A gateway for club football in Canada

Earlier today, details of a new club competition in North America were released. Replacing the old CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, the CONCACAF Champions’ League will provide a new means of measuring club talent from this region. There will be many differences between this competition and the former one it replaces. The Champions’ League will, for example, feature a group stage, whereas the old Champions’ Cup featured only knockout rounds. The most important difference between these two tournaments (at least from a Canadian perspective), is that the new tourney will actually include a team from Canada.

With the news that Canada will be represented in the CONCACAF Champions’ League, attention will inevitably shift to the qualification procedure for determining which Canadian club advances to this tournament. Will a Canada Cup, comprised of the three professional teams in Canada – Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact, and the Vancouver Whitecaps – determine Canada’s lone North American spot? Or will a broader competition, one including professional teams but also semi-pro and amateur sides from such leagues as the Canadian Soccer League and the Pacific Coast Soccer League, determine which club will be represented in this tournament?

Whichever qualification route is chosen, one thing is for certain: 2008 will be an interesting year for club football in Canada. With a chance to be recognised on the North American stage, Canada’s top clubs have a real incentive to beef up their rosters for this season. Will Toronto FC be the first club to represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions’ League, or will Montreal or Vancouver upset the MLS side and take centre stage? Such questions will be asked many times over the coming months, as footy fans gear up for what will be the most exciting and acclaimed season of Canadian club football in years.

Two Cities and TFC

With the Major League Soccer Transfer window barely open, the opening moves have been made and rumors permeate across the MLS with implications for Toronto FC.

TFC has yet to make transfer related moves in terms of adding player talent, but it did address the concern of fitness by adding Paul Winsper to their staff from Newcastle United. Coach Mo Johnston was very pleased with the addition and hopefully will nip in the bud possible injuries during the hectic summer months.

While Toronto waits for Trader Mo to make a player related move, other clubs that will try to block Toronto from glory in 2008 have made some important choices. Two clubs in particular, close in final regular season position when related to Toronto FC stand out in particular: the Kansas City Wizards and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Kansas City, the team to garner the last playoff spot in 2007, is rumored to lose Eddie Johnson to English side Fulham. Johnson scored 15 times in 24 games, six times were game winners. The Wizards also have lost Nick Garcia to San Jose for the 1^st pick in the draft on Friday then traded Jose Burciaga Jr. to the Colorado Rapids for their 2^nd round pick. Garcia and Burciaga have both featured on defense for several years and their departure leaves a hole which at this point seems likely to be filled by younger talents from the draft.

With KC potentially losing key players, a door opens for the Reds. If Johnson ends up in England the Wizards attack will have to look elsewhere for offensive magic. There are no players in the draft able to take over and I am unconvinced of their current roster players to make useful offensive additions. KC will be able to add some players, most likely address departure of the core of their defense via the draft. It appears that Julius James would be the pundits choice as a starting point to fill this void. The loss of three key players weakens a Wizards squad that just beat out the Columbus Crew for the last spot by three points.

Contrary to the moves of the Wizards, the Galaxy seem to be making a bid to seek fame in 2008 and are casting the dice on winning this season and next. The Gals have added midfielder Clint Mathis from New York and forward Carlos Ruiz from FC Dallas. With Beckham looking to have a healthy 2008 season, the Galaxy is a much more dangerous squad than the 2007 campaign. Beckham, Donovan and Mathis combine as a formidable trio of midfielders and Ruiz will give credibility to the forward position that already has potential star Quavas Kirk developing in the wings. The Galaxy are lacking a keeper after the loss of MLS veteran Cannon to San Jose and his departure will be a tough void to fill.

Until we see what happens on draft day this Friday, the picture will remain muddy. Nonetheless, TFC fans can expect two different clubs next time the Reds face either the Wizards or the Galaxy in 2008 as opposed to 2007. One thing will remain the same; both of these clubs are important stepping stones for TFC and should be used as a benchmark if the team is to make the playoffs.

While there are more transfers to come, already there are signs pointing to a potentially strong 2008 campaign for Toronto FC. With a solid core of players in place, Reds supporters should be confident when looking towards next season. With the Wizards apparently reloading and the Galaxy putting their eggs in one expensive basket, TFC is in position to make moves towards a playoff birth.

