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.

Marcel comes to his senses

Pick the odd man out, Owen Hargreaves, Jonathan de Guzman, Steven Vitória & Marcel de Jong. At first glance, it is hard to notice any difference at all (outside of physical appearance), all four gentlemen were born in Canada, and they all ply their trade as professional soccer players in Europe. All of these men are certainly skillful enough to earn a call-up to the national team, so how do we pick the odd man out? Well, only one of those men actually shows the class and integrity to want to represent their homeland on an international level.

The only silver lining to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at a second rate South African side, was the certification that Marcel de Jong will be part of the Canadian national team for as long as his skill warrants. At the 73^rd minute, as I saw Patrice Bernier trotting off the field, I cheered. Not for his play, but that of all the speculation of top players leaving our national side, we kept one. I felt like writing the KNVB, “neener, neener, neener, he’s on our side!”

We all know the story on Hargreaves and Vitória choosing other nations to further their careers, with de Guzman still undecided. Ideally, Marcel has set a precedent and this is not just one of the bunch. Of course there is the possibility that he was furthering career as well, and would rather have a potential concrete spot in an up and coming national side, as opposed to fighting for a spot (and more then likely end up on the losing end) on one of the top 10 teams in the world.

Anyways, no time to dwell on the past (and future), its time to rejoice! I am so happy I almost forgot we have Dale Mitchell coaching…..