June 15 WYC - Canada v Colombia - POST-match [R]

[amacpher]

quote:Originally posted by john tv

I guess the Italians are a worse soccer nation than we are,using your absurd reasoning.Get with it.

You have a comprehension problem. The Italians don't *always* play "that way". Hence, they're not a worse football nation.

This isn't complicated.

[youllneverwalkalone]

quote:Originally posted by beachesl

Final, 2-1 for Syria , our task is set. Sirrah.

Win and we're in? Or do we still need to watch the scores?

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by mjoni

Is it me or does Dale Mitchell have something against Italy-based players? On the other hand, the NCAA kids seem to be enjoying themselves... Personally, I would start Lombardo, Lalli and Schiavoni in the next match. Heck, I'd even give Uccello a call and dress him in one of the many unused defenders' jersies.

If Mitchell has anything against Italian players it would only be that the Italian teams have been inconsistent in releasing the players for matches. Not only do these players than have less oportunity to show themselves but Mitchell rightly wants to play a team that is playing together consistently instead of introducing new players constantly. The problem with releasing players probably has to due with the fact that many or our players playing in Italy play for the 1st team of lower division clubs while in other countries many are on the reserve or youth teams of bigger clubs. Thus, the development clubs are more likely to release players consistently as their developement corresponds with club interests whereas lower division 1st teams are more concerned with winning and keeping their best players in action.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

Win and we're in? Or do we still need to watch the scores?

We'll know more by the time the final matches are played for the three groups that play ahead of us whether we can realistically make it in as a third place team, which is possible. If Colombia beats Syria 2-0 and we beat Italy 1-0 we finish third because we scored less goals in the group (another problem with playing not to score). We will still likely qualify with 4 points.....but you never know.

[MM2]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

We'll know more by the time the final matches are played for the three groups that play ahead of us whether we can realistically make it in as a third place team, which is possible. If Colombia beats Syria 2-0 and we beat Italy 1-0 we finish third because we scored less goals in the group (another problem with playing not to score). We will still likely qualify with 4 points.....but you never know.

Looking at the standings and who is playing who it looks like a number of third place teams will finish with 3 points or less, so 4 should almost guarantee qualification. Also if Columbia wins by three and we win, that would place us in second

[The Beaver]

Okay, after the Syria result, Canada will have an extra boost of confidence going into their game vs. Italy. But have no illusions, Italy will be fully up for that game. It will be very tight. The advantage we have--slight, I admit--is that Italy also must win this game, which means they will have to open up a bit, giving us a bit more room out there.

I predict Italy 1 -- Canada 0.

That should do the trick.

[Grizzly]

Rewatching the game on video has made me observe one interesting point. Although I would have preferred both DeJong and Peters as starters and if used as subs would have preferred for Peters to have been brought on earlier, neither looked very good when they came on and both were partly responsible for the 2nd goal. Gyaki was running around pressuring the several Colombian ball carriers when it was passed to Guarin. Both Peters and DeJong were in position to close down Guarin but Peters reacted too late while DeJong didn't react at all giving Guarin a clear shot on net. Maybe Mitchell was right after all in not starting them even if they have better offensive skill than the players who replaced them.

Speaking of Peters, one can certainly see the raw skill and speed and at 18 may develop into the player he is expected to be but one has to wonder that he actually played for our Men's team in WCQ. Even at the U20 level he disappears for long periods although he shows occasional flashes of briliance (which he has yet to do at the Men's level). He made absolutely no impact other than the missed assignment on the goal when he subbed on despite having fresh legs. I have been far more impressed with Gyaki in all games including qualifying. Although he may not have all the skills and speed as Peters he sure does a hell of a lot more with what he has and plays consistently well throughout the game regardless of the opposition level. He may not be ready for the Men's team yet but I think he is far more ready than Peters is and would at least make his pressense felt when on the field.

[youllneverwalkalone]

re: Gyaki

I'm wondering aloud whether he or anybody (other than Michael) can improve their first touch with practice? That's what impressed me most about Pablo Escobar and friends, and was really lacking throughout our line-up.

After my second viewing, I think Edgar was the only one who didn't seem completely intimidated out there. I wonder if he'll get a loan assignment this year, and a senior cap early next?

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

Win and we're in? Or do we still need to watch the scores?

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that. We have to watch the other score, and maybe the Group F scores that come after ours on Saturday.

If we win, there are a whole bunch of scenarios that basically means our chance at advancing with a win is something over 50% but not as high as 75%. For a scientific explanation of the percentages I defer to true experts like Kurosowa:D.

However, I think a startegy to go all out to run up the score would be disasterous, as we need to concentrate on a bare win. Trying to plan around a favourable goal differential is just too hit-and-miss.

