June 18, Canada v Italy, POST-Match [R]

[beachesl]

<center>World Youth Championship - Netherlands 2005

First Round, Match 3Canada 1Italy 4Saturday, June 18, 2005

6:30 AM PDT / 5:30 AM MDT / 6:30 AM CDT / 7:30 AM EDT / 8:30 AM ADT / 1:30 PM Holland Time

Parkstad Limburg Stadium, Kerkrade</center>

ATTENDANCE

2,000

GOALS

23' PELLE Graziano (ITA)

47' GALLOPPA Daniele (ITA)

49' DE JONG Marcel (CAN)

68' PELLE Graziano (ITA)

90' DE MARTINO Raffaele (ITA)

YELLOWS

15' CAROTTI Lorenzo (ITA)

76' DE MARTINO Raffaele (ITA)

76' JOHNSON Will (CAN)

84' AGNELLI Cristian (ITA)

REDS

None

LINEUPS

CANADA (CAN):

Starters

[1] WAGENAAR Josh (GK)

[2] RAMALHO Graham (-81)

[3] LEDGERWOOD Nik ©

[4] HAINAULT Andrew

[5] PEETOOM Brad

[7] PETERS Jaime

[8] ROSENLUND Tyler (-73)

[9] GYAKI Ryan

[10] JOHNSON Will

[11] DE JONG Marcel

[14] EDGAR David (-70)

Substitutes

[19] BEGOVIC Asmir (GK)

[20] GIACOMI Rob (GK)

[6] SCHIAVONI Carlo (+73)

[12] O NEILL Riley

[13] BEAULIEU-BOURGAULT Jonathan

[15] STEWART Vince (+81)

[16] LALLI Franco

[17] LOMBARDO Andrea (+70)

[18] CHAROWSKI Tomek

[21] KASSAYE Simon

Coach

MITCHELL Dale (CAN)

ITALY (ITA):

Starters

[1] VIVIANO Emiliano (GK) ©

[2] MARZORATTI Lino

[4] NOCERINO Antonio

[5] CODA Andrea

[7] DEFENDI Marino

[8] CAROTTI Lorenzo (-56)

[9] PELLE Graziano

[11] GALLOPPA Daniele

[13] BATTAGLIA Francesco

[15] AQUILANTI Antonio (-84)

[16] BENTIVOGLIO Simone (-71)

Substitutes

[12] VIRGILI Fabio (GK)

[21] PADELLI Daniele (GK)

[3] D AGOSTINO Andrea [not elegible]

[6] CANINI Michele [not Present]

[10] TROIANO Michele

[14] DI DIO Palmiro

[17] DE MARTINO Raffaele (+71)

[18] AGNELLI Cristian (+56)

[19] NIETO Francesco (+84)

[20] COZZOLINO Giuseppe [not Present]

Coach

BERRETTINI Paolo (ITA)

STATISTICS

Pos: Position, Min: Minutes Played, G: Goals, P: Penalty, Y: Yellow Cards, R: Red Cards

CANADA:

Shots 13

Shots on goal 6

Fouls Committed 20

Fouls Suffered 17

Corner kicks 3

Free Kicks 4

Penalty goal / Penalty shot 0/0

Offside 2

Own Goals 0

Cautions 1

Expulsions 0

Actual playing time 19

Ball possession (%) 35

# Name Pos Min G P Y R

1 WAGENAAR Josh GK 90 0 0 0 0

2 RAMALHO Graham DF 80 0 0 0 0

3 LEDGERWOOD Nik DF 90 0 0 0 0

4 HAINAULT Andrew DF 90 0 0 0 0

5 PEETOOM Brad DF 90 0 0 0 0

7 PETERS Jaime MF 90 0 0 0 0

8 ROSENLUND Tyler MF 72 0 0 0 0

9 GYAKI Ryan MF 90 0 0 0 0

10 JOHNSON Will FW 90 0 0 1 0

11 DE JONG Marcel MF 90 1 0 0 0

14 EDGAR David DF 69 0 0 0 0

Substitutes

6 SCHIAVONI Carlo MF 18 0 0 0 0

12 O NEILL Riley FW 0 0 0 0 0

13 BEAULIEU-BOURGAULT Jonathan DF 0 0 0 0 0

15 STEWART Vince DF 10 0 0 0 0

16 LALLI Franco FW 0 0 0 0 0

17 LOMBARDO Andrea FW 21 0 0 0 0

18 CHAROWSKI Tomek MF 0 0 0 0 0

19 BEGOVIC Asmir GK 0 0 0 0 0

20 GIACOMI Rob GK 0 0 0 0 0

21 KASSAYE Simon DF 0 0 0 0 0

Totals - - 1 0 1 0

ITALY:

