U-20 side announced for pre-WC camp

[An Observer]

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Men's Youth (U-20) Team

Friday, May 27, 2005

Mitchell Announces Youth Roster For Pre-tournament Camp

Dale Mitchell

Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s Men’s Youth (U-20) Head Coach Dale Mitchell has named his 22-player roster for Canada’s pre-tournament training camp and games in Lievin, France from May 31–June 6, 2005. Mitchell will name his final roster for Canada’s third consecutive FIFA World Youth Championship on June 3rd.

The team will play a friendly against Morocco on June 3rd and an exhibition against a Belgian Select team on June 6th.

"We feel like this group of players have earned the right to represent Canada at the World Youth Championships,” said Mitchell. “During the last year or so, I have seen all of them play a strong international game for the U20's. Of course, we are going to need everybody playing to their potential at the same time to make this tournament a success for us.”

Canada will travel to Tilburg, Netherlands on June 7th to take part in the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005 from June 10–July 2 where they will compete in Group E against Colombia, Italy, and Syria. Canada will play its opening match on June 12th against Syria before playing Colombia on June 15th. Canada’s final match in the group stage is against Italy on June 18th in Kerkrade, Holland.

Second stage (Round of sixteen) play will begin on June 21st; the FIFA World Youth Championship 2005 final will take place on July 2nd in Utrecht, Holland.

Canada secured their spot after wining their group at CONCACAF qualifying with victories over Mexico, Honduras, and Jamaica; extending their CONCACAF qualifying unbeaten streak to nine games.

FIFA World Youth Championship

The FIFA World Youth Championship is a 24 nation and 52-match tournament featuring the best young 20-year-old players in the world. It is the second largest event staged by FIFA after the FIFA World Cup.

Canada’s most recent participation in this event occurred in December 2003 when its squad had its best ever finish, losing to eventual silver medalist Spain, on a golden goal in the quarter-finals held in the United Arab Emirates.

Please visit FIFA.com for more information on the FIFA World Youth Championship.

