July 7 GC - Canada v Costa Rica - POST-match [R]

[DJT]

<center>Gold Cup - USA 2005

First Round, Match 1Canada 0  Costa Rica 1Thursday, July 7, 2005

5:30 PM PDT / 6:30 PM MDT / 7:30 PM CDT / 8:30 PM EDT / 9:30 PM ADT / 10:00 PM NDT

Qwest Field, Seattle</center>

GOALS

30' CR Soto (PK)

YELLOWS

27' CAN Hutchinson

28' CAN McKenna (dissent)

~50' CAN Gerba (kicking ball into net after called offside)

55' CR Segura

62' CR Ruiz (diving)

65' CAN Brennan

81' CAN McKenna

91' CAN Bernier

REDS

81' CAN McKenna (two yellows)

LINEUPS

CANADA

Sutton

Braz

Mckenna

Bernier

Gerba <-> 69' Hume

Brennan

Grande <-> 90' Peters

Hutchinson

Derosario

Simpson

Leduc <-> 83' Serioux

COSTA RICA

Porras

Umaña

Fonseca

J. López

Ruiz

Soto <-> 76' Rojas

Bolaños

Cordero

Wallace

Bryce <-> 85' Sequeira

Miller <-> 55' Segura

Shots on Goal: CAN: 8(2) CR: 6(2)

Fouls: CAN: 16 CR 18

Corners: CAN: 9 CR: 3

Off-sides: CAN: 6 CR: 0

Saves: CAN: 1 CR: 2

REFEREE

Peter Prendergast (Jamaica)

[Breakwood]

Peters may have only played 5 minutes but that run along the touchline was beautiful plus it set up our best chance.

[strobe_z]

Oh lord... I have to say, Costa Rica looked like crap, but of course typical Canadian tactics, we couldn't take advantage of it and then they get some weird call and get a gift goal. Other than that header off the bar, did Costa Rica even have a half decent chance? If they did, I don't remember it.

Having said that, McKenna needs to get his head examined. As Captain he needs to keep his emotions in check. He can argue the call in such a way as not to get a yellow for dissent. Cost us his services for the next game as well.... geez.

[sj]

Cuba leading the USA 1-0

goal in the 18th mins.

they are passing the ball around pretty well so far

looks likes playing those nine games to prepare for the goal cup is already paying devidence

[Bxl Boy]

Canada played a very good game but missed the lucidity to create opportunities

Sad, very sad, as we didn't see the 70 or so places difference in the Fifa crappy ranking between both teams

Sutton played a very good game, even he was beaten on the bar ball and missed a few centimeters on the penalty. The high ball and other crosses are more difficult than in D1 ! But he did well on it.

Hutchinson was for me one of the best players on the field : great defense, great positioning, great run backs, helped the midfield too

McKenna was pretty good but very stupid too : the captain has to calm his players, not to protest against the ref (even if the ref is a greating bastard like Prendergast) and receive cards...

Leduc was for me the only deception of the game, even if he has a difficult role and maybe (like Imhof...) we didn't see important things on tv

Grande was everywhere on the field, he touched almost all balls. Sadly, he missed some set pieces and crosses. And he should have shot the free kicks just outside the box

Bernier played well at the beginning but made too lang passes. Maybe Frank should have tried to switch him and Leduc

Up front, Gerba was constantly pressing but often offside and De Rosario was running, running and running. Very good today, sadly he missed a great opportunity just before the half

So, I hate Prendergast but I hate the new offside rule too

[Jason]

A few comments that I thought I'd add:

McKenna is probably not the best captain material. They are going to have trouble next game in the middle with an injured Gervais and suspended McKenna. I realize it's a bit late to quibble about player selections, but why didn't they call Winston Marshall?

Hutchinson is clearly out of his element at central defense. I know they are thin there but I think he would be better off in a familiar position.

DeRosario worked hard, but when you play up front, you have to produce results.

Grande and Bernier played pretty well and I look forward to see they continued involvement.

Sutton didn't have much to do but was decent when he had to be.

Give the captaincy to Brennan next game. I'd like to see his leadership ability for a full match. I've always been a fan of his.