[bettermirror]

canadian soccer's passing and ball control is atrocious. simple as that. we have to become a culture of expression with the ball not sternness without it.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by john tv

Let me be the second person to say huh!!! Just what is it that you are talking about? Perhaps you might want to re-read my comments.

[Cheeta]

Just watched the match and have only browsed a couple of the comments here but I think I've got the jist of a few reactions. So I'll put in a few of my comments, for or against the majority.

I have no problem with bunkering if you can at least counter punch now and again. And the long and short of it is that was sorrily lacking today. Passes/control was poor and and any sort of counter attack support was even worse. And that's where the game plan broke down. Just one of those days. Will agree that maybe the lads were a bit intimidated but I saw less cause for it than maybe some others. The Colombian's were less timid about commiting a foul during a Canadian half-brake than the Canadians were on pressuring a half trapped Colombian midfielder. Sheesh. That's not the Canadian way.

Brilliant defending. Two lines of defence. Held the Colombians out into that 25-35 yard range. Great stuff. By the start of the 2nd half I was wondering how long before our SA enemy started to begin diving. To their credit they played pretty honest. This "dive" that led to the 1st Colombia goal I'm calling a foul. Edgar running up a fellows back is a foul. End of story. Get back to you after a 2nd look, but looked a foul to me.

Like I said, brilliant defending. Looks bad but out Winnipeg way that sort of play by the Colombians is called UPA(Useless Pricking About) and amounts to little better than ball control defense. Way too slow paced. Pure theatre. Didn't look so good once the Colombians started to pick up the pace and we had some opportunities to move upfield at that point. Still, Colombia trotted away 3 points to the better. But damn, did they have two real scoring chances? That 2nd goal could be the goal of the tourny and it came out of absolutely nowhere. Beauty.

Anyway, tough match. Colombia coasting into the next round and we're still alive. Death to the Italians. Viva Canada.

[LMW]

Watched this game and have to say it was all Columbia with the play of the game. Very impressed with their talent, speed, control and tactical play. Reminded me of watching Brazil. Not impressed at all with the way Canada played, embarrasing to watch their style of play, if there was any style at all to their play. We lacked fitness, confidence and composure on the ball. Our tactical play was non-existent, just kick it downfield. Have to say that we can't blame the Canadian players for the way they play. They are trained in a canadian system that is no good and you can see the results of that system in this game. We should send all our coaches and technical people to Columbia to learn from them.

[YWCNL]

quote:Originally posted by LMW

Not impressed at all with the way Canada played, embarrasing to watch their style of play, if there was any style at all to their play. We lacked fitness, confidence and composure on the ball. Our tactical play was non-existent, just kick it downfield. Have to say that we can't blame the Canadian players for the way they play. They are trained in a canadian system that is no good and you can see the results of that system in this game. We should send all our coaches and technical people to Columbia to learn from them.

This will be my first and hopefully not last post on this forum. I am not an expert and was never a good footballer but I do love the game and I am a great supporter of the Canadian youth system with all of its flaws and lack of funding and corporate sponsorship. I am disappointed with all of the negative nonsense from what appears to be wanabe footballers, internet/television experts and so called supporters. As a lover of the beautiful game with the privilege of seeing it live in the Tilburg stadium, I would like to offer my observations.

From the first whistle it was apparent from the way the team lined up and the selection of the starters up front, that the focus was going to be zone defense. I figured Mr. Mitchel wanted some height for heading down the long cleared balls and big guys that would back the goal face the ball and lay off some good passes to the hard charging Gyaki or Johson. He must have felt that Lombardo and Oneill would be up to the task in place of speedy wingers Peters and De Jong. It also appeared that the defense was following a plan. Not to attack but to stay focused on defending their zones and let the Columbians come at them, get frustrated and make mistakes. They were definitely playing zone defense and I thought they played it well. The objective of the mid field players appeared to be; impede their opponents by being hard on the ball carriers and slow the game down. It is hard for me to judge how well or poor Ramalho or Oneill played in the first half since I was on the opposite side of the field. However, I thought Ledgerwood, Edgar and Gyaki played extremely well. It appeared to me that Columbia thought they could overrun Ledgerwood because of his size. But that simply did not happen; the attackers were held in check in the first half. The # 15 Moreno who had subbed in for the # 9 Garcia in the first game against Italy and created havoc, started against Canada. He along with their left defender #19 Casierra attacking down the left side were pretty well kept wide and the central D cleared the crosses when they did get the odd one in. Columbia were effective down the middle with the #14 spearheading the attack from his central defender/mid field position but most of their shots were from well out side the kill zone. If a keeper can't stop balls from that far out he should not be in net; and stopped them he did. Many of their shots were hit well over the bar. So although Columbia had great possession, most of their chances were hopeless. Peetoom, Hainault and the keeper (with a few good saves) ably handled the few excellent chances the Columbians created with their superior technical skills from close in. From what I could see the # 5 Zuniga only beat Ramalho once in the first half; although I thought Ramalho was giving him way too much space. However, in the second half I thought Ramalho, Oneill and Rosenlund played excellent defensive football against #15 (who had moved to the right side), #8 and # 5. Ramalho was never beaten one-on-one by any of the Columbian players and these three Canadian boys for the most part closed down the give and go options from the right side of the Columbia attack as did Ledgerwood, Edgar and Gyaki on the other side. So all in all, I though the team as a whole executed the defensive game plan with few minor errors against lets not forget, the South American champions who had already beaten a well-seasoned team of young Italian professionals and had a very large contingent of very vocal fans supporting them in the stadium.