Pre-tournament Games

June 3, 2005 @ 18:00 Game vs. Morocco U20

June 6, 2005 @ 18:00 Game vs. Belgian Select Team

FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005

Group E

# Date Venue Match

11 12 Jun 05 17:30 TILBURG COL – ITA

12 12 Jun 05 20:30 TILBURG SYR – CAN

23 15 Jun 05 17:30 TILBURG CAN – COL

24 15 Jun 05 20:30 TILBURG ITA – SYR

29 18 Jun 05 13:30 KERKRADE ITA – CAN

30 18 Jun 05 13:30 TILBURG COL – SYR

Round of sixteen

# Date Venue Match

37 21 Jun 05 17:30 ENSCHEDE 1D - 3BEF

38 21 Jun 05 20:30 ENSCHEDE 2C - 2A

39 21 Jun 05 17:30 TILBURG 1F - 2E

40 21 Jun 05 20:30 TILBURG 1B - 3ACD

41 22 Jun 05 17:30 DOETINCHEM 2F - 2B

42 22 Jun 05 20:30 DOETINCHEM 1A - 3CDE

43 22 Jun 05 17:30 EMMEN 1E - 2D

44 22 Jun 05 20:30 EMMEN 1C - 3ABF

Quarterfinals

# Date Venue Match

45 24 Jun 05 17:30 UTRECHT W38 - W37

46 24 Jun 05 20:30 TILBURG W40 - W39

47 25 Jun 05 15:30 KERKRADE W41 - W42

48 25 Jun 05 20:30 ENSCHEDE W43 - W44

Semifinals

# Date Venue Match

49 28 Jun 05 17:30 UTRECHT W46 - W48

50 28 Jun 05 20:30 KERKRADE W45 - W47

Match for 3rd place

# Date Venue Match

51 02 Jul 05 17:00 UTRECHT L49 - L50

Final

# Date Venue Match

52 02 Jul 05 20:00 UTRECHT W49 - W50

Camp Roster

Pos. Name Club DOB Hometown Prov

GK BEGOVIC, Asmir Portsmouth FC (England) 20-Jun-87 Edmonton AB

D BRITNER, Mathew Brown University (NCAA) 17-Apr-85 Halifax NS

M CHAROWSKI, Tomasz Duke University (NCAA) 15-Oct-85 Greenville SC

M DE JONG, Marcel Helmond Sport (Netherlands) 15-Oct-86 Toronto ON

D EDGAR, David Newcastle Utd. FC (England) 19-May-87 Kitchener ON

GK GIACOMI, Robert Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) 01-Aug-86 Richmond Hill ON

M GYAKI, Ryan Sheffield United FC (England) 06-Dec-85 Calgary AB

D HAINAULT, Andrew Montreal Impact 17-Jun-86 Hudson QC

F JOHNSON, Will Chicago Fire (USA) 21-Jan-87 Woodridge IL

D KASSAYE, Simon unattached 19-May-85 Edmonton AB

F LALLI, Franco Cavese Calcio (Italy) 11-Mar-85 Woodbridge ON

D LEDGERWOOD, Nikolas 1860 Munich (Germany) 16-Jan-85 Lethbridge AB

F LOMBARDO, Andrea Atalanta BC (Italy) 23-May-87 Toronto ON

F O'NEILL, Riley University of Kentucky (NCAA) 09-Sep-85 Campbell River BC

D PEETOOM, Brad Syracuse University (NCAA) 02-Mar-86 Abbotsford BC

M PETERS, Jaime Ipswich Town FC (England) 04-May-87 Pickering ON

D RAMALHO, Graham FC Groningen (Netherlands) 12-Jan-86 Calgary AB

M ROSENLUND, Tyler UC Santa Barbara (NCAA) 13-Sep-86 Port Coquitlam BC

M SCHIAVONI, Carlo UAB (NCAA) 19-Aug-85 Lachine QC

D STEWART, Vince Simon Fraser University (NAIA) 21-Jan-86 Delta BC

F UCCELLO, Julian Paolo Savona Calcio (Italy) 30-Oct-86 Woodbridge ON

GK WAGENAAR, Joshua Hartwick College (NCAA) 26-Feb-85 Grimsby ON

STAFF

BARRETT, Angus Head of Delegation

MITCHELL, Dale Head Coach - U20 Men

DASOVIC, Nick Assistant Coach

MULDOON, Kevin Equipment Manager/GK Coach

CANNON, Eddie Athletic Therapist

CAMPBELL, Mike Doctor

IVAN, Richard Press Officer

COCHRANE, Earl National Teams Manager

[An Observer]

I think the only guy who you might have thought that could be there (other than De Guzman obviously) is Cam Wilson. That being said, I think Uccelo and Lombardo have moved ahead of him since the last U-17s. If it is a 21 man roster, they need to drop one. I would expect that it will be one of the central defenders...probably either Britner or Peetoom as they already have Edgar, Haineault, and Kassaye. Possibly they could drop a foward but O'Neil, Uccelo and Lombardo can all play on the wing or in the midfield and they probably need cover there.

The other interesting observation is there are 5 players eligible for the next youth World Cup and Edgar, Johnson and Peters should get alot of playing time, and I would not be surprised to see Lombardo as well at least in a subs role.

[Gian-Luca]

I'm glad Lombardo & Edgar are there, they were missing from the qualifiers & their clubs had been a bit tetchy recently in releasing them. Also I had been concerned about De Jong since his club is still playing, so glad that he's there.

No surprise really that the younger De Guzman isn't there.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by An Observer

I think the only guy who you might have thought that could be there (other than De Guzman obviously) is Cam Wilson. That being said, I think Uccelo and Lombardo have moved ahead of him since the last U-17s. If it is a 21 man roster, they need to drop one. I would expect that it will be one of the central defenders...probably either Britner or Peetoom as they already have Edgar, Haineault, and Kassaye. Possibly they could drop a foward but O'Neil, Uccelo and Lombardo can all play on the wing or in the midfield and they probably need cover there.