Jason

[Soccer_Josh]

Canada all in all played very well. I was a little stingy about the penalty and how Prendergast called the game, I feel that a few of the bookings were a little outrageous but Canada can't blam this loss on a "contraversial" penalty call. One weakness I noticed is that our height up front. To be nice...WE SUCK IN THE AIR UP FRONT! I have nothing against putting Peters in, hes a wonderful player, but he isn't gunna beat the Costa Rican defense in the air. Put tall players in! I agree that Costa Rica looked sum-what different, Canada really did control most of that game. I sure hope Yallop will play a younger team against USA. I think everybody here knows Canada will most likely lose on Saturday. My reason is this. Many of the players playing today recieved cautions, we can't afford to lose key players against Cuba.

[Consigliere]

Any talented youngsters to come out of this match???

[mattbin]

I haven't seen a lot of soccer lately, but I like what I'm seeing from Canada.

However. Yes, Canada should have produced some results to go with their strong play. But to suffer a penalty like that -- from what angle does that NOT look like ball to hand!? -- and to lose by that goal alone, well, I'm just gutted. It brings back the last WCQ all over again, and then I just stop wanting to watch.

I'm sure I'm not the only fan that CONCACAF's reffing has turned off. I love to watch the Canadian team but I no longer schedule my life around seeing Canada's matches.

[Free kick]

Just finshed watching the first half. The one thing that stands out is that the domestic players or North american based players are out performing the Euro based players. Brennan & Bernier struggled. Simpson and Mckenna didn't look sharp. It shows that being in mid season form counts for alot as does travel. Notice that when we won the GC, it was when it was played in January and most of the players at the time were euro-based

[Montreal_FC_fan]

You know why we cant score?

Cuz our crosses are crappy! To many half chances!

[redhat]

Just got back from the game. It was sparsely attended, but there

were quite a few Canadian fans and were very loud.

Canada played relatively well as Costa Rica was pretty listless IMHO.

In essense we got beat by a bad penalty call. We pressed on despite

being down one man. It seemed Dwayne de Rosario played well to the

effect of trying too hard. Jim Brennan struggled a lot and his

finishing was severely lacking -- and he knows it. Not too sure

about Ali Gerba and Leduc; they seem out of place at times.

As usual, there was the playacting of the Ticos. But the good news

was the spark brought by Iain Hume, Jamie Peters, and Adrien

Serioux. Hope some of that carries forward to Saturday. Maybe

time to bring in Rhian Dodds? Who knows. This B- team at least

can compete in this tournament.

[sj]

USA 4 Cuba 1

Cuba played one man down for about 40 mins

USA scored 3 goals in the last 5 mins.

game was fairly even until the sending off.

a straight red card that should have a yellow as the player did get the ball first.

looks like officiating is influencing the results.

[Bxl Boy]

Oh yes, I forgot an important player : the Canadian fans

We heard you a lot, and saw you and your scarves at half time on Gervais interview

Funny

[Christian B.]

quote:Originally posted by mattbin

I love to watch the Canadian team but I no longer schedule my life around seeing Canada's matches.

It's sad but it's the same thing for me too for the first time in my soccer fan life. I even forget sometimes that one of our national team is playing. That would have been impossible before. I was thinking about our games days in advance sheduling family meetings, appointements, etc. in order to be free on game time. Not anymore.

I was also satisfied by the way Canada played. Obviously, our number 1 problem will be forever: Finishing.

[MikeD]

I think Yallop needs to have his head examined. We desperately needed a player in midfield who could create chances and Yallop wasted Hutchinson at the back, a position he is ill-suited to play. I can't believe Yallop picked so many midfielders and only two true central defenders. Now McKenna is going to have to sit a match out and Gervais is injured. Still, surely Braz could have played centre half instead of Hutchinson; Serioux or Bernier could have replaced Braz at right back; and Hutchinson could have gone into the midfield for the hard-working but largely ineffective Leduc.

Oh, and Braz was totally fouled in the box in injury time (on the play where Brennan almost scored) and, of course, no penalty.

On the plus side, I loved the fighting spirit of our players. They did the country proud.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Man, there really is "only one Jim Brennan."

Have to be reasonably happy with the effort. Good to see the USL well represented.