If there was a problem it was the failure of the mid field and strikers to keep possession and counter attack on the few occasions when the Columbians lost possession of the ball. From my observation point (and I don't have the benefit of video replays) Lombardo was totally out of his depth against superior defenders. Whether it was the #3 for Columbia on right side, # 19 on the left side or the # 14 in the middle, these lads were as steady as a rock, tough and technically superior to young Lombardo. On every long clearing ball from the Canadian keeper, 2 Columbians would go against Lombardo with one in front of him, faking by going forward and up early thereby overrunning the ball by a meter or so. Lombardo was out smarted on most of these plays or he was simply muscled off the ball by some tough, young professional footballers light years in experience older than he is. Even when he did get the ball at his chest, feet or anywhere else on his body, it appeared that he had no control whatsoever and on the Columbian counter attack, he always appeared to be a step behind. This should not be taken, as criticism of Lombardo, on the contrary, there is not a player in the world who can ever claim not having an off day. However, is it also possible that he was simply not allowed to play his game because of the skill sets of superior opponents? I believe he will grow from this experience and will be a better player from it. In the second half the mid of the field opened a bit and Johnson had a few good runs, as did Rosenlund. Gyaki was again the workhorse of the midfield.

As to the goals, both were basically scored off of set plays just outside the box in the middle of the field. On the first, the defenders (including the fresh legs brought in late in the game) were caught flat-footed and the keeper was beaten on a follow through after making the initial save deflecting off the post (I thought) and no one covered Garcia who had come on as a sub for the #15. The goal by the #13 Guarin was fantastic. It was a duplicate of his goal against Italy when he also came in as a sub. In any game, against any opponent, this goal would be considered top quality. That’s 2 top quality goals late in the game from this quality professional. As to the officiating, that’s football. They call it as they see it. Some are better than others as in every profession and in this sport they are part of the infrastructure; the same as the goal posts and the playing surface.

For what its worth that is my take on the game, the loss of which is hard enough for the lads to accept after fighting so hard. I only hope none of them came on this site after the game and read the BS on this forum since that would be like taking a kick in the groin when you are down from people who claim to be fans and supporters.

[An Observer]

I was at the game as well and I have read with interest the comments of some on this Board.

I share the views of those who state the bunkering down mentality in the manner that we played it is no way to play the game. There is no future in it and with the formation that we employed, the best hope that we had was a 0-0 draw. You cannot play that way and hope to learn anything that will be useful to your players going forward.

Columbia is good, they kept possession well and they have some very skillful players. however, playing zone defense (which i agree is what we played) gave them way too much time on the ball. numerous times we were allowing that players to receive the ball, turn, wait and thread passes to players in space between our midfield and defense. you must pressure them before they can turn and force them into errors. The only guy who did this consistentlly was Edgar. He was brilliant in the center and to a large extent helped forced the columbians to side or up field. Rosenlund and Gyaki were crap at this as was O'Neil. Ramallho just gave way too much space to 5 (who was excellent by the way). If we would have pressured them in our own half and forced them into errors, then we could have turned the ball over and hit them on the counter. But this is to me where the real problem lie, we had no ability to him them on the counter. Lombarado was all alone up front and as some posters have said, he looked out of his depth (although I would say this may have more to do with the lack of support). And on the wings, Gyaki is slow and O'Neil has no ball skills to speak of (that guy reminded me of Kusch as well...scary) so we had absolutley no threat. If you played Peters and De Jong on the wings, we would have posed a threat to them on the counter and just maybe that would have their wingbacks pinned back a bit for fear of us breakign back on them....15 minutes into the game Number 5 (their right back) was standing out the field almost parralell with our right back. They had no concern about us countering on them. Playing Johnson in a midfield role was pure poor tactics in my mind....he cannot tackle and when he did get the ball, he lost it. Why not play Gyaki in the center or Schiavoni even, with Peters and De Jong on the wings to pose some threat. For those who say Peters and De Jong cannot play defense, I say De Jong looked at least as good as O'Neil in this respect when he came on...a couple of times he got his boot or nipped in to steal the ball. If you thing big guys are going to intimidate the Columbians, than they need to tackle them...why when they were up the field on the wings are guys simply didn't take a few of them out when they got the ball is beyond me. Push them out, hack them in the legs, and let them know that when they get the ball your shoulder is going to be in their back. We didn't do any of that up the field in areas where giving free kicks away would have been no biggy. If mitchel things playing guys like Peters was a defensive liability, I am not sure why he didn't think the same about Johnson in the middle. Finally, when you pose no threat to the other side, which we clearly didnt with the guys we had on the field, the other side is simply going to be comfortable in playing the ball around the pitch, taking their time, and moving all their players into attack whereby they are going to get themselves into one on one situations which they did.