The other interesting observation is there are 5 players eligible for the next youth World Cup and Edgar, Johnson and Peters should get alot of playing time, and I would not be surprised to see Lombardo as well at least in a subs role.

Yeah, Obs, Dale definitely has luxury:) in being able to file a 21 man final roster, with the dependable along with future prospects, on Tuesday. Yallop definitely doesn't have the same luxury for the Gold Cup given his uncertainties and need to whittle down to 18 by June 25 and his having to name the initial 25 more than 2 weeks ago.

There are probably a few minor injuries that are being watched that will determine who is dropped.

Kassaye can also play well on left wing (like he sometimes did for Edmonton A-League last year), so we have some cover there as well in case something happens (knock on wood) to the mercurial De Jong (who otherwise has that position locked) in the Helmond promotion battle in the interim.

[An Observer]

I guess the only other admission which is not a surprise is Dylan Hughes although he has been injured for quite some time, although I think he is back now and scored for his club recently. I also find his status to be interesting. It seems that he played with the U-20s all the time up until last autumn when he played one or two exhibitions with Wales. He then replied to someone on this Board saying he wish to play for Canada and was hoping to be selected as he is Canadian. He then turned up in December for the exhibition matches against the US and then not for the further ones in early January (around the time he was transfered from Kaiserslautern which may have explained this absence). Before the qualifying tournament in Honduras, he was injured so that could explain that absence. But now that he is fit again, I thought he would be back in the picture which seems to suggest he is not interested in playing for Canada. This in turn begs the question of why write the email he did and then show up in December last year to play for the U-20s. Strange behaviour.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by An Observer

I guess the only other admission which is not a surprise is Dylan Hughes although he has been injured for quite some time, although I think he is back now and scored for his club recently. I also find his status to be interesting. It seems that he played with the U-20s all the time up until last autumn when he played one or two exhibitions with Wales. He then replied to someone on this Board saying he wish to play for Canada and was hoping to be selected as he is Canadian. He then turned up in December for the exhibition matches against the US and then not for the further ones in early January (around the time he was transfered from Kaiserslautern which may have explained this absence). Before the qualifying tournament in Honduras, he was injured so that could explain that absence. But now that he is fit again, I thought he would be back in the picture which seems to suggest he is not interested in playing for Canada. This in turn begs the question of why write the email he did and then show up in December last year to play for the U-20s. Strange behaviour.

I ain't touching this issue again with a ten-foot pole!

Safe to say Mitchell and the CSA won't be either.

[Rodway]

quote:Originally posted by An Observer

I guess the only other admission which is not a surprise is Dylan Hughes although he has been injured for quite some time, although I think he is back now and scored for his club recently. I also find his status to be interesting. It seems that he played with the U-20s all the time up until last autumn when he played one or two exhibitions with Wales. He then replied to someone on this Board saying he wish to play for Canada and was hoping to be selected as he is Canadian. He then turned up in December for the exhibition matches against the US and then not for the further ones in early January (around the time he was transfered from Kaiserslautern which may have explained this absence). Before the qualifying tournament in Honduras, he was injured so that could explain that absence. But now that he is fit again, I thought he would be back in the picture which seems to suggest he is not interested in playing for Canada. This in turn begs the question of why write the email he did and then show up in December last year to play for the U-20s. Strange behaviour.

I would guess that it was the CSA's decision not to call him. Rather then being Hughes decision not to go. We have more depth in this U-20 player pool then we have ever had in the past. Mitchell and the coaching probably wanted to go with players that were fully committed. Hughes has rearly shown up for any training camps, so they weren't able to get a first hand look at what he had to offer the team and instead went with players they where familiar with.