[ditty]

Here's a few takes:

- From a ref's perpspective, I feel the penalty was a harsher decision than even the one against Honduras in Edmonton. In that case, the ref was put way out of position by an untimely backpass. When a cross gets rocketed in from 15 yards out and hits a player around the armpit, I don't think anybody would have said a thing had Prendergast allowed play to move on. No way was that hand to ball.

- Brennan looked WAY out of form yet I could still see quality there.

- DeRosario is in some ways a special player, he gets all over the park, pressurizes, has pace, can go 1v1 but it seems he scores either spectacular goals for Canada or none at all.

- I barely knew Leduc was playing. Gerba didn't really put a stamp on things. Grande is a soled central player, he gets about and Bernier looked allright. These are all second choice players given a full squad so I guess that's encouraging.

- Greg Sutton looks fine to me. We should get a better idea on Saturday, I'm sure he'll be busier.

- I hope Iain Hume gets a longer look as well as Serioux.

- I really want to see Atiba Hutchison in central midfield. I mean REALLY!!

Overall, a decent performance against a pretty average CR. I'm looking forward to Saturday, though I think missing McKenna will really hurt us.

[Joe Keeper]

All in all it would have been a good game if not for Prendergast's horrible call. Our finishing hurt us ultimatley though. Yallop should have started Hume. He added needed ball retention up front.

CONCACAF refereeing is getting more questionable it seems. Between that and the all Diving and time wasting ( especially the stretcher gimmick)its no wonder this tournament gets little respect.

Give the Captaincy to Brennan or DeRo for the rest of the cup!

[RJB]

Canada played ok tonight overall. They missed too many chances though.

De Roserio was ok. I liked his effort, and he created chances, but he needs to bury them, no question about that.

McKenna's second yellow was a bad, bad challenge, and he deserved to be booked despite what Craig Forrest said.

Peters run down the wing was promising. Given our small squad, injuries, and suspensions, maybe that was enough for him to earn a start against the USA? I don't think he should, but Frank has done stranger things.

Sutton is our new undisputed number 1.

Atiba needs more opportunity to show his ability. Centre-back isn't his position.

Bottom line is that it's typical Canada: Lot's of promise, no goals. I can hear the CSA right now, "We're very close to where we need to be. A few more bounces, and we could win the game. The refereeing was poor, but we still were very close."

Unfortunately, close only counts in horse-shoes, and Canada needs to produce some results. Now.

[Joe Keeper]

From CONCACAF.COM

Jafet Soto's penalty kick goal lifts Costa Rica over Canada

7.7.05 - Costa Rica opened Group B play of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ beating Canada 1:0 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington USA on Thursday.

Costa Rica (1-0-0, 3 Points) was able to open the scoring in the 30th minute after Canada's (0-1-0, 0 Points) defender Patrice Bernier was called for a handball in the penalty box.

The ticos' Jafet Soto stepped up and successfully converted the penalty kick, powering a shot past the maple leafs' goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

"The team passed its first test, they followed the plan on two levels: First, we controlled the ball and second, when we had to defend, we defended well," said Costa Rica Technical Director Alexandre Guimaraes. " When the game changed in the second half we were able to adjust." Canada, who won the Gold Cup in 2000, had their best chance of the first half in the 44th minute as Dwayne DeRosario got behind the Costa Rican defense, but his shot from the edge of the penalty box sailed high and wide.

The ticos nearly scored a second goal early in the second half when Dany Fonseca flicked a free kick with a diving header in front of the net, but his shot hit the cross bar. Canada, despite playing a man down after captain Kevin McKenna was sent off with his second yellow, had several chances towards the end of the game to equalise, but was denied by Costa Rica's goalkeeper Jose Francisco Porras.

Jim Brennan had the best opportunity to volley in a goal in stoppage time, but his shot trickled wide.

“I think we put everything into the game, and I think we should have got something out of it, it’s frustrating to come away with no points," said Frank Yallop, who is at the helm of Canada. "I thought we handled Costa Rica very well and created many chances. I thought we did some very good things but were unlucky.”

