CSA: Miller Announces Finland Roster

[Jarrek]

MILLER ANNOUNCES FINLAND ROSTER

Rogers Sportsnet To Broadcast Friendly On October 11

Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Men’s World Cup Team interim Head Coach Colin Miller today announced his 18-player roster for the international friendly against Finland on October 11 in Tampere, Finland. The game will be shown on Rogers Sportsnet on tape delay.

The squad includes several players who have not played for Canada in some time. Defender Mark Watson and striker Paul Peschisolido return to the team for the first time since playing against Malta in November 2001. Watson is coming off winning his first A-League championship with the Charleston Battery and will be looking to add to his 68 caps while Peschisolido is in his third season with Sheffield United of the English First Division.

Marc Bircham is another player to join the team after a long period away. Bircham has not played since a friendly against Egypt in April 2001. He was part of the Confederations Cup team but did not play. He is a regular starter with Queen’s Park Rangers in the English Second Division.

Ante Jazic has also been chosen. Jazic was called up to the national team for the friendly against Germany on June 1, 2003 but missed the game due to injury.

Tomasz Radzinksi will be making his first appearance since the international friendly against Scotland in October, 2002. Radzinski missed out on a number of friendlies and the 2003 Gold Cup due to injury.

Pat Onstad and Lars Hirschfeld have been named as the goalkeepers. Onstad is enjoying a career year in San Jose where he has led the Earthquakes to first place in the MLS West Division, establishing a team record for shutouts. Hirschfeld is expected to play in a reserve game for Tottenham on Tuesday after recovering from hamstring problems.

Miller has also named Nick Dasovic as his assistant coach for the game.

Canadian Roster For International Friendly Against Finland

Name Position Club Date of Birth Caps Goals/Shutouts

Pat Onstad GK San Jose Earthquakes, MLS 1/13/68 37 15

Lars Hirschfeld GK Tottenham Hotspur, English Premier 10/17/78 13 4

Paul Fenwick D Hibernian, Scottish Premier 8/25/69 31 0

Mark Watson D Charleston Battery, A-League 9/8/70 68 3

Tam Nsaliwa D/M Jahn Regensburg, German Bundesliga 2 1/28/82 12 0

Richard Hastings D/M MV Maastricht, Dutch Second Division 5/18/77 33 1

Kevin McKenna D/F Heart of Midlothian, Scottish Premier 1/21/80 18 6

Chris Pozniak D/M Orebro, Swedish Premier 1/10/81 9 0

Iain Hume M/F Tranmere Rovers, English Second Division 10/20/83 2 0

Ante Jazic D/M Rapid Vienna, Austrian 2/27/76 2 0

Jim Brennan M Norwich City, English First Division 5/8/77 33 3

Jason Bent M Plymouth Argyle, English Second Division 3/8/77 30 0

Paul Stalteri M Werder Bremen, German Bundesliga 10/18/77 44 6

Daniel Imhof M St. Gallen, Swiss First Division 11/22/77 18 0

Marc Bircham M Queen’s Park Rangers, English Second Div. 5/11/78 13 1

Paul Peschisolido F Sheffield United, English First Division 5/25/71 45 9

Tomasz Radzinski F Everton, English Premier 12/14/73 16 3

Dwayne de Rosario F San Jose Earthquakes, MLS 5/15/78 16 2

Staff

Andy Sharpe Head of Delegation

Colin Miller Head Coach

Nick Dasovic Assistant Coach

Kevin Muldoon Equipment Manager/Goalkeeping Coach

Greg Bay Physiotherapist/Massage Therapist

Dave Foley Physiotherapist/Massage Therapist

Morgan Quarry Director of Communications/Men’s World Cup Team Manager

Sanjay Gupta Doctor

[Jarrek]

Wow, what a squad!!!

[SeanKeay]

Good squad... except we need a better defence,without devos in our squad we are horrible. We need to try new guys out LIKE REDA and Pizzolitto.... grrrr

But its nice to see the 3 best strikers showing up for canada. Still no agiuar, there must be somthing up with that not too sure really. Now reading is again WHERE THE HELL IS DEGUZMAN?

BAHHHHHHH

[An Observer]

Surprise omissions for me are DeGuzman and Aguiar. I would have thought Hannover and Benefica are better sides than Plymouth Argyle and Queen's Park Rangers (no disrespect intended).

Also, I would have thought that Kluklowski would now be ahead of Hastings in the rankings as a Belgian first division side has to be some way ahead of a 2nd division bottom place Dutch side (especially when the player in question could not most recently cut it with a top divsion Austrian side which cannot be any better than the Belgian league).

Finally, what about Reda. Again, with Fenwick and McKenna not even playing first team football, I would have thought Reda would get a chance after the successful season he is having. After the "old Firm", is not the Norwegian league comparable to Scotland.