[An Observer]

Possibly you are correct Rodway...but he was at every camp over the last 2 years up to the January one before qualifying....so he came every time other than when he was asked to come to the camp before the previous U-20 tournament. Hopefully you are right as I still think he is a good prospect for the national side.

[Massive Attack]

I'm pretty sure that Dylan Hughes is now cap-tied to Wales.

[The Beaver]

Yes, aside from the not-surprising abscence of DeGuzman, I am very pleased with this roster. I look forward to their progress over the course of the next week and a half. Would love to see a few of these guys catch on in terms of scoring. And I'd love to see that Edgar is ready to take control of the defense, but maybe he's still a bit too young.

[Rodway]

As far as I know Dylan was only at one camp for Wales and played in an exibition game only. So he is not cap-tied.

Dylan has been asked to camps before by the CSA and turned them down. He actually made the final roster for the 2003 WYC's but turned down the offer to join the team. He said he wanted to focus on his club career.

[Timotas]

Just counted how many players I played with... and it's six. I'll mention a little story of each of them below...

D EDGAR, David Newcastle Utd. FC (England) 19-May-87 Kitchener ON

- Don't remember much about David, he played for Kitchner A... and I played for Burlington A... and we played a few times U14. He played an age group up.. in the 1986 field.

GK GIACOMI, Robert Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) 01-Aug-86 Richmond Hill ON

- I remember a lot about Robert because he was in the same league as me for 3 years, so we played many many times. Robert played for Markham Lightening. He was always known as the best keeper in the OYSL (arguably the best youth league in Canada)... I remember this one save he pulled off of me, I was 8 yards out... open header.. straight to the bottom corner and he just flicked it for a corner, unreal.

F LOMBARDO, Andrea Atalanta BC (Italy) 23-May-87 Toronto ON

- Andrea played a year up as well for Woodbridge Strikers. He was a good striker, but never really lit up the league. You wouldn't go to a match and just point him out as the best player, I am actually pretty surprised that he's got so far with soccer. But taking nothing away from, congratulations to him, quite an achivement.

M PETERS, Jaime Ipswich Town FC (England) 04-May-87 Pickering ON

- I remember tons about Jaime, mainly because I had to mark him in the 6-8 encounters we had with his team, North York CS Azzuri. He drew a lot of attention on the field because of his speed, a slight bit of cockiness, and his temper. In the U16 season, about 2 years ago, he suppousedly punched our sweeper/skipper in the throat behind the play... I never saw it. He might have done it because we won 1-0 . Nonetheless, he's a great player and a pretty nice guy off the field too.

F UCCELLO, Julian Paolo Savona Calcio (Italy) 30-Oct-86 Woodbridge ON

Julian played for Woodbridge with Andrea. Julian had an amazing left foot. I remember an away game in Woodbridge we played, and we lost 5-3. Julian scored all 5 goals. I remember him wearing a tshirt after the game, "Thank God for the Glory". A game at our home field, we defeated Woodbridge 2-1 and Julian was getting pretty frustrated. Two of his goals were called back because of offside.

GK WAGENAAR, Joshua Hartwick College (NCAA) 26-Feb-85 Grimsby ON

- Josh was a year older than me, but he played for Hamilton Sparta and I played for Stoney Creek Saltfleet, and our teams were pretty close so we practiced together at times. Sparta were a great team, they ended up winning the OYSL... which is an amazing accoplisment considering the lack of talent base around the area. I remember a time in an indoor game, when Josh played for London City and I played for a highly competitive mens team, and Josh scored from a drop kick from his own end (their goal was pulled so the other team could score an extra goal in the dying minutes). After the game Josh said it was the greatest moment of his soccer life haha. We actually had an exhibition game against Sparta and we won 3-2... I scored the third and winning goal on a rebound on Josh haha.

Thats my lil recap on players I've played with and a few stories to maybe to get a better understanding of the players.

[canso]

Hey that's great, first hand knowledge. Sounds like Julian is a natural goal poacher, wonder why he's still not featuring much in these games.

