May 17 - U17 WCQ - Canada vs Honduras [R]

[flindar@gmail.com]

Anyone have a link to scores for this game tonight?

[Massive Attack]

It's not looking good

Canada lost 2-0 to Honduras tonight:

http://www.femexfut.org.mx/federacion/VistaNoticia.php?id=6185

This was a crucial match. Canada will now have to beat both Haiti and the hosts Mexico.

[Guest Ed]

Well Mexico was ahead 2-0 over Haiti with about 55 minutes gone. So assuming the win for the Mexicans, we just have to keep focused and beat Haiti next. It'll then come down to the final game against Mexico. Two wins may be enough to go through to take on Costa Rica for the 3rd qualifier playoff. Haiti was pretty strong coming in, having knocked off Jamaica en route.

I'd like to see some kind of report though.

[matthew]

Canadian keeper Adam Street tore his calf muscle in the second half and had to be replaced by Lorenzo Borella.

Junior Bonilla and Meller Sanchez scored for Honduras.

Our best chance came in the 79th when Kyle Oliviera was unmarked at the far post on a corner. But his downward header bounced over the bar.

cheers,

matthew

[Winnipeg Fury]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 18, 2005

CANADA FALLS 2-0 TO HONDURAS

Canada Will Play Haiti on Thursday

Canada’s U17 National Team opened its CONCACAF Final Round of Qualifying this evening with a 2-0 loss at the hands of Honduras. A freekick goal from the top of the box in the early moments of the opening half and a backbreaking move that pried up the Canadian defense minutes from halftime proved too difficult to overcome.

From the opening whistle Canada seemed tense and in the fifth minute that anxiety would prove costly. Canadian defender Kyle Oliveira (Oakville, ON) was punished for an awkward challenge when he bundled over a Honduran twenty-five yards from his own goal. The two decoy runs that skipped over the ball didn’t phase the wall or the Canadian defenders but that mattered very little. Honduran midfielder Junior Bonilla’s effort forced Canadian keeper Adam Street (Brampton, ON) to scamper across his goal but the youngster could do very little to keep the catrachos from grabbing the early lead as Bonilla’s rocket sailed into the upper left corner of the Canadian goal.

Minutes later the lead was almost two when a long ball played over the top of the Canadian back four forced Street off his line. The Canuck ‘keeper forced the Honduran attacker to lob him which provided just enough time for Joseph Awuakye (Scarborough, ON) to recover to clear the danger off the line.

Canada then slowly began to play its way back into the contest with successive shots in minute 22 but neither really tested Emmanuel Diaz in the Honduran goal.

Two minutes from the interval, Honduras stretched its lead to two when a quick one-two at the top of the box sliced open the Canucks. Honduran captain Meller Sanchez spun his marker quickly then played a delicate pass to Luis Sosa who had stationed himself at the top of the Canadian penalty area. Sosa took very little time returning the pass into the path of Sanchez’ run and the Honduran easily rounded Street to tap in from six yards out.

Canadian coach Stephen Hart was dealt another blow at the half when Street, who had torn a calf muscle early in the half, had to be replaced by Lorenzo Borella (Brossard, QC). Borella certainly did everything he was asked to do for the final 45 minutes but the Canadians, despite some real chances to reel in the Hondurans, could not breach the Central American’s net.

Canada opened the half brightly and within minutes forced the Hondurans to defend several corners but could not convert or capitalize on any of the second chances that had presented themselves.

The inclusion of Marcus Haber (Vancouver, BC) in the 72nd minute forced the issue yet again. The big striker certainly drew attention and that seemed to have opened up some space for the other Canadians pressing for the goal that would cut into Honduras’ lead.

Canada’s best and last real chance fell to Oliveira in the 79th minute. The defender found himself unmarked at the far post after an AJ Gray corner. However, Oliveira’s downward header bounced agonizingly high.

Canada must now regroup in time for its encounter with Haiti on Thursday, May 19th.

Street replaced an injured David Monsalve (Brampton ON) over the weekend. Street made his first appearance for Canada a few weeks back in the U16 series against Scotland in Toronto. He was chosen as a replacement after his performance in those two games, coupled with the reports from the Ontario NTC.