Miller Lite Man of the Match: Jafet Soto (CRC)

[trueviking]

oh man do i hate CONCACAF football....it makes me nuts!.....over and over, dodgy referees and a complete disregard for any hint of sportsmanship.

what other sport do plyers roll around on the playing surface like they have been hit with a cannon ball?....and then get dragged off on A STRETCHER!!!!!.....and then the second they reach the sidelines, jump back up and run at full speed across the field....it makes me sick. that is not what sport is about. it is normal theatre for all these central american countries.

there should be a rule that if you get dragged off on a stretcher you need to sit for 5 minutes.

is there any other sport that uses a stretcher???!!!!....it is a complete farce...it is so obviously a time wasting tactic...and what was with that guy limping off from the other side of the field, like my 87 year old grandmother?...he was fine 2 seconds earlier, but in the 85th minute, he has to take a full minute to get off the pitch.

the lack of sportsmanship and ethic of fair play in CONCACAF is an embarassment. it makes my blood boil. i hate watching it.....play football, for the love of pete...no more theatre...just football....be a man for goodness sake!

that being said, you cant win without even scoring one goal....how the hell did rick the temp miss that shot?

they played well overall, but as always results are what matter and once again we only have solice that maybe next time if we play just as well, we might win...we need to start a tradition of results for good play...it seems canadians are forever happy with only good effort.

i thought the ball control was way better than normal, but the crosses and corners were the quality of the team from my local high school....there was no reason that they should not have had 3 goals.

hume needs to play in every important game canada has for the next 10 years....i have lost any faith i have ever had in dero...he can not finish.

sutton did well...a definate bright spot...solid and confident....at least his clearing didnt end up in the third row all the time, like that other guy.

[matthew]

That might have been the worst team I remember us losing to. I mean we were scrappy and lacking cohesion, but I thought Costa Rica were terrible.

I was going to bring this up in the pre-match McKenna up top discussions, but for me, we're not a crossing team. On set pieces fine, but our best forwards (except Occean) aren't target men. Our best wide mids aren't great crossers. We spent most of the game crossing balls poorly into the box against a team who spent the whole week preparing to defend crosses (see Tico press reports). It's no wonder we looked like we had no ideas.

Mind you when you play with no attacking central mid, that's bound to happen. Leduc came into the game more in the second half and he worked hard and tried to be positive, but I really don't think he's up to it. Grande was decent, but isn't a great offensive spark. Atiba for me is a little wasted in the center of defence and frankly I think he looks a little out of position (though 'deer in headlights' as it may have been his foul that earned him a card was exactly what three other men - including DeVos and Stalteri - failed to do against Duff in Ireland).

I thought Braz was a pleasant surprise. He's a little limited and he doesn't get forward much, but he played the ball smartly to feet and did a nice job. I'd like to see him in the middle of the defence and see how he fares. I thought Bernier was better than usual as well, especially in the first half. He put some of our best balls in the box (excluding Hume free kicks).

I agree with those who said our Euro players looked out of form. Simpson seemed hesitant to take people on (and didn't even try for the first 30 mins) and his passing wasn't nearly as sharp as it has been. Brennan also really struggled. I think that break we had late in the first half was one of our best and he just couldn't get the final ball in. Not getting the final ball in was probably the story of our night.

Serioux looked pretty good and man Peters is strong for his size. Now there's a good that can cross a ball. Hopefully OO can get on the end of one.

I thought the penalty was a very poor call, but not totally incomprehensible and I agree that Braz was hauled down, but they had guys draped on our shoulders in the box on most of our set pieces.

Very frustrated that Frank did make a Hume for Leduc sub earlier. Either a simple move with Hume up top and DeRo playing withdrawn or a more convaluted move of Hume on the right, Bernier to RB, Reda to CB and Atiba into the attacking midfield role. Either way we needed a presecence in the middle of the field and we played 55-75 with no spark or life.

Too many stupid yellows (McKenna and Gerba and Brennan who nearly deserved straight red for a really bad, late challenge).

If we could have gotten a point out of this I'd be pretty happy with the performance. We certainly deserved it. As it stands the loss isn't a catastrophy except that with Gervais nicked, McKenna gone, that might keep Atiba in the back, which sucks and considering half the team is on a yellow it could get worse for the Cuba game. If we fly Nevio in from Montreal wil the Impact kill us? We could use him.