Maybe Mitchell is keeping him as a secret weapon!

[juaninho]

Barring the absence of Deguzman the younger, this is about as strong a side as Canada can possibly field. Quite pleased with the preparation time given for the team, and the two friendlies before the competition are definitely a plus. Competition for the forward spots will be tight as no forward player has really potted many for Canada, thereby giving the player a distinct advantage, but it will tighter still if the Mister chooses to play a midfield 5 formation.

About the frinedlies, I don't know what a 'Belgian Selects' team entails; who knows what they may be - Jupiler League laggards or fringe members of the Belgian national team?

May the final game against Italy be inconsequential, as hopefully CDA gains play-off qualification by pushing aside Syria and Colombia with well-earned victories in the first two games.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Timotas

Just counted how many players I played with... and it's six. I'll mention a little story of each of them below......................

Thanks for that. I quite enjoy reading these kind of first hand accounts of the players. It kind of makes us all feel closer to them given that you have provided us with a unsanitized decriptions of the players in person and well as the skills and competance. It makes them feel more human than the kind of accounts that you would normally otherwise get from press releases, mainstream media etc etc.

[Winnipeg Fury]

Canuck side chosen for under-20 tournament, but one cut remains

(CP) - Unless there is an injury, one player named to Canada's team for the World Youth Championship will be coming home early.

Head coach Dale Mitchell announced a 22-man squad Friday, acknowledging he can only take 21 to the under-20 men's soccer tournament that runs June 10 to July 2 in the Netherlands. Canada is in a first-round group with South American champion Colombia, Italy and Syria.

Mitchell chose 22 so he has help on hand in case of injury leading up to the tournament. He will announce his final roster on June 3.

"At this point, all 22 guys are basically in there fighting for the 21st spot. If it ends up that everybody's healthy, then we've got to make the decision at some point," Mitchell told a conference call Friday.

"As it stands right now, everybody understands the situation that somebody's going to have to go home."

And that will be a difficult decision.

"It wasn't easy getting it down to 22," Mitchell said. "I had a few tough phone calls to make. It's never easy when you deal with a tournament of this magnitude because you know that a lot of players out there would love to be able to participate in it."

The good news for Mitchell is that he has been able to call on all his available talent - with the exception of Feyenoord midfielder Jonathan de Guzman. The brother of Canadian international Julian de Guzman, Jonathan has yet to answer the Canadian call.

But there are plenty of other players working their way up the club ladder at overseas clubs.

From Italy, there are forwards Franco Lalli (Cavese Calcio), Andrea Lombardo (Atalanta) and Julian Uccello (Savona Calcio). From England, goalkeeper Asmir Begovic (Portsmouth), defender David Edgar (Newcastle) and midfielders Jaime Peters (Ipswich Town) and Ryan Gyaki (Sheffield United). From the Netherlands, defender-midfielder Marcel de Jong (Helmond Sport) and defender Graham Ramalho (FC Groningen). From Germany, defender Nikolas Ledgerwood (Munich 1860). From Scotland, goalkeeper Robert Giacomi (Glasgow Rangers). And from the U.S., striker Will Johnson (Chicago Fire).

This team has a tough act to follow.

Mitchell's team made it to the quarter-finals of the 2003 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, before losing to eventual runner-up Spain 2-1 in overtime.

The Canadians' task will be made more difficult by the fact that the tournament is being held in the summer this time, when the European leagues are out of season. That means teams should be able to call on all their top players.

Plus Canada is in a tough group.

The Canadians, playing out of Tilburg, open June 12 against Syria before facing Colombia in June 15 and Italy on June 18.

The top two teams in each of the six groups, plus the four third-place finishers with the best records, advance to the knockout round of 16.

"Our initial goal is to advance out of the group," Mitchell said. "I believe it would be a major achievement if we did it. But I also think we have the capability to do it.