[Ivan]

Some wishful thinking on my part. DeGuzman is saving himself for the Olympic Qualifying matches in November and does not want to upset Hannover by leaving for a friendly. Reda's club is battling for a spot in Europe and he did not want to risk injury. Same for Klukowski (the injury part anyway). I have no grounds for speculation on Aguiar. Surprised the 2nd division England clubs are letting Bent, Hume and Bircham go since they are playing on that date.

Lets hope DeGuzman and Reda in particular are only appeasing their clubs.

[Gian-Luca]

With De Guzman it must be a club situation, as I can't believe that Miller wouldn't think he would be good enough for the team.

Its irritating though that he & Klukowski aren't there - I hope they will be included in the El Salvador series as a result. De Guzman hasn't played for Canada since June 1st, Klukowski not since February, its not like they are constantly leaving their clubs to play for Canada.

As for Reda, I think its ridiculous that he hasn't been called, I don't know what the reason is there, especially when we could have a back three of Hastings, Fenwick & Watson!!!

Not sure about Aguiar. We can't say its still because Holger doesn't think much of the Portugese league.

[Andrew W]

Where the %#@* is Reda?

Where the %#@* is Aguiar?

Where the %#@* is DeGuzman?

Can we turn the page on this and broaden our %#@*ing player pool already.

It's not all about who is on the list, but who isn't.

Hastings? Fenwick? Haven't we seen this movie before?

Arrgh, gotta go to work. [V]

[jonovision]

Assuming we play some variation of a 4-4-2, the backline could be a bit scary, given the age/speed/overall lack of talent of some of the older set of defenders that were called up. I think it is an absolute must that 2 of Nsaliwa, Brennan, Bent and Jazic play on the wings in a 4-man backline. We need at least some speed back there.

I'm a bit surprised about the exclusion of deGuzman, but not too worried. He is a dedicated national team servant, and if this increases the likelihood of him being available for Olympic qualifying, I'm all for it.

If I were coach, this would be my starting lineup:

Radzinski-De Rosario

Brennan-Imhof-Stalteri-Hume

Jazic-McKenna-Watson-Nsaliwa

Hirschfeld

I'd really like to have someone other than McKenna in there, but I don't think Hastings or Fenwick would be an improvement in that role.

[Gian-Luca]

Actually, it should be noted that it is nice to see Radzinski is still showing up. For a few minutes there I almost took it for granted.

Also would have been nice to give Kenny a deserved chance.

But the only part of the line-up I'm not happy with is in the defence. Actually, back four of Jazic, McKenna, Nsaliwa and Pozniak wouldn't be so bad, with a midfield of Brennan (surprised to see him since I didn't think he was healthy) Stalteri, Imhof and Bent, with any of the strikers called up front. On the bench you have Hume & Bircham that can come on, and the third striker (likely Pesch or, due to his lengthy flight from San Jose to Finland, De Rosario). With 18 players called we can afford not to play Hastings, Fenwick & Watson.

[SeanKeay]

I still think Watson has it, and hopefully he does because i dont want fenwick in the middle.

[marcl_19]

Definitly pleased overall with the squad. woul dhave liked to see deguzman, but as many of u guys said, we'll be better offf with him in wcq than in a friendly. I totally agree with jonovision's starting 11. I didn't know brennen was healthy....how many matches has he played for norwich?

[Gordon]

quote:Originally posted by marcl_19

Definitly pleased overall with the squad. woul dhave liked to see deguzman, but as many of u guys said, we'll be better offf with him in wcq than in a friendly. I totally agree with jonovision's starting 11. I didn't know brennen was healthy....how many matches has he played for norwich?

Brennan hasn't played any games for Norwich, and managed only 30 minutes in a reserve match about a week ago before the pain got to be too much (according to the Norwich site). I don't expect him to play much.

Watson played Centre back with Charleston this year. He may be worth a look there. I we'll see:

Onstadt

Hastings - McKenna - Watson - Pozniak

Jazic - Bircham - Bent - Nsaliwa

DeRo - Radz

I don't think that either Onstadt or DeRo would be called if not starting.

[Andrew W]

You know, as upset as I was at those not selected (let's be positive and assume for good reasons) I like the team, especially forward. That is one potent attack. If we get any sort of link-up we could pump some in the net.

Ready to give Watson a look considering the options. I liked the idea of Hume and Bircham off the bench. They can be energy players that disrupt the opposition and turn possession to attack. Exhaust your starting midfield and have these guys mop up after the starters tire.

Other than defence this is some of the best depth I've seen in years. Still want some of those missing players, though.

Damn, late for work. [}]

[jonovision]

The positive thing about our defensive situation is that we now has some good options on the wings. We don't need to put Hastings out there every game (I'm not saying that this won't happen). The central defending depth will look much better with de Vos and hopefully someday an on-form Tony Menezes. With players like Nsaliwa, Brennan or Jazic playing a defensive wing position, our possibilities for attacking down the flanks with some overlapping runs are better too.