Our only saving grace was that the Columbians cannot shoot, do not cross well, and are not very good at realising that last ball to someone into the box. Personally, I think that will be their undoing in this tournament. They will come up against a better defensive side than Canada who will pressure them and kill them on the counter, where Columbia will have wasted chances and their superior possession.

Lets hope Mitchel comes out more positively against Italy.

[juaninho]

Well it was a tough, tough match. With the skill the Colombians had, I would be surprised if they don't make it to at least the semi-finals. Was really surprised by the Colombian fan presense; it was nice to see such support abroad for an U-20 team. After the first goal two flares were lit and someone shot something like a bottle rocket onto to the pitch.

I found Mitchell's line-up was slightly suspect. O'Neill and Rosenlund didn't have the best of games, as I would have preferred De Jong and Peters in the line-up, with Gyaki in central midfield and Johnson up-front with Lombardo in a 4-4-2. Felt sorry for Lombardo, as he doesn't have that blistering Cisse-esque pace needed to succeed in a 4-5-1, and the ball service for him was hardly there. Hard to say how he played, but he gave it his all, chasing for the ball numerous times. Actually, he was easy to close down because the left side of Canada's team wasn't good. Maybe De Jong would have made a difference? Hard to say now. As for Johnson, looked more comfortable in the second half once Lombardo was subbed, as the first half assignment of withdrawn striker/central midfielder didn't work for him. I counted something like 3 or 4 give aways in the first half. Wagenaar made some key saves, but he unleashed some wonky kicks. Didn't two goal kicks find there way out of bounds? Gyaki was tireless, and you'd think with that kind of effort he could play anywhere in midfield.

Anyway, in the end, Canada just didn't have the pace to keep up with the Colombians. I don't think it is a question of the Colombians having unbelievably better skill, more of a question of them not giving the Canadian squad any time to do anything. Let's hope for a Canada win on Saturday.

[DjinnX]

Having just finished watching the torrent, I have to say I am not as dissapointed as most of you sound. Some of you mentioned that we should have played for the win since we could of afforded getting blown out; I disagree with that notion. I think Mitchell was expecting to lose and wanted to keep the score close simply for the sake of our players confidence. He wanted to make sure Wagenaar and the defense had a game to be proud of, while at the same time rest key offensive players for the must-win game against Italy. I am pretty sure we won't see the same formation or tactics from Canada in that game. Honestly, I was at the edge of my seat the whole time I watched the game. The Colombian play was fun to watch and seeing Canada turn away another one of their attacks was exciting. Although it seemed when Canada had the ball they expected to lose it and never really put much effort into a counter-attack. With all the nail-biting I did this game, I am probably going to chew through to my wrist come the Italy game.

[Canuck Oranje]

I am not as negative as some here. The defensive system was solid. It only began to break down as the Canadian players began to tire.

The offensive counter-attack never really got going. As some have mentioned, I think it was mostly because of the intimitdation factor. It would have also helped to have someone up front that had the ability to intimidate a defender one-on-one (Peters perhaps).

As for the possession difference, it isn't as relevant as it is given credit. I suspect even Brazil and Holland would let Columbia have the majority of possession as long as it was away from their goal.

It is hard to judge individual Canadian players in a game like this but I thought Peetoom, Hainault, and Edgar played solid in the centre of the defence. There was a TV shot of Edgar at about the 67-69 minute and he looked almost done at that point. It really wasn't a surprise when the defence started to breakdown a little after that.

All-in-all, it was an experience builder. If the team develops some defensive confidence from this (and it should), maybe the team will attack Italy better.

[Cheeta]

Sure looked like Mitchell had resigned this match to zero points. Sub's were badly needed early on and came way too late.

Agreed Lombardo was well out of his depth. Understand why Mitchell had him out there. The kid walks with giants and I'll suspect he was one of the players Dale was hoping would provide the sucker punch against Colombia on a rare corner. But still, seeing as the evolution of that wasn't likely poor Mr. Lombardo got to be somebody elses bitch pretty much all night long. Tough work.

Nope. Didn't like O'Neil one bit last night. And I think I posted before about Legerwood's marking. Geezus, he's a quick enough kid that he should've been able to jockey a few of those ball carriers. Shepparded them generaly if you follow but nope, wasn't having any of that. He's going to have to develop that. Smart kid, has to get a bit smarter.