"From there, you're going to have 16 of the best teams in the world so you can't really look that far ahead. It becomes a single-knockout competition and anything can happen once you get to that stage."

Mitchell sees the opener against Syria as crucial, knowing that Colombia and Italy will be "very difficult games."

"I've seen Syria on tape a number of times and I know they will be difficult as well. But if our goal is to advance out of the first round, to do that we definitely would help our chances if we were to grab something in the first game."

Notes: The Canadians head to Europe at the end of the month to play a friendly against Morocco on June 3 and an exhibition game against a Belgian select side on June 6. ... Canada qualified for the world tournament by defeating Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica.

[Alberto]

quote:Originally posted by canso

Hey that's great, first hand knowledge. Sounds like Julian is a natural goal poacher, wonder why he's still not featuring much in these games.

Maybe Mitchell is keeping him as a secret weapon!

Canso I am surprised too, however maybe this time, just maybe, experience prevails and should be given a bit more that recognition but I know Julian he is competitive the moment he steps on any field practice or game. He wants to win as a team and wants to be part of it.

By the way Timotas your correct he still wares that Jersey here in Savona and has on many occasions showed it. except you missed "thank you GOD for the glory"

If I am not mistaken this is the line up I suggested back a few months ago in a previous line up. This team will do well! and should advance to the next round.

Canso, Uccello is a natural goal scorer and has shown it for at least 5 years straight according to his resume, 2 years here 39 games appearances and 25 goals and his last 3 years in Canada with 54 appearances and 81 goals in an accomplishment and I think he deserves an opportunity in the number 10 spot on the team.

Lombardo, whom I saw play here in Savona just Wednesday. Where his Berretti team lost and where elimated form the Berretti Fase Final to Savona juniors 2 - 0 in a quarter final return match sure and form what I can see deserves the number 9 spot. I think the two of these players should cause some disturbances on any defence as they are two different style of players from each other.

Just maybe these two players will end up playing in the final game against Italy.

[Ivan]

Seems Mike D'Agostino, who was there for the qualifying round, didn't make the cut this time around.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

I think this team is lacking a bit of play making in the midfield. Apart from that, we have seen that up front we are effective, and have multiple options. In the back, Wagenaar lacks international experience but seems to be very cool, an intelligent keeper. Imagine he'll start. The back line is fairly good, but I think they lack a bit of aggression, don't know if we have someone with Hutchinson's quality to challenge strikers and offensive mids outside the box.

What I most liked about the mids was that they go forward well, like Roselund. But I suspect we won't have the ball in the middle, and that may hurt us if we get up a goal, as we have no real way to temper a game, kill it off if needed.

Key is Syria, if we can get past them, plus find a draw further on, we should be through. Our best bet may in fact be finding Italy already qualified and letting up a bit in that match. And having the Italian-based Canucks in there should be a great motivation, hope Dale sees that.

[loyola]

Wagenaar has played 14 international games with Canada plus some games against club teams in Europe so I don't see why he's lacking of international experience. At the U-20 level canadian players will have no more than 20 caps (maybe 5 guys have played 20 games with the U-20). Considering that he'll play at least 3 more games I would say that he's in fact a very experienced player for Canada.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

Wagenaar has played 14 international games with Canada plus some games against club teams in Europe so I don't see why he's lacking of international experience. At the U-20 level canadian players will have no more than 20 caps (maybe 5 guys have played 20 games with the U-20). Considering that he'll play at least 3 more games I would say that he's in fact a very experienced player for Canada.

By International I refer to club experience. And specifically for a keeper. Even someone at Portsmouth or Sheffield United (thinking of two places where our young keepers have been) who can train with reserves, or even first team, will see much faster and complicated shots, dribbles, free kicks, speed of passing combinations, and be required to use his feet more effectively, all just at a daily training level, than someone at NCAA.