Mathis, Beckham and Donovan, if healthy, will be a very formidable midfield trio and with Ruiz upfront, Toronto could have problems defensively. However, injuries could relegate Galaxy dreams of fame to mere overpaid California dreaming. If and when injuries do happen, look for the Galaxy to fall short.

The Wizards are likely not to be the “force” they were last season and appear to be looking towards being competitive when their new stadium is ready. Thus far, Kansas City appears to be lacking offensive fire power, has been seriously weakened on defense and could be without a very good keeper. Teams with predatory playoff instincts should view the Wizards as potential prey. The players Kansas City are losing are not freely available in MLS and with the moves they have made it is not illogical to assume that Kansas City is looking towards developing in 2008 to win in 2009.

For TFC, fame and fortune will rest with Trader Mo Johnston. What happens in the coming months is crucial for success. With Canadian Josh Wagenaar rumored to be heading to the club his addition would firmly address any goalkeeping issues. Wagenaar would be a definitive move in the right direction for a club that suffered from par to sub par keeping on many nights and Wagenaar could possibly be an improvement over Sutton.

With the Wizards and Galaxy striking out in separate directions, TFC faithful will be looking towards Mo Johnston to see if he is able to make the right moves when adding to a TFC squad that in 2007 ended up decimated by an injury epidemic. The bright side is that the squad was competitively good when healthy. With a solid core in place if Johnston can add the right pieces to the TFC puzzle, pre-season confidence in a playoff match up being hosted in Toronto will not be misplaced.

Canada's qualifying run coming into focus

Although the Canadian men's national soccer team is not scheduled to play any competitive games for over 5 months, it's schedule for this year is nonetheless taking shape. After receiving a bye through Stage One of World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF, Canada will begin its campaign with a pair of Stage Two matches against St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As reported at FIFA.com, Canada is scheduled to play at home against St. Vincent on Saturday, June 14, followed by away in the Caribbean on June 21. The winner of this two-game playoff will advance to the semi-final round of qualifying, which will commence in late summer of this year.

In addition to competitive matches, Canada's preparation for its upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign is also becoming clear. According to the Globe and Mail, Canada will play a friendly against Estonia in Tallinn on March 26. This will be the first match that Canada has played against Estonia since March 2003, when Les Rouges lost to the home side 2-1.

Aside from actual matches, Canadian national team players will participate in a training camp in January. Speculation on the Voyageurs' forum is that Canada will play at least one friendly during the camp, although no actual games have been confirmed. It will be interesting to see who coach Dale Mitchell invites to the camp, as many of Canada's top European-based players will be unavailable due to club commitments. At the very least, the January camp will showcase a few players who will be regular participants in this year's World Cup qualifying matches.

Between competitive matches, friendlies and training camps, it is quite evident that 2008 will be a busy year for the Canadian national team. For fans of the red-and-white, now is the time to set aside dates on the calendar for international soccer action.

Correction: The St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Canadian soccer associations agreed to a schedule change for this June's two-game playoff. The St. Vincent home fixture is scheduled for Sunday, June 15, while Canada's home fixture will be played a week later. Way to go CSA, you spineless (bleep).

MLSE 1 - CSA 0

There is much debate online about the reasons behind Toronto FC's success off the pitch. Arguably, the season was a disaster. Injuries ravaged the club, the Andy Welsh experiment failed and during the most important stretch of the season the team gained unsavory possession of the longest streak of minutes played without scoring goal.

For a city consumed with 'what have you done for me lately' syndrome it is a great wonder why TFC has so far been a success.

Toronto, the hotbed of hockey it supposedly is, at least that is what the media wants you to think, cannot support a decent Marlies AHL club and could not support OHL teams. The OHL has since departed our company while the AHL club struggles with very low attendance. You would have thought that with the ACC filled with corporate barons that the average hockey fans would flock to these other franchises, but that has not been the case.

Furthermore, previous to TFC, soccer in Canada was essentially given zero positive coverage in the media and larger media figures constantly put down the beautiful game as un-Canadian. While a diaspora of people from countries which generally enjoy the game exists in Toronto, but whether would it catch on with mainstream society was something MLSE would have had to thought over.