Shots 33

Shots on goal 15

Fouls Committed 17

Fouls Suffered 19

Corner kicks 6

Free Kicks 6

Penalty goal / Penalty shot 0/0

Offside 1

Own Goals 0

Cautions 3

Expulsions 0

Actual playing time 35

Ball possession (%) 65

# Name Pos Min G P Y R

1 VIVIANO Emiliano GK 90 0 0 0 0

2 MARZORATTI Lino DF 90 0 0 0 0

4 NOCERINO Antonio MF 90 0 0 0 0

5 CODA Andrea DF 90 0 0 0 0

7 DEFENDI Marino MF 90 0 0 0 0

8 CAROTTI Lorenzo MF 55 0 0 1 0

9 PELLE Graziano FW 90 2 0 0 0

11 GALLOPPA Daniele MF 90 1 0 0 0

13 BATTAGLIA Francesco DF 90 0 0 0 0

15 AQUILANTI Antonio DF 83 0 0 0 0

16 BENTIVOGLIO Simone MF 70 0 0 0 0

Substitutes

3 D AGOSTINO Andrea DF 0 0 0 0 0

6 CANINI Michele DF 0 0 0 0 0

10 TROIANO Michele MF 0 0 0 0 0

12 VIRGILI Fabio GK 0 0 0 0 0

14 DI DIO Palmiro DF 0 0 0 0 0

17 DE MARTINO Raffaele MF 20 1 0 1 0

18 AGNELLI Cristian MF 35 0 0 1 0

19 NIETO Francesco FW 7 0 0 0 0

20 COZZOLINO Giuseppe FW 0 0 0 0 0

21 PADELLI Daniele GK 0 0 0 0 0

Totals - - 4 0 3 0

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : LARRIONDA Jorge (URU)

Asst. Ref. 1 : RIAL Walter (URU)

Asst. Ref. 2 : FANDINO Pablo (URU)

4th Official : MERK Markus (GER)

[BusanBhoy]

if anyone has some pearls of hope for the future, now would be a good time. I'm feeling sick deep down and arn't seeing any change EVER. Please give me a branch - a little something to put faith in. Anyone?

[Bubbachuck89]

Hard luck to all Canadians and great game for the Italians who finished the tournament strongly...Honestly u guys didnt play that well especially passing the ball..u had a lot of passes that were off target and ur goalie didnt play well..but ur captain ledgerwood really impressed me. Anyway hard luck guys and take care.

Go Syria! [8D]

[TorontoInferno]

Damn that was a tough game, the mental side again kills Canada. Its too bad too as the final score was a lot worse imo than it should have been...

Best players, Johnson, Ledgerwood....

Worst player, Peters (when you dont have the ball, why aren't you running?)

That being said, the reaction at the end of the game by the Italian coach and official was puzzling, why are you excited? you lost 2 games and win one by 3 goals.. You should be fuming, as an italian fan this reaction really pisses me off... *as an aside, the game was really tough for me to watch, i had to in a sense suspend reality, Italy became Japan, or France and i began to hate them, Really hate them

[SeanKeay]

Well, it just shows what canada is missing, about 6 or 7 players... it was a very dissapointing tournament. I thought the team was basically Johnson, Gyaki, Peters, Dejong, Edgar ,Legerwood.

Today there was major problems in defence and in closing a player down. We played from the get go like they were better then us and never defending properly because of that. We would never go in for a ball because they were afraid they were gonna lose the ball. Thus letting italy have all the possesion. And when we started to pass someone would just screw it up with a dumb pass. The problem could of just been nerves.

If you looked at the syria game we played with a bit more composure and skill, and it was because we thought we could beat them. And heck, they beat the italians. Syria was a good team, its just we are a good team but we dont think we are.