Course it's tough to tell how bad the legs were feeling for a few of these guys. At kickoff and later.

Also agreed we played way, way too soft. Couple more thumping tackles, legal or otherwise, would have gone a long way. Colombia had a lot less to play for than we did and some too aggressive play would have pointed that out quite clearly.

Oh, and did Colombia win any challenged headers? Not many. Not many at all. Interesting.

P.S. Ha! Winnipeg Jets dead ten years now but still the legend lives! Bless you, dearie. You're a good girl. And who is that guy with the flag? Wonder if he'll be at the Italy game?

[Massive Attack]

I just wanted to mention that I'm not as dissapointed in our style of play that a lot of posters are. Reading the forum before watching the game, I would have thought that we simply waited for Colombia to attack, and then hoofed the ball down the field. But that wasn't the case. We would gain possession, and then use 2 or 3 passes to get it out of our zone. Where we would break down was the link from midfield to forward (basically our attack). Or simply, the last pass would be brutal and Colombia would gain possession back. Oh well, here's some press from the game:

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Men's Youth (U-20) Team

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Colombia Defeats Canada 2-0

Tilburg, Netherlands – Canada’s Men’s Youth (U20) Team held off Colombia for 80 minutes before allowing two goals in their second match of the FIFA World Youth Championship played on Wednesday. Canada’s final match in the group stage is against Italy in Kerkrade, Holland on Saturday, June 18th at 1:30 p.m. (local) / 7:30 a.m. (ET)/ 4:30 a.m. (PT). The game will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet.

The first real opportunity for both teams occurred in the 18th minute as Colombia’s Juan Zuniga worked his way to within 20 yards of the net for a shot that sailed over the Canadian net.

Canadian goalkeeper, Josh Wagenaar who would be tested during the entire match, denied the Colombians from taking the lead in the 40th minute with a superb diving save on a long shot by Harrison Otalvaro.

Wagenaar once again held off the South Americans in the dying minutes of the first half to keep the score sheet blank as he brilliantly blocked an attempt by Colombian forward Wason Renteria who weaved his way through the Canadian defense for a right footed shot. Wagenaar immediately returned to action as he denied a Zuniga’s explosive blast from close range on the rebound.

The Colombians continued the pace and took the lead in the 81st minute after Wagenaar deflected a free kick onto the post. The ball then made its way across the goal line where Radamel Garcia knocked it into the net.

Canada fell behind by two in the 88th minute after Fredy Guarin scored on a low shot from 35 yards out.

“Today we played against one of the best teams of the tournament,” said Head Coach Dale Mitchell. “We lived with them for 80 minutes and in the end it was two pieces of individual skill that won the game.”

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.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 – FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005 (Group E)

Willem II Stadium - Tilburg, Netherlands

Canada 0(0)

Colombia 2(0)

Goals: Colombia-Garcia (82), Guarin (88)

Cautions: Canada-Gyaki (15), Edgar (82); Colombia- Toja (58)

Canada: 1-WAGENAAR Josh; 2-RAMALHO Graham; 3-LEDGERWOOD Nikolas; 4-HAINAULT Andrew; 5-PEETOOM Brad; 8-ROSENLUND Tyler; 9-GYAKI Ryan ©; 10-JOHNSON Will; 12-O NEILL Riley; 14-EDGAR David (7-PETERS Jaime, 84); 17-LOMBARDO Andrea (11-DE JONG Marcel, 69); Head Coach-Dale Mitchell

Subs not used : 6-SCHIAVONI Carlo; 13-BOURGAULT Jonathan; 15-STEWART Vince; 16-LALLI Franco; 18-CHAROWSKI Tomek; 19-BEGOVIC Asmir; 20-GIACOMI Rob; 21-KASSAYE Simon

Colombia :1-ARENAS Libis; 3-ZAPATA Cristian; 5-ZUNIGA Juan; 6-MORALES Harrison; 8-TOJA Juan Carlos; 11-OTALVARO Harrison (13-GUARIN Fredy, 85); 14-AGUILAR Abel ©; 15-MORENO Dayro (9-GARCIA Radamel, 77; 17-MARRUGO Cristian; 18-RENTERIA Wason; 19-CASIERRA Mauricio (7-RODALLEGA Hugo, 68)

Subs not used: 2-VALDEZ Carlos; 4-ESTACIO Jimy; 10-HERNANDEZ Sebastian; 12-ABELLA Carlos; 16-VALENCIA Edwin; 20-MACHACON Daniel; 21-OSPINA David

http://canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2229

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Colombia blanks Canada

World Youth Championship

TILBURG, Netherlands (CP) - Win or go home.