Therefore, when presented with the question of whether Toronto could support an MLS franchise and lead the league with fan support, not many people would said it would fly. When you combine the fact that the CSA is a national embarrassment that could not organize itself out of dumpster, that the Toronto media is so hockey centric it took the Raptors ages to get more fair share of airtime, how would TFC get it done?

The answer is very simple. The disenfranchised sports fan.

I disagree that Toronto and Canada is ready for a soccer outburst just yet, although the tide is turning. This can be evidenced by the lack of support at the Canada v. Costa Rica friendly or continual lack of off season TFC coverage. Nonetheless, I believe the CMNT vs the Ticos friendly was the best embarrassment for Canadian soccer because it has brought notice that Canadians won't stand for sub par national team management any longer. But the groundswell is not large enough yet and thus I believe the bubble is not fully ready to pop.

What truly made TFC work as opposed to the friendly at the same venue was that Toronto suffered from not having a place where your rowdy sports fan to be him/herself. The ACC on some nights is as noisy as a morgue. From the purples you can almost hear Maurice cuss underneath his breath. The Skydome is as fan friendly as your grandmother past midnight on Wednesdays.

What makes TFC unique is that Toronto now has an old school, loud, proud, drinking venue for people to get their obnoxious fan on.

From the beer tent to the bunker you can hear the sports fan chanting their hearts out, swilling beer like it was Maple Leaf Gardens and the days of 'GO Leafs GO' from yesteryear, a time when the sports fan, not corporate baron or nuclear family reigned supreme.

BMO field became the new mecca, a temple of loud, a place fueled by vintage Toronto overpriced beer and a place where it is not frowned upon to stand out of your seat for the whole duration. It is a place where seat cushions aren't needed, where the occasional profanity won't get you ejected and losing your voice is a badge of honour because you belted your lungs out for 90+ minutes.

Thanks to the efforts of the Red Patch Boys and U-sector who brought together enough soccer enthusiasts to lay the groundwork of the successful off pitch TFC season, the sports fan saw on television and heard from word of mouth how crazy BMO was.

Ironically, the work of the RPB and U-sector was first made noticeable in due because of the lack of goals. I would like to cite the first home game against Kansas City where the chant of 'all we are signing, is give us a goal' first perked the interests of the people who knew little about the game. Then after Danny Dichio's immortal goal and the downpour of seat cushions, the avalanche of sportsfandom had begun.

Furthermore, early on with the old guard of the media trying to shut TFC out it was in fact the old guard that was chanted down by the numbers of fans who showed up in droves, demanded television air time, wrote to their newspapers about poor coverage and proved constantly they were going to support the team. TFC attendance rivaled if not surpassed the numbers of the other major sports teams. Almost 20,000 each game is as good as the Leafs as well as Raptors and only capacity limits them below the Argos or Jays.

Why did it not work for the CSA? There are a lot of reasons, but most of it has to do with fan distribution.

Canadian fans during the CMNT vs Ticos match were shoved in the South end, which is good. But the sports fan and the soccer mom were put side by side, which is bad. From section 116 onwards, it was soccer moms who desperately frown upon sportsfandom, praying their little boy/girl wont turn out to be a beer swilling loud mouth. Alone I would say this is a major no-no.

To add to the above, when you add some Costa Rica fans amidst the Canadian supporters, when Canadians are frowned upon cheering against other people in our section because of our 'diversity' only amplifies anger over that other the other team fans are able to cheer at us in our own section AND get prime time seats at midfield... To conclude on this point, the problem that the overall seating arrangement was overpriced on top of already being poorly marketed was only made worse by the facts mentioned above.

To be honest, I believe the list continues, but I think those are the main points behind the CMNT failure in September. Do not look to the WCQ's for any improvement if CSA is true to their history.

To end my digression and wrap up the overall point of this blog post, TFC did a great job at managing the sports fan at TFC events. While there have been incidents of security problems, overall MLSE gets a good rating for what they have done with the franchise. They identified there was no place for nutty people who want to wear only their team colours and belt their lungs out between beers to go.

