canada's under-20 squad is the same as the senior side in that its top players are spread around club teams in Europe and it is difficult to bring them together often.
But the Canadian Soccer Association had been preparing the squad for this tournament since October, 2005, through a series of friendly matches and camps.
The Canadians weren't without experience either as six players on the roster had played in world under-20 tournament two years ago in the Netherlands, where Canada finished 21st.
Canada wasn't able to fly under the radar into this tournament as the host. Countries had time to scout Canada and their exhibition wins over the U.S. and Brazil prior to this tournament were red flags to their opposition, Mitchell said.
"We thought this time, we're at home and maybe that's going to be a benefit to us,'' Mitchell said earlier. "I don't know if it's been that much of a benefit to be honest because I think what has happened is, teams have looked at Canada more seriously.''
"Teams know this is a team that's hosting and needs to be taken seriously and I think teams have really done their homework on us.''
They'd particularly done their homework on top striker Jaime Peters, who was double- and triple-teamed when he got the ball.
Mitchell isn't taking any momentum with him to his new job as head coach of Canada's national team.
Assistant Stephen Hart, who was a finalist for the job and filled in while Mitchell oversaw the under-20 side, coached Canada's senior side to the semifinal of the Gold Cup last month.
The World Juniors of soccer continue on through the month of July in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria, but the homeland's red and white won't be on the field after their third consecutive loss today, this time at the hands of Congo by a score of 2 to nil as they say in football..
Canada has the unenviable record of not having scored a single goal in any of their three preliminary games, having lost to Chile and Austria last week. Of the 24 participating teams, only Canada failed to score a goal during the first round.
It's a kick in the er, um, shins, for The Canadian Soccer Association, which had high hopes of growing the game in the country by at least moving into the second round of 16. But that will have to wait for another try in some other year.
What has been rather positive for the Soccer bureaucrats has been the reaction of the Canadian fan to the game, with huge crowds in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto and respectable ones in Edmonton. Victoria and Vancouver were limited by stadium size, but for the most part have been able to put 20,000 or so into the stands for most of the games in their cities.
The Vancouver situation however is a bit silly, while Swangard is probably a decent enough stadium for the A league and rec park soccer the vision of Canada's third largest city showcasing itself in a tiny little park probably isn't the kind of "World Class reputation" that they might want. Perhaps that's why they kept referring to the events there as in Burnaby.
It makes you wonder why the City of Vancouver is giving the Whitecaps so much grief in their attempts to build (and pay completely for) a stadium in the downtown area over the railway tracks on the waterfront. It would have been the perfect venue for the games played in the GVRD and might have set the wheels in motion for a a bid on the big show the World Cup, which has already played in Mexico and the US, leaving us as the last holdout in North America for the world's second biggest circus after the Olympics.
That's something that The Canadian Soccer Association will want to work on we guess, trying to lay the foundation for an eventual bid. Maybe by then we'll have held enough soccer clinics to actually put a ball into the goal... Until then there's always FIFA 07 the video game, if nothing else our hand to eye coordination will get better.
For now Canadians can return to what they love to do when it comes to soccer, cheer on the old homeland with gusto. In a nation built on immigrants, we apparently took the best and the brightest but perhaps with a few shortcomings at kicking a round ball into a big net!
Canada eliminated from FIFA U-20 tournament
Updated Sun. Jul. 8 2007 10:13 PM ET
Canadian Press
EDMONTON -- No goals and no wins meant no joy for Canada at the FIFA U20 World Cup.
The hosts were eliminated from the 24-country soccer tournament with a 2-0 loss to Congo in their final match of Group A on Sunday.
Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell had said prior to the tournament that it would be a disappointment if his team failed to get out of the group stage.
While getting into the round of 16 would have been cause for celebration for Canada, it was the manner in which they failed to advance that demonstrates how far the country still has to go to compete with the world's elite in soccer at this age level.
What was surprising was Canada's inability to finish around the opposition's net as they were the only country not to score a goal in the tournament, despite numerous chances to do so Sunday.
Chile, Austria, Spain, Zambia, Mexico, Gambia, the U.S., Poland, Argentina, Czech Republic, Japan and Nigeria went through to the round of 16 by finishing first or second in their groups.
Congo, Uruguay, Portugal and Brazil also got in with the best records among the third-place finishers.
Canada stepped onto a wet and slippery Commonwealth Stadium pitch Sunday knowing they needed to beat Congo by three goals, which was a tall order for this goal-challenged outfit.
Congo had a single point from an earlier draw with Austria and needed just the win to advance.
The Congolese got the goal they needed to go through from Ermejea Ngakosso in the 26th minute.
They were then able to focus on defending that lead, while Canada had to open up and gamble for goals in increasingly challenging conditions as the rain fell.
Congo exploited Canada's desperation and Gracia Ikouma scored in the 60th minute.
In a bizarre development, Canadian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was sent off for handling the ball outside his own crease in the 734rd minute when his team had filled its quota of substitutions.
Midfielder Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault was forced to don the goalkeeper's jersey and take Begovic's place.
The Montreal native performed admirably as he stopped the ensuing free kick, rejected a hard shot later by the Congolese and then made a difficult save on a curling free kick in the final minutes.
Canadian co-captain Will Johnson put several corner kicks into the box for his teammates, who could not head the ball home.
Simeon Jackson, subbed in for Tosaint Ricketts to start the second half, just missed from well outside the box in the 55th minute as his shot sailed into the side netting.
Andrea Lombardo put a deft pass through two Congolese defenders in the 35th minute for a streaking Ricketts, but he ran out of room and put the ball off the side of the net.
Canada's all-time record in this tournament is 4-18-5 and the country has scored just 16 goals in 27 matches. Mitchell had said prior to Sunday's match that Canada lagged behind the top countries in generating offence.
"Our game is maybe not developed as much, or as well as the competition that you face against many of the team,'' he said. "That requires good technical ability and good savvy and ability to open people up.
"That's a part of our game at this level that we're still trying to develop.''
The challenge for Canada's under-20 squad is the same as the senior side in that its top players are spread around club teams in Europe and it is difficult to bring them together often.
But the Canadian Soccer Association had been preparing the squad for this tournament since October, 2005, through a series of friendly matches and camps.
The Canadians weren't without experience either as six players on the roster had played in world under-20 tournament two years ago in the Netherlands, where Canada finished 21st.
Canada wasn't able to fly under the radar into this tournament as the host. Countries had time to scout Canada and their exhibition wins over the U.S. and Brazil prior to this tournament were red flags to their opposition, Mitchell said.
"We thought this time, we're at home and maybe that's going to be a benefit to us,'' Mitchell said earlier. "I don't know if it's been that much of a benefit to be honest because I think what has happened is, teams have looked at Canada more seriously.''
"Teams know this is a team that's hosting and needs to be taken seriously and I think teams have really done their homework on us.''
They'd particularly done their homework on top striker Jaime Peters, who was double- and triple-teamed when he got the ball.
Mitchell isn't taking any momentum with him to his new job as head coach of Canada's national team.
Assistant Stephen Hart, who was a finalist for the job and filled in while Mitchell oversaw the under-20 side, coached Canada's senior side to the semifinal of the Gold Cup last month.
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