That looks to be Canada's predicament at the World Youth Championship after a 2-0 loss to South American under-20 champion Colombia on Wednesday. Canada (0-1-1) wraps up first-round play Saturday against Italy (0-2-0) and coach Dale Mitchell reckons a win is needed to remain at the tournament. The top two teams in each of the six groups plus the four best third-place finishers advance to the knockout round of 16.

Colombia (2-0-0) leads Group E with six points. Syria (1-0-1) is second with four points after defeating Italy 2-1 in the other pool match Wednesday.

"We still have a chance to beat Italy and get through," Mitchell said Wednesday.

"If you play three games at this level and you don't win one of the three games then I think you could make an argument for not deserving to go through."

At the 2003 tournament, Canada and South Korea advanced as third-place finishers with three points. The host United Arab Emirates and Egypt moved on with four.

Colombia dominated the match Wednesday but needed 81 minutes to crack a packed Canadian defence.

Substitute Radamel Garcia poked in a rebound after Canadian goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar made a sensational save off a free kick from Abel Aguilar. The ball bounced off the side post back across the goal and Garcia, left all alone, easily knocked the ball in.

The Canadians will rue the fact they were asleep at the wheel on the rebound.

Colombia made it 2-0 in the 88th minute when substitute Fredy Guarin's long-range rocket to the left corner beat a diving Wagenaar.

Colombia outshot Canada 24-3 (11-1 in shots on target) and had 75 per cent of the possession. Even though their finishing was wayward much of the game, the stylish South Americans were a class above the workmanlike Canadians.

"I was proud of the way the guys battled and lived with them for 80 minutes or so," Mitchell said. "But in the end I think all the defending that we had to do and the subs they were able to bring on kind of wore us down. Two good goals from very good individual skill."

Mitchell made no apologies for his defensive approach, noting that Colombia - for all its skill - can be lethal on the counter-attack.

"They didn't show it today because we got behind the ball so well but apart from being able to keep it (the ball) like they did, the other thing that they do really well is when you go forward, as soon as the ball turns over, they really look to go at you quickly and get in behind your defence. We didn't give the opportunity to do that today. We got behind the ball and made it hard for them to break us down.

"For the most part the boys do exactly what we'd asked. We frustrated them but in the end I can't complain with the result."

In other games Tuesday, Japan tied Benin 1-1 and the Netherlands defeated Australia 3-0 in Group A, and Brazil downed Switzerland 1-0 and South Korea beat Nigeria 2-1 in Group F.

Canada tied Syria 1-1 in its opener Sunday while Colombia defeated Italy 2-0.

Most of Colombia's shots in the first 45 minutes were from long range and few were accurate. The South Americans outshot Canada 14-1 but only 6-0 in shots on target.

Fortunately for Canada, Wagenaar - whose miskick led to a goal in the 1-1 Syrian tie - played a fine game.

"I was pleased for Josh," said Mitchell. "An unfortunate beginning to the tournament for him but there was never any question about him not playing, although we do have two other good 'keepers here that probably could also do a good job at this level. He responded with a very good performance today."

With an eye to Colombia's physical nature, Mitchell replaced the five-foot-seven Jaime Peters and five-foot-nine Marcel de Jong with the 6-1 Andrea Lombardo and 6-2 Riley O'Neill.

"They're two of the more physical players we have," Mitchell said.

Lombardo was the lone striker with Will Johnson tucked in behind him.

A first-round exit would be a disappointment to Canada, although Mitchell had warned beforehand that making it out of the group would be a stiff challenge.

Mitchell led Canada into the quarter-finals two years ago in the United Arab Emirates, the best ever showing by a Canadian men's team at a FIFA world championship. The Canadian campaign ended in a 2-1 extra-time loss to eventual runner-up Spain.

In 1997 in Malaysia, Bruce Twamley's team made it to the second round before losing 2-0 to Spain.

Should Canada defeat Italy and Syria lose to Colombia, both Canada and Syria will finish with four points. The next tiebreaker is goal differential, with Canada minus-2 and Syria plus-1 going in the final matches. Advancing as a third-place team would seem the more likely avenue.

As for Wednesday's outcome, Mitchell has no complaints.

"If somebody was to say to me that Colombia is a better team than yours and deserved to win today, I would not disagree," he acknowledged.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2005/06/15/1089845-cp.html

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Jun. 16, 2005. 07:35 AM

Canada facing early ouster

Late goals sink under-20 squad

Win over Italy absolute must

JOHN MATHEWS

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

TILBURG, NETHERLANDS—Canada will have to beat Italy to stand any chance of surviving the first round of soccer's World Youth Championship, after a heartbreaking defeat by Colombia.

The good news: Italy is in an even deeper crisis, and seems to be heading for the tournament's exit door after losing both its opening games. The latest was a disastrous 2-1 reverse at the hands of unheralded Syria.

That improbable result makes Canada's task look more achievable, when it meets Italy in Kerkrade on Saturday. Head coach Dale Mitchell will take heart watching the video of Syria's upset, but even a victory against the Italians would not guarantee a safe passage for Canada.