My MOTM was the support. Nice and loud, especially for the numbers, and livened things up. Pooor-asss

The Sportsnet rant will go elsewhere . . .

cheers,

matthew

[Grizzly]

To be fair to Yallop I thought we played pretty well tonight but mostly I have seen us play well under him and lose or play poorly and lose (with the one exception against NI where we played like crap and won). As I stated in other threads I thought his selection calls were poor, too old and inexperienced. Young and inexperienced I could live with but not old and inexperienced. Given we have to play a B team, play a B team with potential for the future even if we lose.

Given this he largely selected the better players from this poor selection. The problem is Canada needs a coach who makes all the right selections not mostly the right selections. For us there is little room for coaching mistakes or errors. Why was Leduc on the field, one of our worst players and neither young nor promising for the future. Braz made me nervous all night as well but at least he is young and has some potential so I can forgive his selection somewhat. Simpson also varied between showing promise and making me nervous but again he is young with great potential. I think Hume and Serioux had to be starters. Hume because he is dangerous, can control the ball and unlike DeRo can put the ball in the net when he has a 100% chance and god knows we need a striker like that on the field. The only two strikers we have with this ability are McKenna who was played as a defender and Occean who was not played (obviously due to suspension). Serioux has to start because he is so dangerous on throw ins. He makes almost any throw in in the offensive zone into a corner kick opportunity. Unless there is someone significantly better than him in his position (Leduc was inferior) he should start for this reason. McKenna just should not be a defender for us. Just too slow and prone to foul when out of position. However, he has a gift to score. He reminds me of one of the most popular players on the team I support in Germany who was a really poor player but played hard and when he got the ball in scoring position put it in the net. Looks bad but effective, however, if he is going to play he has to be a striker. I think McKenna would have scored on DeRo's chance.

Regarding the reffing. I think Pendergast is usually fair and one of the better CONCACAF refs but there is no doubt he was poor tonight. The penalty was a joke, it was not intentional handball and at best hit his should not his arm. A few minutes earlier he didn't buy an obvious dive by the Costa Rican diving champion Ruiz (didn't you hate this guy) so I thought all would be good but unfortunately it was not to be. I am not too hard on McKenna for either yellow. The first he was justly protesting a terrible call that cost us the game. The second he got the ball, there was incidental contact and it was a big dive by the Costa Rican so no way this should be a card. I think Pendergast is largely an honest ref but he had a bad game and called a lot more borderline yellows against us than Costa Rica who made some very hard fouls without penalty. Maybe it shows that even a largely good ref like Pendergast isn't reffing high level matches that often although to be fair I have seen many good European refs have games like us.

The bigger question is why do we always get calls against us? This is where I give McKenna credit and even can forgive Stalteri for the bottle throwing. When we get calls like this we have to protest vigourously against them even at the risk of penalty because without this it will never change. Without refs thinking that they can screw Canada without consequence they always will be more willing to make such calls. If Pendergast made a similar call against Costa Rica he knows the Costa Rican media would be calling for his head. This may not happen in Canada for a long while but seeing Yallop sitting on his ass like nothing happened after this call made me want to slap him. He should have been on the field causing **** even at the risk of a red card just like he should have but did not do in WCQ. Instead he lets important players like McKenna and Stalteri react and get the card. The CSA should also react similarly like Sharpe did after the second Honduran game (although he should have done this after the first). When Ossieck got red carded it at least won us some respect that we had knowledgeable soccer officials and wouldn't take being railroaded lying down. Until CONCACAF officials think that this is our consistent position we will always get the short end of the stick. In other words as much as I dislike Pat Quinn being a Sens fan we need a similar type coach. He whines and bullies officials but in the end he gets the call unlike Yallop who sits on his ass and says all is good screw me again. In addition if the officiating is going to be like this we have to start diving ourselves. It is up to CONCACAF to set the rules and if they are setting unfair rules than we have to play unfairly as well.

We all saw tonight why DeRo is a career lower division player and not a top league striker. He played a pretty good game but when he had a 100% chance doesn't even put it near to the net. DeRo has the talent not only to be a striker in the top leagues of Spain or England but a top striker in these leagues. If he could put away those chances that he should put away he would be playing n these leagues. The problem is he can threaten the best of defences (i.e. Portugal), score 2 or 3 highlight reel goals a year but misses 10 or 20 sure goals. If he could sink these he would be a top player but he can not. It may be more mental than technical but I would rather have McKenna with the ball alone in front of the keeper than DeRo even though McKenna doesn't have half of DeRo's skills.