The keeper is the one player who works more at his basic task in practice than in a game, and usually much closer to a maximum rhythm, unlike most field players for most of a practice session. It is hard to get most players to work at game pace in practice, a keeper indeed does. And practicing and playing with top players makes a big difference. Which is one of the reasons why I felt Lars was a legit call-up for us when he never played but daily trained with Spurs. And why Fernandes, on paper at least, would have been a more logical call-up for our last u-20s than Karim, as he was practising first team with Celta Vigo every week, though not playing games.

[Canuck Oranje]

While I agree that the best training for any player is always important, the key determining factor still has to be how each player performs on the field. Ultimately, Mitchell, in this case, needs to decide who the best keeper is now and rather than consider where they play. Wagenaar seems to have made his case well in the games he has played.

In my view, goalkeepers (as with all other players) need game experience at the highest level possible first and foremost.

I think selecting players based on whose property they are is dangerous. It is far more important to determine where each player is getting their playing time. Is it regular first team playing time at a high level or is it sporatic reserve time in a reserve league with a big club (Marcel de Jonge vs. Jonathon De Guzman)?

It isn't always easy to determine what is the highest level, but if you use the best club approach, I guess Edgar should be playing for the MNT already. After all, he does play in the Newcastle reserves. I think most would agree that Josh Simpson and Nsaliwa rank ahead of him at the moment while getting regular playing time with 2nd level teams in England and Germany.

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

By International I refer to club experience. And specifically for a keeper. Even someone at Portsmouth or Sheffield United (thinking of two places where our young keepers have been) who can train with reserves, or even first team, will see much faster and complicated shots, dribbles, free kicks, speed of passing combinations, and be required to use his feet more effectively, all just at a daily training level, than someone at NCAA.

The keeper is the one player who works more at his basic task in practice than in a game, and usually much closer to a maximum rhythm, unlike most field players for most of a practice session. It is hard to get most players to work at game pace in practice, a keeper indeed does. And practicing and playing with top players makes a big difference. Which is one of the reasons why I felt Lars was a legit call-up for us when he never played but daily trained with Spurs. And why Fernandes, on paper at least, would have been a more logical call-up for our last u-20s than Karim, as he was practising first team with Celta Vigo every week, though not playing games.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

Well I don't want to be dogmatic about this, it is an open debate. But I would say that for a normal player, training is not enough as it usually does not mean game fitness, and that is only had by playing competitive games. Usually when starting after a long lay-off you can see a player fade after maybe an hour, even if they have been training correctly for a few weeks before the match.

This is not so with keepers, who usually do not lack fitness when not playing, and do not get it by playing. Often they are missing a bit of concentration, and coordination with the defense, maybe some critical moments of footwork, but more frequently you see that a sub keeper coming in after not playing, even for months, in a competitive game, will do quite well. And this has to do with the particularities of how a keeper trains.

And this is why I would be more lenient with the idea of playing a keeper who is not starting than with playing a midfielder who is only training and not getting official time on the pitch.

[loyola]

As a former college keeper I can tell you one thing, keeper needs to play games. A keeper needs to be ready to spend 90 minutes on a pitch an having to make 1 or 2 saves and don't drop a silly cross or a corner. In practice you receive a lot of shots and you see a lot of cross and some breakaways but when you're already good at those the only thing you need is the ability to avoid mistakes and you only get that by playing time.

You don't gain any confidence in practice if you're a back up, the mental aspect of your game will be at his highest with more playing time. With that being said you also need to prepare for the day when you'll be call to replace the #1.

BTW, all our #1 U-20 keepers since 1997 were playing in NA and their back up were playing in Europe in some case.

2005: Wagenaar (NCAA), #2 Giacomi and Bergovic

2003: Karim(NCAA), #2 Lindley, Wagenaar and Fernandes

2001: Mieuleman(CIAU), #2 Woijtek Z.

1999: Bowes (NCAA)

1997: Franks (CIAU), maybe in was in Europe at that time I don't remeber but I know that he played at least 1 yr at UBC.

I don't think it proves anything serious but I think it's an interesting fact.