The tournament's complicated qualification format means Canada could finish in third spot with four points, but still not go through as one of the four highest-ranked third-placed teams among the six groups. Only eight out of the 24 teams at Netherlands 2005 get eliminated in the first round, with just the top two in each group certain to qualify.

A betting man would say Canada's under-20s are still one of the favourites to head home early. Against Colombia, the young Canadians almost beat the odds as they battled hard against the best team in the group. They seemed capable of holding out for their second draw of the championship until two goals in the final 10 minutes proved to their undoing.

"In Colombia we were playing against the best team in South America, and possibly in this tournament," coach Mitchell said. "My boys lived with them for 80 minutes and survived, though in the end two pieces of great individual skill won the match."

The result was particularly tough on goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar, who responded extremely well to the howler that cost his team a freak goal in the opener with Syria by turning in a sterling "they shall not pass" performance between the posts for most of the match with Colombia.

Colombia ultimately did get past. When he could only tip a curling, 25-yard free kick by Abel Aguilar onto the woodwork, Radamel Garcia reacted quicker than the Canucks to tap in the rebound.

Wagenaar didn't stand a chance with Fredy Guarin's second goal from 30 yards out. "After what happened against Syria, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die," the Grimsby, Ont.-raised goalie said. "I didn't want to be around anyone.

"It was great to rebound with such a good personal performance, but we couldn't expect to defend for so long against a quality team like Colombia."

Mitchell agreed: "When you have to defend a lot, like we did, it takes a lot out of the players. Not being able to keep the ball was our downfall.

"Our strategy for the Italy game would have been the same even if we had held on for a 0-0 draw with Colombia. To get through, we have to win one game.

"We're going to have a closer look at Italy over the next couple of days and try to come up with a game plan."

In other tournament matches, Gladstone's headed goal gave the defending champion, Brazil, its first win, as it narrowly beat Switzerland 1-0. World Youth Championship host Holland progressed to the second round with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Australia, thanks to goals by Hedwiges Maduro, Urby Emanuelson and Rick Kruys.

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FIFA World Youth Championship

Colombian late show secures progress (0:2)

(FIFA.com) 15 Jun 2005

Colombia showed their ability to eventually break defensive teams down again as they qualified for the knock-out phase of the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005 by beating Canada in Group E in Tilburg.

With the match seemingly heading for a draw, the Colombians produced two goals in the closing stages - just as they had against Italy - to deny a brave Canadian side and progress to the second round.

Colombia's ecstatic coach Eduardo Lara looked ahead to the next challenges as he said: "It is great to qualify and we have achieved one of our objectives now, but we must take things step by step if we want to reach the final. We must be humble and keep working hard."

Going into the game, both coaches opted for changes up front, most notable being Lara's decision to rest Hugo Rodallega for Colombia in favour of Dayro Moreno after his impressive substitute's performance against Italy.

As with that match, it was Colombia who posed the greatest threat right from the kick-off. Canada spent most of the first half trying to repel waves of Colombian attacks without looking in any great danger, largely thanks to the reliability of goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar.

It was Wagenaar's blunder that cost Canada a very early goal against Syria, but he was looking much more at ease against Colombia, proving the master of all of the many shots that rained in on him in the opening 45 minutes.

Colombia certainly weren't afraid of trying their luck from range, but it took them some time to find their accuracy, with Abel Aguilar, Juan Zuniga and Moreno all firing over before Harrison Atalvaro had Wagenaar at full stretch to tip his drive away.

Just before the break, Wason Renteria had the vociferous, Colombian-dominated crowd on their feet with an electrifying burst through the Canadian back-line, but after dancing this way and that, Wagenaar was once again equal to the task of keeping it out. Harrison Otalvaro tested the Hartwick College stopper once more before half-time, but still Colombia could not break Canada's resolve.

The Canucks had little joy at the other end of the field, though Andrea Lombardo and Ryan Gyaki got in each other's way in a promising position when greater communication might have forced a surprise opening goal against the run of play.

Soon after the restart, Gyaki showed the first true glimpse of the talent he had on full display in his four-goal run in the qualifiers, bringing a smart save out of Libis Arenas from a low, raking drive.

Canucks build defensive wall

Canada looked more equal to the attacking threat from Colombia in the second period and getting as many men behind the ball as possible afforded Wagenaar considerably more protection.

Rodallega came off the bench to try to shake things up, but Canada still looked like holding out for a draw until the turning point came with 10 minutes to go. Colombian skipper Abel Aguilar curled a free-kick to test Wagenaar, who did well to palm it onto the post, but substitute Radamel Garcia was the quickest to react to the rebound and he was on hand to tap the ball into the net (0:1, 81').