I thought Gerba looked good and promising at times while at other times he disappeared. Probably we should start Occean in the next game when he is no longer suspended but Gerba looks like a good offensive sub at least. Grande looked good in general and shouldn't have been the guy taken off for Peters as he is too good a ball distributer.

Sutton also looked quite solid and dependable. He stops what he should stop and while he may not be world class seems to be far better than Onstad and in present form also better than Hirshfeld. I don't think he is the sure starter until we see Fernandes but he helped his case tonight and it is too bad he wasn't playing during WCQ.

I thought Hutchinson looked good and held together a pretty shaky defensive core. People criticizing him should realize he was the only solid guy in the back and it is hard to look good when you are often left on your own. Brennan showed flashes but at other times disappeared. Maybe he is a bit out of in-season form but he never did anything to hurt us and created some very good chances. Bernier didn't have a bad game but has to learn to take a kick on the bounce not control it and wait for all the defenders to get into position. Peters did have a good run when he came in but what was Yallop thinking subbing him in in injury time when time is of the utmost concern. He should have been in 5 to 10 minutes earlier if he was going to go in to the game. Get fresh fast legs on the field at the end.

I strongly disagree with Freekicks assertion that the North American players outperformed the out of season Europeans. In general the players who could be expected to play well (Grande, Sutton, Hutchinson, DeRo (except for scoring), Hume) did well regardless of where they played and even Brennan or Bernier who could have played better were still decent. In short the good callups and starters played well while the poor ones played poorly. In general Yallop has shown some ability to get good performances from some of our mediocre players but less ability to get good performances by our top players and once our top players return to the fold we will have to see if this continues.

I also think that just like in WCQ we were short on the bench in several positions and don't have adequite high level replacements for possible injuries, suspensions etc or special tactical situations. Again I am very worried that Yallop will continue this pattern into the next WCQ like he did in the last one. While it was one of the better performances under him we still lost and even though it was on an unjust penalty we could not score even though CR basically let us attack for the last 60 minutes. Not everything Yallop is doing is wrong but he is still making enough mistakes and poor decisions that I am worried for the next WCQ. Maybe if we have a run of good luck we can qualify under such a coach but in general I think we need a very good coach who can get all of our best players on the field and playing effective tactics as well as have some influence in CONCACAF regarding having decent reffing and not being the kicking boy of the organization. I am still willing to be sold on him and saw a bit of improvement tonight but still think that we need someone who can get the maximum from what we have available evertime regardless of the situation. Admittedly a large number of our best players have new clubs and didn't want to come (it may indeed be better for us in the long run if they win a starting position on their new team so I don't dispute this) but I still think he could have made a slightly better and more future oriented selection for this team and a slightly better selection for starters tonight and it might be these slight errors that make the difference between qualifying and not qualifying in the next WCQ. I also don't like his attitude expressed before the tournament that seemed to imply that the results were not important because many players turned down the invitation. A coach trying to protect his ass before a tournament begins is a bad coach. He should be judged on every performance and the standard should be is he getting the maximum out of what he has available. At this point I am still unconvinced. We put on a decent show and didn't embarrass ourselves but we still lost. Bad reffing decisions are a part of CONCACAF and we have to learn to win despite them. I don't think we showed we could win against Costa Rica tonight. We showed we could tie them 0-0 but not that we could beat them and ultimately you have to win to qualify for the WC.

[SeanKeay]

Plain and simple, we cant win games if we dont score.

Our attack is terrible and we have no one creating any chances, its terrible out there watching us not score. We played well with the ball in our half and around half and ok on defence tonight. But man against a good team we will be torn apart.

Our defence is ****, and will be ripped to shreads by the americans... so the only way to fight back is to score goals and we cant even do that right.

Dont get me wrong, i liked what i saw against costa rica.. but we lost to a terrible side.

Also the reason all the north americans are "outplaying" the euro boys is because we play a north american style game with yallop and the NA players are used to, its the complete oposite of holger here and i think its a shame since our better players are european based.

Dont kno how im so bitter i won 100 bucks on poker tonight

Anyways!! GO CANADA