[David C.]

Wow! Pretty strong line-up! Some comments:

DeGuzman: I hope he isn't at odds with the CSA. His father alluded to some conflict and his brother is holding back from playing for Canada. We cannot afford to lose him.

Onstad: With Kenny playing well next door in Sweden I am surprised to see Pat flown so far with his back condition.

Aguiar: The great unknown... At least Jazic, Bircham and Pesch are back.

Brennan vs Kuklowski: Brennan is still suffering from an injury and hasn't played yet this season. At least Kuklowski is healthy and playing.

Fenwick vs Reda: Why...? Fenwick is not even a substitute for his club.

Radzinski, Pesch & DeRosario: Prayers answered, what a dream roster for strikers, not to mention adding Hume.

Menezes: Phone home... we need you.

[Canuck Oranje]

De Guzman was Red Carded on Saturday. I wonder what the rule is for domestic suspensions as it relates to national team duty.

quote:Originally posted by SeanKeay

Good squad... except we need a better defence,without devos in our squad we are horrible. We need to try new guys out LIKE REDA and Pizzolitto.... grrrr

But its nice to see the 3 best strikers showing up for canada. Still no agiuar, there must be somthing up with that not too sure really. Now reading is again WHERE THE HELL IS DEGUZMAN?

BAHHHHHHH

[Canuck Oranje]

Brennan hasn't played for Norwich yet but I think it is down to game fitness now from what I read. I suspect he may only play a part of this game. Norwich may see this as an opportunity to get some high level game action.

[marcl_19]

Norwich must be thinking that otherwise i can't imagine him gettin the call b 4 even playing with them

[Chet]

Is Menezes out of the picture now? What's the status on De Vos? Any idea when he might return?

I agree about the defense, but in general this is a great lineup.

Can anyone remember the last time we had seven national team games in the space of 22 days? And all of them televised.

[matthew]

I'm pretty pleased with the lineup, esp. since we had a month to digest the news that Watson and Fenwick were both coming back. I have faith in Watson being up for it, if not being an answer in the back.

This is the first game for a new caretaker manager. We're going to have a hard time getting everyone on the field, but I figure we should give most of the guys 45 mins.

I'd start:

Onstad (Hirschfeld)

Nsaliwa (Pozniak)--Watson--McKenna--Hastings

Bircham (Hume) --Imhof (Bent)--Stalteri--Jazic (Brennan)

Radzinski--DeRosario

Sub Pesch in for whichever forward is faltering and give the other five a half. Or do we only have five subs? If we do only have five I guess give Onstad the 90.

cheers,

matthew

[SeanKeay]

I would rather see either Jazic or Brennan take hastings spot back there, so both players can play and Richard gets the spot he deserves... the bench

[Gian-Luca]

Another good thing is the position Dasovic is taking up - which is not on the field. All of the other midfielders called (unless Hastings is used there) have both offensive & defensive capabilities, rather than just being one-dimensional.

Also, good sign that Hume is being called up instead of Corazzin. With Pesch, Radz & De Ro we arguably have our best strike force of all time for this match.

[DJT]

The first thing I did when I saw this roster was check what year we are in, because I felt like I was in a time warp!

And I don't mean that in a positive sense. [xx(]

[matthew]

Is Brennan fully fit? That's the only reason I didn't start him. If he's good to go I'd give he and Jazic a half then swap them for each other to see who looks more comfortable at left back. It's a shame Klukowski isn't there, but I think he's someone we can look at later, I think Brennan and Jazic should be the first two options. It's a similar thing at right back with Bircham, Bent, Pozniak and Nsaliwa all capable of filling in back there.

cheers,

matthew

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by matthew

It's a shame Klukowski isn't there, but I think he's someone we can look at later, I think Brennan and Jazic should be the first two options.

cheers,

matthew

I am afraid that if he isn't called now, he and de Guzman probably won't be called later either. WCQ is only 3-4 mos away and there are no other friendlies scheduled. What are the chances that they will get called up by the coaches when they haven't had a chance to look at them. Again, there are no other freindlies scheduled until WCQ. One would think that unless you work yourself off the team, if you are called for this match, you will be called for WCQ.

What bothers is the notion of recalling players that we have failed with in the past (e.g: Watson, Peschisolido, Fenwick). How tough is it to learn that if you didn't succeed with these guys in two WCQ's before, you probably won't this time either. Watson and Pesch have been part of two WCQ campaign. Pesch never scores for us, and we have had trouble scoring yet he gets called again for a friendly which should prelude the type of squad that we will ago into WCQ with. I just don't get it. I've seldom quibbled with past selections knowing that there were many more friendlies to come. But this one really bothers and it really looks we've turned the clocks back.