Remaining Games

May 19, 2005 @ 18:00 - Canada vs. Haiti

May 21, 2005 @ 20:30 - Canada vs. Mexico

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

CONCACAF U17 Final Round Qualification – Group B

Estadio Carlos Gonzalez y Gonzalez - Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico

CANADA – 0 (0)

HONDURAS – 2 (2)

Goals: HONDURAS – Bonilla 5’; Sanchez 43’

Cautions: CANADA – Gray 62’; HONDURAS – Bonilla 9’

Expulsions - none

CANADA: 1 – STREET Adam (22 – BORELLA Lorenzo 46’); 2 – KEREK Robert (17 – LANG Adam 60’); 4 – OLIVEIRA Kyle; 5 – ATTAKORA Nana; 7 – MAYARD Rudolph; 8 – AYRE Keegan; 9 – LAMMIE Shane; 10 – JARAMILLO Josue (14 – HABER Marcus 72’); 11 – GRAY Andrew; 16 – AWUAKYE Joseph

Head Coach: HART Stephen

Subs not used: 3 – MARAS Marinko; 12 – PEREIRA Michael; 13 – MARRELLO Alex; 15 – RIDLEY Curtis

HONDURAS: 1 – DIAZ Emmanuel; 3 – MOLINA David; 6 – GARCIA Juan Carlos; 7 – AVILA Cruz; 8 – RIVERA Jose Carlos; 9 – BONILLA Junior; 10 – MARTINEZ Oscar Rene (5 – SOLORZANO Vicente 72’); 11 – SOSA Luis Fernando; 13 – SANCHEZ Meller (15 – MEJIA Francisco 68’); 17 – GARICA Darwin Oliva (2 – TEJADA Cesar Asaul 77’); 18 – PALACIOS Milton Geovany

Head Coach: ESCALANTE Miguel (HON)

Subs not used: 4 – MARTINEZ Maynor; 12 – MARTINEZ Mario; 14 – MATUTE Kewin Delano; 16 – CASTELLANOS Eliezer

For more information please contact:

Richard Ivan, CSA

Tel: 613-237-4580 ext: 242

Email: rivan@soccercan.ca

Visit our web site at www.canadasoccer.com <http://www.canadasoccer.com>

- 30 -

[analyst]

This result is quite unfortunate.

The CSA report states that Marcus Haber subbed on as a striker at the 72 minute mark. Thats strange as he plays as a defender and midfielder for his club team.

[Ivan]

quote:Originally posted by analyst

This result is quite unfortunate.

The CSA report states that Marcus Haber subbed on as a striker at the 72 minute mark. Thats strange as he plays as a defender and midfielder for his club team.

The Canadian strikers are reportedly on the smallish side. Haber is used as a striker on the Nats because of his size. Target man a la McKenna or Occean.

[James]

How about our keeper. Is he really a 91? Sheesh, thats pretty young. The kid must be great. Freddy Adu between the pipes.

Hopefully our smallish strikers grow a bit in the next year or two. I don't like to put too much into the U17 results. Especially in CONCACAF. I don't trust the certificates of birth from some of those countries. 2 years makes a big difference with the U17's.

[Gian-Luca]

They lost their two starting keepers before the tourney began, IIRC. So now they are down 3. If they are playing a 14 year old in goal it suggests that either he is very good for his age or we don't have as much depth at the U17 level. Or both.

[Guest Ed]

We started a 13 yr old in goal. His birthday is July 7th.

[Massive Attack]

Ya, he's only 13. I saw him play against Scotland. Here's the thread for that game:

http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6532

As I recall, he was a pretty good shot-stopper, and fairly agressive, but his kicking needed work (the distance issue can probably be put down to age).

[analyst]

Canada used to produce decent keepers, like Forrest, as its an athletic position not requiring as much skill as the other 10 positions. We have lots of decent 15 and 16 year old keepers, but for some reason Stephen Hart did not pick them. There's a 16 year old goalie in Vancouver, Justin Constantineau, who is 6'2" and was playing in the Vancouver mens league (VMSL) for a while this winter.