I hope the CSA will see this and capitalize on it. But I doubt it. Canadian soccer needs the sports fan to get behind them. Years of promoting world diversity and the family at the games has failed, not only miserably, but embarrassingly. I also do not see a silver lining at the moment. The CSA accepting the equation of sports fan + sports fan venture = publicity is as likely as the Canada winning any World Cup involving soccer any time soon. Canadian soccer needs the publicity of a crazy atmosphere and the publicity attached to it good or bad.

TFC captured a market, the CSA is unlikely to do the same.

Canada to begin semis at familiar confines

As FIFA works on its match schedule, Canada’s road to the 2010 World Cup becomes clearer. With the World Cup draw in November, Canadians knew which team they would face in Round 2 of CONCACAF qualifying, as well as the order of home-and-away matches – Canada will host St. Vincent and the Grenadines this June, with an away fixture against the Caribbean nation a few days later. As of yesterday, Canada also knows the order of its first two Round 3 group stage matches – assuming it defeats St. Vincent, of course. When the semi-final round begins in late August or early September, Canada will open with two straight games at home.

With the release of this skeletal schedule, much speculation has already taking place as to whether or not this schedule is beneficial for Canada. As a national team fan, my critique is that this schedule is a mixed blessing at best. With Honduras and Jamaica starting on the road, it would be fair to assume that Canada will host both of these nations in its first two games. In short, this means that Canada will likely play its two easiest semi-final matches right away. The pressure will be on Canada to win these games, as anything short of six points will mean that Canada will have to make up points on the road or against Mexico. Canada may end up playing well away from home, but there is no such thing as an easy match in Latin America.

Adding to the difficulty of Canada’s schedule is the fact that the red-and-white had a similar qualifying schedule for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. In 2000, Canada opened its semi-final group by hosting Trinidad and Tobago in Edmonton. It was clear that this was a must-win game, as Canada lost this match and was quickly eliminated from qualifying. In 2004, Canada also started the semis at home. Playing host to Guatemala and Honduras in its first two games, Canada needed big results in order to advance from this tough group. With a combination of sloppy play and horrible officiating, Canada earned only one point from its opening two fixtures, and it was quickly eliminated from qualifying once more.

On paper, Canada’s semi-final schedule for next year should essentially be the same as it was for 2004 – Canada will open at home against its two easiest group opponents. It is now up to the players and coaching staff to determine whether or not Canada will give a repeat performance of 2004. Given the improved calibre of players at Dale Mitchell’s disposal, it is guaranteed that Canada’s qualifying run will be intriguing and dramatic. With a little luck and a lot of skill, the late summer and early fall of next year will not be Groundhog Day for Canada.

Remembering our past: 2008

The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2008, an honour to be capped off in April with an induction ceremony in Woodbridge. There are four players are on this years list, Jack Brand, John McGrane, Walter Bowman, and Helen Stoumbos, in addition to five builders, one pioneer and one team of distinction.

Goalkeeper Jack Brand was an intricate part of the North American Soccer League in the 1970’s and into the 1980’s; his accolades include an NASL single-season record of 15 clean sheets in 1980 and Player of the Year honours, as well as leading the New York Cosmos to a victory in Soccer Bowl ‘78. Internationally, he received 7 caps for Canada between 1974 and 1975. A fellow NASL inductee is converted defender John McGrane, who played over 200 games in the NASL for three different teams. Additionally, he was capped by Canada 17 times, and participated in the 1976 Olympics.

The oldest of the player inductees is Waterloo native Walter Bowman who plied his trade in the late 19^th century, and holds the distinction of being the first player in the history of the English Football League to be born outside the British Isles. He begun with Accrington Stanley in 1892, scoring three goals in five games, he then moved to Ardwick (which became Manchester City) for the final five seasons of his career.

The final inductee is Women’s World Cup veteran Helen Stoumbos of Guelph. Her international career spanned five years from 1993-1998, and became the first women to score for Canada in World Cup play when she did so against England at Sweden 1995.

The five inducted builders will be manager Les Wilson, coach Bruce Twamley, referee Dino Soupliotis, manager Jimmy Adam, and journalist Billy Fenton.

The Pioneer Award will be presented to former Canadian Soccer Association president Arthur Arnold, while the Team of Distinction will be the national team that went on tour to Australia in 1924.