Fredy Guarin then produced another fabulous strike from distance after coming on as a sub - another déjà vu moment from the Italy victory - and his thundering low shot from 30 yards skidded past the helpless Wagenaar to put the result beyond doubt (0:2, 88').

Canada coach Dale Mitchell said: "Colombia are a top team and the best in South America… possibly the best in this tournament. My boys lived with them for 80 minutes and survived, but two pieces of individual skill settled the game. I think we are going to have to beat Italy to progress now, but we'll see."

http://fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,107606,00.html?articleid=107606

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Finally, here's the FIFA stats for this game:

http://fifa.com/en/comp/WYC2005MatchReport/0,4382,WYC-2005-E-03,00.html

[canso]

Stayed away until tape delay, which gives me a chance at the last words:

Is it too much to ask for a goalkeeper who is over 6 feet tall? Josh stopped a lot of shots, but two more inches in height and we get the nil-nil. There was also that fumble late that cost a corner. Dodgy.

Was it Hainault or the second coming of DeVos? Gotta love those red faced defenders fighting for their lives and giving no quarter. It was just like being in the Azteca!

Maybe Mitchell the Mister knows something about Peeters that Frankie hasn't figured out yet?

Gyaki may be a Hungarian name but the kids gotta be related to Pavel Nedved. What an engine!

[Observer]

Ok the team played defensively for the whole game and did a good job at that. Now lets look at when Canada did have the ball, they consistently made poor passes and or could not control the ball. I mean these players are playing in Italy, England, Germany yet from a simple technique view, they could not control and pass with any accuracy. Many blaming Mitchel for his tactics but lets look at the players as well. Last night I watch Tunisa they played bunker down versus Argentina but when they got the ball they passed well, moved & attacked. I mean how many times did Lombardo, Johnson and Gyaki give the ball away and I mean simply pass the ball to someone in yellow. Gyaki runs all day and that is admirable but his passing is very poor. People have to stop talking about our young players are as good as anywhere in the World. We are behind and we have to face that and look to improve with future generations.

But at Present Lets go Canada & go for Italy jugular

[trueviking]

if i was the csa, i would protest that game...it was totally unfair that columbia was allowed to have 25 men on the pitch....

holy crap...those guys could beat our senior team....

if soccer had the trap...canada was playing it....was terry crisp behind the bench?

[lowlander]

I was at the game with An Observer. I basically agree with his comments above. Just a few salient points.

First, Columbia were excellent. Faster, more skilled and often more physical. Tough combination to beat for anyone, though it's tough to say since we didn't do much to test them.

Second, although the defensive bunker almost secured a point, it really looked risky throughout the match. No problem with a defensive approach to try an dcatch them on the counter-attack. However, we should have played defence like Columia did - each time our player received a ball, there was a man on his back forcing him to cough it up. We allowed their players to recieve the ball, turn and get up a head of steam - only exception was when they hit our back line (Edgar was the best field player for Canada, Haineault also looked good).

Lombardo was way out of his depth. O'Neill was way out of his depth. It was obvious to everyone and I was shocked when there were no subs at half time. We needed Peters and De Jong to have a counter attack threat, as well as to have sufficient speed to play proper defence.

I like Gyaki, but he looked in over his head. Full of effort, but slow on defense and had a poor game in terms of controlling the ball and laying out passes. Again, I realise it's tough out there against Columbia.

Rosenlund was not very impressive. Johnson was out of place until they moved him up front when Lombardo went off, then he sttled in a bit and had a couple of good dribbles, one leading to a free kick.

Ledgerwood looks like he has the requisite speed and skill for the big time. Ramallo was unconvincing until the end when he started to get more aggressive and, lo and behold, forced a few turnovers.

I will be Saturday's Italy game as well, and I sincerely hope to see a more positive approach. Canada are not as skilled as Columbia or some of the other teams, but that does not mean you should stop playing positive football. It's a lot easier to defend when you have the ball.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by YWCNL

For what its worth that is my take on the game, the loss of which is hard enough for the lads to accept after fighting so hard. I only hope none of them came on this site after the game and read the BS on this forum since that would be like taking a kick in the groin when you are down from people who claim to be fans and supporters.

Welcome to the board. However, I think you are being harsh on the posters like myself who are critical of this game. Nobody has trashed the kids that played for Canada & we have praised the effort they have given. They played as well as they could and as they were instructed. We are critical of the tactics employed by the coach, and I think Dale Mitchell is man enough to accept criticism, even if he disagrees with it (which I suspect he would). Nobody has been calling for the coaches head or providing any sort of knee jerk reactions, we just would rather not see these sorts of tactics employed. If we can't even state a valid opinion which doesn't insult anybody, why do we even have a discussion board? Just because we are fans & supporters doesn't mean that we have to be mindless as well. We support Canada all the way, please don't suggest otherwise because we dare to critique tactics employed by the coach (who I still am a fairly big fan of, I might add).