[sj]

one game into the tournament we are already facing elimination

most of the players in this age group are going to be the one that will be showcased across the country in two yrs time

and yet the product does not seems to be of quailty enough to even win a competive game in concacaf and we are only 2 seasons away from 2007.

the CSA has to think where their priorities are.

quality of our teams on the field or stadium.

looks like they are failing on both front.

qualifying for the u-17 world cup should have been the main priority

to really kick start the second phase to bring this team at international level in 2007.

just like the Stadium we are already behind in terms of phase one of getting the players much needed exposure to high calibre competitive games at even regional level.

again looks like the CSA miss the boat just like we did when we lost 2-0 against Guatemala in Vancouver.

Is this kind of results we can expect for 2007?

[Gordon]

quote:Originally posted by sj

one game into the tournament we are already facing elimination

most of the players in this age group are going to be the one that will be showcased across the country in two yrs time

and yet the product does not seems to be of quailty enough to even win a competive game in concacaf and we are only 2 seasons away from 2007.

We have not qualified for U-17 since 1995, but have done very well in U-20 since, so the two are not necessarily related. I think we should wait until the endof the tournament though, until we write the obituary.

[loyola]

This U-17 team is facing a lot of injuries right now, not easy for the CSA to do anything about it. This team has played a lot of games this year with the Italy tournament plus some friendlies against the US and Guatemala and maybe some others.

Let's not get over the top because our U-17 team cannot qualify for the WC while starting their 3rd GK, who's 13yrs old.....

[Guest Ed]

There's a world of difference between U17 and U20. I would assume that most of our U17s are in high school. The pool of players at the U20 level includes those at European clubs (we don't have very many kids under 18 taking that route) where they are typically facing better competition and at NCAA institutions where again the competition is a little better. Targetting those to look at becomes a little easier at the U20 level whereas at the U17 level you are typically scouting kids at the nationals or NTCs where you many have some very talented kids never showing up on the radar.

[analyst]

There are some interesting posts above.

Loyola seems to be saying that the U17 teams failure is the result of injuries from having played too many preparation games. That's an interesting excuse. Normally, the excuse for our teams failure is that our team did not play enough warm-up games.

Loyola also suggests we shouldn't be too concerned because we are starting a 13 year old goalie. Maybe we should be concerned our coach and his staff missed a number of good 15 and 16 year old goalies who should be starting instead of a 13 year old.

Gordon says that because we fail at U17 does not mean we will fail at U20. That's a valid argument, since the U20's have done well recently.

Would our u17 team win if it had a coach of the calibre of Dale Mitchell? Is our U17 coach a good coach?

Ed says there's a world of difference between U17 and U20. There's a difference, but not a world of difference. Pro teams in Europe seriously scout the U17 teams, and they invest serious money in 16 year old players. Players who does not show well at U17 will have a hard time becoming top players when they are 20.

Finally Ed also says some very talented kids never show up on the radar at U17. Is that true? If it is true, then why aren't very talented players being scouted? Our provincial associations have to tell the CSA coaches who the best players are in each Province, so the CSA coaches can then properly scout them. Are the provincial coaches not doing their jobs?

[sj]

yes we did put a 13 yr old kid in goal

how does that explain that we were shutout.

sound more like a typical lethagic CSA product.

one can argue even the coach for that matter that the tournament is being played too early in the yr and to adisadvantage to Canada since our season has not started yet.

this is customary in concacaf unless it is being played in Canada it has and will mostly be that way, qualifying tournaments will be played at the beginning of the yr.

it is up to the coaches and CSA staff to be creative and find a way to get our players in top shape instead of using it as an excuse for our lethagic display.

looks like the olympics qualifying fiasco did not teach them anything.

getting to the u-17 world cup would have provided continous game preparations,sponsorship and a natural flow marching towards 2007 and also give our players a preview of competition at the very top all of that would have been more beneficial to the program and Canadian soccer that is begging for a little bit of positive attention more than any fieldturf Stadium in toronto.

[loyola]

Man, that's why I sometime hate this board.

First, Analyst, I'm saying that this team is CURRENTLY hit by an important number of injuries maybe more than the teams they are playing (I have no idea about Mexico, Hon and Haiti but the chance are that this U-17 seems a bit unlucky with some of their best players hit by injury). The reason I mention the good preparation is to show that the CSA did his job with providing this team with a lot of friendlies which is a good thing.