But overall, i think we have to get more players into europe and away from the long ball style. It just isnt fun to watch nor is it work when you have 1 small will johnson up front.

BTW, the ref was disgusting today not calling obvious dives and not giving a red when he should have. Also, i dont like how Craig makes it seem like its part of the game, its a disgrace and anyone who goes down like that should be sent off the field.

[MikeD]

Well, the ref was a disgrace but Italy was the better team overall. All in all, I'm pleased with the level of individual talent Canada had on display in this tournament. I think we will see a good crop of national team players coming out of this cohort of U-20s. Not all right away, but over time I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of these lads playing for Frankie Yallop's Red White Army. Also, Edgar, Peters, De Jong and Lombardo (plus some others I'm probably forgetting) will all still be young enough to play in the next U-20 tournament on home soil, so we'll no doubt have a better run in 2007.

[SeanKeay]

BTW, anyone who says Peters was terrible, holy FCUK get a grip. He made plenty of positive runs down the field and continually fouled on the right side. If you are expecting superman, the only person you can blame for that is yourself. You built him up to be somthing he isnt, he was a top player in this game and did well.

[Massive Attack]

The pearls of hope are the individual players who stood out. Johnson, Ledgerwood, Edgar, De Jong, Gyaki, Peters and Hanaiult(sp) (who reminds me of DeVos).

Italy's coach was celebrating because the result will be good enough to get them into the next round. Italy's goal difference is now 0, which puts them ahead of Chile and most likely the eventual 3rd place team from Group A.

As for the game overall, I think we need to start facing the fact that we simply aren't as good as we like to believe.

[River City]

Well, I thought they played well enough to merit a point, and I suspect that might have been the game strategy - lull Italy into a posession game and then exploit their exposed Defense by counterattacking. But it didn't work, especially with the coverage on the third goal.

I thought Canada got some bad calls, most of all, the yellow that should have been a red on the shirt pull. Until Canada gains some international respect, I'm sad to say, I think referees will continue to regard us as peons and treat us as such.

On a positive note, I think we got ourselves some prospects who can step up to the MNT and hold their own at the international stage.

C'mon Gold Cup!

[Gian-Luca]

The Italians were happy about that last goal at the end because they believe it will qualify them for the next round - didn't you notice they took their foot off the gas pedal after that? They must have known how the other results were going. I haven't checked them myself yet.

The scoreline did flatter Italy in the end, but for the life of me I can not understand how that Italian team lost to Syria. What were they smoking?

I think Canada started slowly in this match as a carry-over to that ultra-defensive crap we employed against Colombia. I was far happier with the way we played in the 2nd half today and against Syria. There was no hesitancy in the 2nd half to attack Italy and that's how it should have been against Colombia, IMO.

Craig Forrest was a little too anti-Italian for my liking, going so far as to accuse one Italian player of a flagrant foul by leaving his foot in against Ledgerwood when Ledgerwood's foot actually connected with the guys shoulder. There was diving & shirt pulling yes, but no need to invent it where it didn't exist.

However, the Ref was full of $hit again this game, that Italian player should have been sent off for a professional foul on Johnson & we should have had a penalty! Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference in the end (at least to Canada - it definitely helped Italy), but that's no excuse for the incompetence of the Ref. Quite ironic that the first time I've ever seen Italy get the benefit of crappy officiating going their way - and it happens when they are playing Canada, so I still lose no matter what!

The boys gave it their all & they represented their country proudly. Its a shame that this final score made it look worse than it was, but I was far happier about today's performance than I was about Wednesday's.

Edgar, Peters, Lombardo and Johnson will all be back in two years time, so that's a very good core to build on. Add Begovic in goal as well, and if Julian can finally persuade his younger brother.....

Felt Mitchell took off the wrong player in Edgar - unless he was injured, I would have put him in the back four and taken off Petoom, the one player who I thought had an off day for Canada. A lot of the goals scored against us came from his man & his distribution was poor in the 1st half. But I don't want to berate the poor kid, I'm sure he did the best he could.

I think De Jong's goal was the first time I've seen a Canadian score in a direct free kick since Gerry Gray against Mexico in 1980 at the Azteca.

