Onstad hurt

[Joe05]

Pat Onstad did not train today because of back spasms. Looks like

Hirschfeld will start tomorrow. sorry if this is old news

[George]

Ailing goalie seeks to lift Canada's fortunes

WALTHAM, Mass. (CP) — Canada is hurting in goal going into Saturday's opening match of the Gold Cup men's soccer tournament against Costa Rica in Foxboro, Mass.

Pat Onstad, who has been in top form for the San Jose Earthquakes this season, was a spectator at practice Friday because of back spasms.

That means Canada's hopes rest on Lars Hirschfeld, who has not played a competitive game since March 19 because of a nasty hamstring injury.

Hirschfeld is normally Canada's No. 1, an athletic shot-stopper who was chosen top goalie at the 2002 Gold Cup.

But because of the injury — sustained when he did the splits in a reflex save while playing on loan for England's Luton against Oldham Athletic — — he still favours his left leg and one fears an element of ring rust in his game.

"It's OK," said the six-foot-four 'keeper from Edmonton. "It (the injury) is still there a little bit. I think it's a little bit in the head as well right now."

Hirschfeld pronounced himself good to go Saturday (Rogers Sportsnet, 1 p.m. EDT), and threw himself about with his normal reckless abandon Friday.

But he also took it easy clearing balls with his left foot.

"It is definitely an issue for (Saturday's) game," coach Holger Osieck said when asked about Hirschfeld's condition. "However he worked hard in training and he has improved from the day he started (at camp). I have confidence in him."

Here's hoping he's right. Because Onstad will be limited off the bench and the Canadian No. 3, Kenny Stamatopoulos, is in Sweden where he is slated to start for his club team Sunday.

Like the other sides at the 12-team tournament, Canada has an 18-man roster with seven alternates. The rules allows you to switch players but if the move happens within 48 hours of a game, the player replaced is off the roster for good.

The injury is unfortunate for Onstad, who has been a loyal servant for Canada while soldiering in the shadows of the likes of Craig Forrest.

With Hirschfeld recovering from injury, this tournament could have given Onstad a platform to show that his fine form in MLS could be transferred to the international stage.

The Gold Cup is the championship of CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Of the 40 countries in the confederation, 10 have made it to the tournament with Colombia and Brazil (which has sent its under-23 side), added to the mix as guest teams.

Canada is currently ranked ninth among CONCACAF countries by FIFA but is eighth in the confederation pecking order at this tournament because Trinidad and Tobago did not make the field.

The Canadians are in tough to start against Costa Rica, a participant in the 2002 World Cup and currently ranked 18th in the world, 60 places above Canada.

The Ticos are coached by Steve Sampson, who was at the American helm when the U.S. went 0-3 and finished dead last at the 1998 World Cup in France.

But so far so good in Costa Rica as the Ticos are 7-1-1 under Sampson's reign.

Osieck gave a clue as to his starting lineup in practice Friday with a first-string backline of Richard Hastings, Jason deVos, Paul Fenwick and Chris Pozniak and a midfield of Martin Nash, Daniel Imhof, Nick Dasovic and Jason Bent.

Paul Stalteri operated in an attacking midfield role behind Kevin McKenna in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Osieck is limited in his offensive options with top strikers Tomasz Radzinski and Dwayne DeRosario missing due to injuries.

Up-and-coming midfielder Mike Klukowski was forced to leave the squad after injuring a leg at training camp north of Toronto. He was replaced by Atiba Hutchinson, a 20-year-old midfielder also highly rated by Canadian officials.

Otherwise Canada has most of its top players here, although influential winger Jim Brennan and young midfielders Julian de Guzman and Tam Nsaliwa were allowed to stay in Europe for pre-season training with their club sides.

The other member of Canada's group is Cuba, ranked a surprising 63rd in the world. The top two teams will advance to the quarter-finals with Canada looking to finish first in its pool in order to avoid a probable matchup with the defending champion Americans.

The Gold Cup is important to Canada because outside of World Cup qualifying, it is essentially the only official tournament available to the Canadians.

Since official competition results count more in the complicated formula FIFA uses to rank countries, a good performance can push Canada up the ladder.

Plus the tournament allows Osieck more time to work with his players. He has had the luxury of a pre-tournament training camp, as opposed to a couple of practices before one-off friendlies.

NBA coaches are often judged on how well their team performs coming out of a timeout, an opportunity that allows them to set the strategic stage. The Gold Cup is a similar test for Osieck.

He has been up to the task in previous tournaments, winning in 2000 and finishing third last year.

"A pretty move, for the love of God."

Eduardo Galeano

[Cheeta]

Actually not too upset with Pat going down. Still convinced that it's going to be Lars who'll patrol the crease through WCQ. As every minute on the pitch well help to build familiarity with the men in the back line, a little ring rust may have to be the small trade off for the added game experience.

Man, what kind of practices dose Holger run though? He must be a hard taskmaster because the number of victoms just keeps growing.

"Minority of one"

[loyola]

I watched Sutton tonight and he is the real deal, better than Hirshfeld and I just hope that he'll be call for that friendly in Finland. Because I,m quite scared with Hirsh between the pipe, Onstad is OK.

If you have the chance to watch the Impact game against Syracuse take a look at how Sutton is good with his feet coming out of his box to clear dangerous ball. And he is so good cutting crosses.

[Cheeta]

Yeah, looks very technicaly capable. Good all around positioning. Mountain of a man and pretty quick on his feet for it all as you say.

Didn't exactly see him robbing anybody of a sure thing as it were but that's the way it goes some nights. Half at least of good 'keeping is eliminating the danger before it fully develops I suppose and Chris certainly did that with some mature tactical play. Kinda wiffed a couple of boots up field but I guess we can fault the rain.

Pity that last goal. Was well done all around by Syracuse, though and fully deserving.

"Minority of one"

[Guest Ed]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

I watched Sutton tonight and he is the real deal, better than Hirshfeld and I just hope that he'll be call for that friendly in Finland. Because I,m quite scared with Hirsh between the pipe, Onstad is OK.

If you have the chance to watch the Impact game against Syracuse take a look at how Sutton is good with his feet coming out of his box to clear dangerous ball. And he is so good cutting crosses.

I haven't seen that much of Sutton but I could not say he's better than Hirschfeld. Lars is a natural shot stopper; something you cannot teach.

Free the banana cream 3!

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

I haven't seen that much of Sutton but I could not say he's better than Hirschfeld. Lars is a natural shot stopper; something you cannot teach.

Free the banana cream 3!

Yes Lars is a great shot stopper we saw him today pulling a few world class save.

But I also think that Sutton should be given a chance to prove what he's capable of at this level. Like some people said on this forum, we are putting all our egs in the same basket by using only Onstad and Hirsh.

I'm still happy with the win

[Christian B.]

If Sutton was playing Toronto, he'd have been called for the national team already. Why? Because Holger is never leaving Toronto. He probable doesn't even know Sutton. I have a lot of respect for Osieck but i believe that he should travel a little bit to watch the FOUR canadian professionnal team. There is always a picture of him at a Lynx game but does he know the Whitecaps, the Storm and the Impact?

Still great win for Canada. I wish that we get the same performance in WCQ than we get in the Gold Cup. Lars was solid and confident. He's way ahead of Pat Onstad. Pat Onstad is a good soldier but we have no future with him. I'm hoping now that Lars get a regular spot as a number 1 keeper anywhere.