Second, I'm not making an excuse about the 13 yrs old kid who seems to have done a pretty good job starting over a 16-17 yrs kid.

Ok we are speaking about high school kid here, it's not easy for coaches to get those players for a long period of time during school time. It should be easier for country like Honduras and Mexico to get their players together at this time of the year.

What I'm saying is that our youth programs looks fine at the moment and I won't jump over the top because we lost one freaking game against Honduras. Every two weeks the CSA announces friendlies for our youth teams, what do you want, those kids playing in tournament every day???? Our U-20 is doing well and I'see a lot of positive at the youth level now I want to see that positive at the Senior level.

Unless you have some facts about coaches and the CSA not doing their jobs at the youth level, you shouldn't complain too much about the youth program just because they lost one game. You have to look at those youth programs base on the experience they get not the results they get(unless we get smack by every opponent we play).

[Massive Attack]

I agree Loyola. I've been following the national team in depth since 1999 and as far as I can tell this U17 team, and our U20 team seem to be the 2 best prepared youth teams ever (in terms of warm up matches played). Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on this point.

I also want to point out that the U-17 level is often a crap shoot, in qualifying and the actual tournament. I took a look at the team we sent to the final tournament in 1995 and the only name that stands out to me is Patrice Bernier, and these are players that should be 26-27 and in their prime (yes, I'm aware of the other factors that could have led to their development being stunted).

http://fifa.com/en/comp/report/0,3647,U17-1995-23-31337-BRA-CAN,00.html

The only complaint that I might have is in using a 13-year old keeper. Surely there has to be taller, further advanced 15-17 year old keepers in a country that has the amount of registered soccer players that we do.

Also, if you really want to bitch, we were suppose to be hosting this qualifying tournament. CONCACAF took it away from us with some bogus excuse about wanting a 10,000 seat stadium (or something like that). Meanwhile, only 2,500 people showed up to watch Mexico's first match. The CSA should have stood their ground to keep this in Canada.

But as for the coaching and the preparation, I can't complain. Stephan Hart almost took us to the last U-17 Worlds until the entire team got sick before the 3rd match.

[analyst]

MA, you are right this team and the U20 team are well prepared in terms of playing lots of prep games. When Osieck was with the CSA, he successfully pushed the CSA to spend more money on national youth teams to develop players. Hopefully we'll see great results this year.

The fact we lost to Honduras is disappointing. Honduras is a very small country, with one fifth our population and average annual income of $2,600. Their soccer association has very little money to spend on their teams. I wouldn't be surpised if the entire Honduras Soccer Association budget is less than the budget of our larger Provincial associations. Difficulties were anticipated in our game against Mexico, but not Honduras.

[analyst]

Does anyone find it strange that the U17 team only has 3 players from Quebec on it, after Quebec's U16 all-star team won gold at last years championship. The Quebec players beat Ontario and BC, but Stephen Hart picked 8 players from Ontario for his national team, but only 3 from Quebec. I guess it doesn't pay to be successful.

BC placed 5th at last years U16 championships, but Stephen Hart picked 5 players from BC for his national team and only 3 from the first place Quebec team. Can anyone explain Hart's decisions?

[RS]

quote:Originally posted by analyst

Can anyone explain Hart's decisions?

I'm guessing he can.

[loyola]

Analyst, I'm pretty sure the reason why their is less Quebec players from Quebec is because Hart deliberatly injured Christian Nunez from MTL because he wanted to have more players from BC. You know, Hart being from Nova Scotia wants to have more BC players in his team.

BTW, the U-16 canadian champ was played almost 1 year ago, players change you know. It's not because a team loose 1-0 or 2-0 to Quebec in those competition that they should have less players in our National team.....

[footyfanatic01]

Why on earth was a 13 year old kid playing GK for the U-17's...surely they're's 15-16 kids more talented then this guy. Another example of the lack of scouting...

And as for you loyola...

Quebec won the nationals so wouldn't that mean they have the best "players", He picked 5 from BC...when they finished 5th. What a joke loyola you can't even begin to defend Hart on this one. Sorry.