So overall, not as good at 2003 or 1997 obviously, but far far better overall than 2001's performance where we were embarassed.

[TorontoInferno]

"holy FCUK get a grip"

I dont expect him to be superman, and positive runs are fine if he pulls his weight after the play is finished and he loses the ball or the play stops. I do realize that he is the smallest player on the pitch blah blah blah. I actually think that he has been built up by the powers to be, a 17 yr old on the national team (when he was called) is a LOT of pressure and i personally think he has to think better when he doesn't have the ball.

He is a great player, but he will be much better when he learns to level off his play, so hes not so tired that he CAN'T get back into the play. (hopefully a full year of Ipswich conditioning will help)

Dont mistake me as a star hata, baby, I ain't hatin...ok enough of that stuff (drat, censored)

[SeanKeay]

How can one person say Dejong has played a great tournament and then say Peters did not???? Dejong never made a positive run down the wing, all he was good on was set pieces and then a cross when he got the ball passed to him.

Peters scored the only goal in open play, and caused the italian left back a massive headache with his pace and his moves.

You guys sometimes make me wonder....

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

Italy's coach was celebrating because the result will be good enough to get them into the next round. Italy's goal difference is now 0, which puts them ahead of Chile and most likely the eventual 3rd place team from Group A.

Yup, they knew exactly what they had to do. As I posted in the other thread, all they need now is for Brazil to beat South Korea. But I was also puzzled at their reaction at first because I thought their chances of advancing were a lot slimmer than they actually are.

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

As for the game overall, I think we need to start facing the fact that we simply aren't as good as we like to believe.

I agree, but I didn't really believe that as much as many people apparently did. I'm still disappointed, especially about this match, but probably not as much as most people because of my lower expectations.

[SeanKeay]

You called peters the worst player... how isnt that hating?

[sj]

better approach in this game

it did show where and how much we need to improve but at least it does give us an honest idea and that what this tournament is all about.

one hope that we will never have to witness the kind of garbage tactics used against Colombia.

where we attempt to mask our defficiencies to the world.

with Canada out the world soccer community can breath a sign of releive that we wont see that kind of negative tactics in what is suppose to be a festival of youth football.

the CSA has to have a second look at Holger's recommendation and impliment it to the full extent.

they might not have like what he had to say but he was being honest

he was ideal for that position.

he wanted what was going to be good for soccer in Canda in the long run.

It was constructive critisism and the CSA did not take it too well.

It is time to back to the drawing board and time to act now if we want to show the Candian and the world positive football come 2007.

we need at least a 20 game calendar a yr in place

dont have to go on foreign tour all the time let use the resources available at home first.

Canadian A-league teams should used as sparring partners to prepare our youth teams.

our 2007 campaign has to be in full swing by now

no more of that 2 week extensive training before the tournament.

we need a systematic approach not band aid solution and we have mainly witness that in this campaign.

not much was done by the time we qualified and by the time we step on the picth for our first game and what is done during that period is very critical in the soccer development in this country.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by SeanKeay

Peters scored the only goal in open play

Actually, no he didn't, both goals were scored off De Jong free kicks one way or another, rather than open play.

I thought both players played well so there's no point in slagging either one. If anyone is hyped up to be a superstar by other people, that's not the player's fault, unless he himself is making the claim, and I haven't see Jamie do that.

The biggest problem with both players is that they didn't start against Colombia, and that's hardly their fault. One De Jong free kick might have made all the difference in that game, and I could hardly see Riley O'Neil as being better defensively on that wing, because he wasn't. It's unfair for O'Neil to be played out of position, it made him look bad. As I said, it was like asking Garret Kusch to play left mid. In fairness to Mitchell though its easier to spot a coaches mistakes than what he did right, and I suspect he still did more right than wrong in this tourney. Its not like it was 2001.

I'm not too disappointed at not going through due to Colombia & Italy beating us, they simply have better teams and players. What sticks in my craw is Syria qualifying ahead of us when they don't have a better team or players, and I'm pissed at Italy for letting that happen.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by SeanKeay

We would never go in for a ball because they were afraid they were gonna lose the ball. Thus letting italy have all the possesion. And when we started to pass someone would just screw it up with a dumb pass. The problem could of just been nerves.