The 2008 Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Weekend takes place 26 April 2008 in Woodbridge, ON.

The possibilites that lie ahead

Following last weeks qualification draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it is largely assumed the path Canada will have to take. No doubt it will be a tough road, but which teams will we have to face in the upcoming year? The only certainty is the St. Vincent & Grenadines squad in a home & home series in June.

They may be just a small island nation with only four players playing in a league most of us have ever heard of, but at the same time they are the only nation to receive a bye in the first round. Although they failed at the same stage last time around to Nicaragua, they held a draw in the first leg, and had an opportunity on home soil to see them through to the semifinal round.

Looking to more recent results shows an even greater improvement in the island squad. The 2007 Caribbean Nations Cup was one of two parts to the Gold Cup qualifying (the other being the UNCAF nations cup for continental Central America). In that tournament SV&G was in the same group as past World Cup qualifiers Jamaica, advancing to the second round over the Jamaicans in large part to a 2-1 victory away, at the National Stadium in Kingston. It took a one-goal defeat to eventual Gold Cup semi-finalists Guadeloupe, for SV&G to miss out on the big continental tournament by a single point. Forward Shandel Samuel (no relation to Lion-heart Colin) led the Island championships with 10 goals in 9 games, and will certainly make the backline of Canada earn their keep.

Assuming Canada advance through that stage to the third round (first group stage), the probable teams they will have to face is Mexico, Jamaica and Honduras.

The most daunting potential opponent is Mexico, who must defeat either St. Kitts & Nevis or Belize to be in the third round. St. Kitts and Nevis failed to advance past the first round of the aforementioned Caribbean Nations cup. While at the same stage four years ago, they upset Barbados before being blown out in the first group stage, including 5-0 and 8-0 losses to Mexico, whom they may yet again face. As for Belize, they fell in the first round last world cup attempt to the Canadians, followed by placing dead last at the UNCAF Nations Cup this summer, being only one of two teams in that tournament to miss out on the Gold Cup. As the Mexicans have qualified for 13 of 18 World Cups and are seven time Gold Cup Champions, is safe to say they will make it to the Group Stage.

The Jamaican team had a disappointing Caribbean Nations Cup, as was previously mentioned, when they failed to advance past the first round. In qualifications for last World Cup, they begun with a 4-1 aggregate win over Haiti, but were eliminated in the second round by a single point. The challengers for the Reggae Boyz are Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. The BVI were steadfastly knocked out by a 10-0 aggregate in the first round four years ago, while withdrawing from Gold Cup qualifying last year. The Bahamas were also defeated four years in the first round, courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate loss to Dominica. In the more recent Gold Cup qualifying, they reached the second group stage, but went pointless the rest of the Caribbean island championships.

The third and final anticipated group stage squad is Honduras. The side that famously drew with Spain and Northern Ireland in their single World Cup appearance in 1982 has yet to be back. They began the last campaign with a 6-1 aggregate victory over the Netherlands Antilles, and were off to the group stage that included Canada (and a certain barrage of officiating errors, but that’s for another time). They missed out on the final stage by three points, drawing with the Canadians 1-1 in both matches. Los Catrachos are routinely in the Gold Cup, finishing fifth in the UNCAF Nations cup to reach the latest edition. While there they finished atop their group that featured the same Mexican team they could potentially be facing again. Any challenge for that spot will come from either baseball powerhouses Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic showed promise in the Caribbean Nations Cup, reaching the final group stage, however they withdrew shortly after. Their last World Cup attempt was cut short in the preliminary round by eventual qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico did not enter into qualifying for either the Gold Cup or World Cup, any indication of their results would be from the 2005 Caribbean Nations Cup where they registered a single point in a draw with Suriname and were eliminated in the first round.

It has been said many times in the past week alone that Canada have the most difficult path to reach the Bafan-Bafana hosted tournament in over 2 years time. If they want qualify though, these are the teams they must defeat (and have previously done so), simply to reach the final group stage. Last years Gold Cup results (and near results) gave hope that the impossible is actually attainable for this team. However, much like last attempt at the World Cup, if they don’t prove themselves early on, it will be a relaxing summer in 2010.