I thought about nerves as well. It seemed we did better once the game was out of hand and there was nothing to lose.

[TorontoInferno]

I called him the worst player because in my opinion he was. That doesn't mean i'm hatin' on him. It means i have expectations of him.

If you dont have expectations whats the point? I'm tired of hearing 'good run out there boys we tried hard' that doesn't cut it any more.

ok maybe in hindsite i should have tempered my 'worst' player crack, but that does not mean i'm still not critical of parts of his play, just saying hes great isn't going to make him any better..

[Bubbachuck89]

Gian-Luca trust me u should have watched us play against italy then u would know how we beat Italy..we played really really Hard and definately earned the victory with great teamwork and determination..and we got great skills so dont underestimate us..against u guys we played really really bad because it was our first game in a Fifa competition in 10 years so our players were nervous and also our coach arrived one day before the tournament started thats why our strategy and tactics against Canada were not carefully planned...anyway i hope u do well in the next tournament in 2007 where u will be playing on ur land..take care and enjoy ur day.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

As for the game overall, I think we need to start facing the fact that we simply aren't as good as we like to believe.

I'm not sure who you mean by "we" - I think most people expected us not to be as good as Colombia & Italy, and that was the case. I didn't know what to expect from Syria but having seen them play I don't think they are better than we are and they still qualified. Again though, much of that is Italy's fault, they must have had an off day against them. Lucky for Syria, too bad they didn't take today off was well.

So its disappointing from that respect, on the other hand I'm not too choked about it if we play proper soccer to the best we can in the process.

[SeanKeay]

Oh i dont slag Dejong, i thought he was a decent player. I was just usuing him as an example, i thought he was a good player in this tournament when he played.

But i have to go now, Madonna is playing on my tv and i see that three men and a lil lady is on.. definatly gonna make me forget about the pain i had this mornign and replacing it with more tbs quality programming!

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Craig Forrest was a little too anti-Italian for my liking,

At one point he states something to the effect that that Italians have diving down to an art!. What's with that! Have any evidence Craig?

[SeanKeay]

Yes, yes he does... watch 10:00 on sportsnet

And whats wrong with being biased, im sick of hearing Gerry give verbal blowjobs to every team we are against. The problem you guys have, is that you have a soft spot for the italians... im not saying there is anythingwrong with having a soft spot. But if it was the comulbians im sure we wouldnt have a problem with that comment

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

At one point he states something to the effect that that Italians have diving down to an art!. What's with that! Have any evidence Craig?

Well they did make a meal out of a lot of the fouls in this game....though having said that they were all probably fouls.

It's just that if you are going to accuse the opposition of dirty play on a play that was actually quite innocent (and no Canadians got upset about it) it smacks of bias. I'm all in favour of cheering for Canada in the broadcast booth (which Gerry Dobson never does, he seems to want us to lose) but not to the extent where we start falsely accusing the opposition of foul play to the point where we start mistaking their foot for their shoulder!

[Canuck Oranje]

Individually, I think Canada is talented enough to do better. The problems are lack of seasoning, experience, and team play, both defensively and offensively.

On offence, Canada does not move intelligently without the ball. In fact, there were times when it seemed the player making the pass didn't move to support after the pass. Without proper support of the player with the ball, passes are going to look bad. Nerves and intimidation also seems to lead to too much direct play and not enough ball possession play.

Most of all, there is an obvious lack of confidence. The ball would be thumped forward. Few switches from side to side were made and when they happened, it seemed to relieve some pressure.

It was mentioned by some after the Syria game that the players in Europe seemed to be more developed. I think it is all about experience and and seasoning. Peters is a good example. Although he has some European experience, he still seems to float out of position and doesn't support his teammates well on offence. Still, he has great pace and exceptional ball skills. A full year in Europe will create a much better player.

The key for Canada to gain more success at this level is to get players with a much higher level of experience. That too will offset the intimidation factor. We have a good core for 2007 with Edgar, Peters, Lombardo, and Begovic in Europe already. Now we just need to get more.

It is hard for a national team coach to develop experience if it is not there to begin with so I don't think the problem is with the coaching staff.

Others players like De Jong, Gyaki, Ledgerwood, and Ramalho are in good positions to develop further so this team may still generate a number of quality players for the future.