July 9 GC - USA v Canada - POST-match [R]

[The Ref]

I think that had McKenna played he would not have attempted to deflect that ball like Hutchinson did and Sutton would have gotten it. Well, that is just speculation. I still don't like McKenna and Atiba played superbly. Simpson must have read this board and decided to show us that he can play too. I would like to see Peters coming in earlier or starting, he gave width to our attack a created several chances in the short spell he was on.

I think Yallop must have bet his jacket in the first game and lost it, because he wasn't wearing it today. I wonder what garment he lost today. We'll check it out on Tuesday.

[Whither Canada]

quote:Originally posted by pstain

It's so frustrating how our strikers can't time their runs correctly or stand still while one of the other players are being double teamed. They need to work on their movement and be able to create space.

Exactly.

How many times were Canadian forwards standing and watching instead of running into space?

[Massive Attack]

Some press from the game:

Canada Falls to USA 2-0 at the CONCACAF Gold Cup

Seattle, WA, USA – Canada’s second match of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup went much like the first. An unfortunate opening goal, some untimely misses, and a sending off just when things were starting to open up provided a carbon copy of the match 48 hours prior.

The US grabbed its lead almost immediately after the break when an attempted cross by John O’Brien was inadvertently re-directed past Canadian keeper Greg Sutton (Hamilton, ON) by an Atiba Hutchinson (Brampton, ON) header. Canada pressed for the equalizer and certainly had chances but when Adrian Serioux (Toronto, ON) was sent off in the 82nd minute, there seemed no way back for the Canadians. Landon Donovan added a late insurance goal in the opening minutes of injury time to seal the victory.

The opening moments of the first half were fairly even but the better of the chances may have fallen to the US.

A fourth minute corner off the foot of Landon Donovan flashed across the box but Pat Noonan’s glancing header drifted just wide. A minute later Donovan had a glorious chance after a Josh Wolff cross from the left found him stationed at the penalty spot but the Galaxy striker’s shot sliced out for a throw-in.

The Canucks, looking dangerous on the counter, almost pried open the US back four ten minutes into the contest but a sliding block from Eddie Pope denied Olivier Occean’s (Brossard, QC) pass from reaching Canadian captain Dwayne de Rosario (Scarborough, ON) who had lost his marker momentarily.

In the 22nd minute Josh Simpson (Victoria, BC) almost took matters into his own hands when he skipped by two defenders and pushed the ball around Pope at the left corner of the area but the experienced Pope out-muscled the young left-back to avert the danger.

Easily the best chance of the half fell to left foot of Donovan though in the 35th minute. A ball from the left flank was clipped to the far post by Greg Vanney who picked out Noonan at the right corner of the six. Noonan headed back across the six for KC-based striker Josh Wolff. Wolff chose to leave the pass for a trailing Donovan to smack into the net but somehow a combination of Gabe Gervais’ (Brossard, QC) left foot and Sutton’s right foot prevented what first appeared to be a certain goal.

At the end of the half, Donovan, perhaps a tad aggrieved at the lack of space he was afforded in the opening half, lashed out with his right hand toward defender Adam Braz (Montreal, QC). Donovan was shown a yellow card for his outburst but was probably relieved that he was going to be allowed to stay on the field at all.

Three minutes into the second half though Canada’s recent spell of misfortune continued.

A John O’Brien cross aimed toward Noonan deflected off the head of Atiba Hutchinson. The header was steered toward the goal but unfortunately Sutton had begun to creep forward and the ball rolled agonizingly past the helpless keeper for the opener.

In the 51st minute Noonan almost made it two when he found space at the right corner of the area then tried to chip Sutton. The Impact keeper, at full stretch, could not get a hand to the shot but the shot caromed off the bar and Canada scrambled away the danger.

Noonan again had a chance to stretch the US lead after a superb turn from Steve Ralston on the right opened up a huge channel. Ralston then picked out Noonan at the six but the Revolution striker’s header skipped just wide of the post.

Canada then had an excellent chance to equalize in the 77th minute when de Rosario found loads of space on the right flank after a superb ball from Jim Brennan (Newmarket, ON) had picked out his run. De Rosario then advanced into the US area and attempted to find Ali Gerba’s (Montreal, QC) run but a slight deflection bounced to Bernier (Brossard, QC) who had angled his run to the far post but the deflection caught him by surprise and his initial touch rolled away from him for a goal kick.

Minutes later the Canadians maneuvered their way down the right side; this time it was Serioux who sliced open the move. The Toronto native slipped a well-weighted ball into the space behind the US left back for second half substitute Jaime Peters (Pickering, ON) to sprint onto. Peters then whipped his cross toward the front post. Gerba, who had momentarily lost his marker climbed high for the cross but the American defender had recovered just in time to challenge the big striker, unsettling him slightly. The header was still pounded but it flew just beyond Kasey Keller’s upper left corner.

In the 82nd minute though, Canada’s task of conjuring up an equalizer was made far more difficult.

Just as the Canucks began to take the game to the US, Serioux was booked for a foul on DaMarcus Beasley. The card was his second of the game and just like the match two days previous, Canada now had to find a goal in ten minutes with one less player.

But the US made sure that there would not be any late game heroics in the 90th minute when Beasley pulled away from a fatigued Canadian defense and swung a left footed cross from just inside the Canadian area toward the right corner of the six-yard box. Donovan dove to meet the cross and guided his header into the lower right corner.

“Again, I am proud with the way we played tonight,” said Canada Head Coach Frank Yallop during his post-game press conference.

“But, I am disappointed because I think we’ve played well enough to get goals but we cannot get seem to get that final touch to score.”

“I certainly cannot question the commitment of the players,” continued Yallop. “They battled for the entire match.

“But we cannot dwell on what happened today because we have to quickly regroup and focus on Cuba. We will also keep a close eye on what the other groups are doing because we still feel we have a chance to advance.”

The group will now head east to Boston for the third and final Group B game-day. Both games will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. The United States will play Costa Rica at 7pm ET in the opener and Canada will play Cuba in the finale at 9pm ET. The Canucks must …

Note: The advancing Force 4 Hurricane Dennis has caused a 24 hour delay in each of the next two game days of the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ Group A at Miami's Orange Bowl.

The doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, 9 July at the Orange Bowl will now be played on Sunday, 10 July with Honduras vs. Colombia at 19:00 and then Panama vs. Trinidad & Tobago at 21:00. The matches scheduled for Monday (11 July), will now go ahead on Tuesday, (12 July) with Colombia vs. Trinidad & Tobago at 17:00 and then Honduras vs. Panama at 19:00.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Qwest Field

Seattle, WA, USA

Attendance – 15,109

CANADA – 0 (0)

USA – 2 (0)

Goals: CANADA – none; USA – HUTCHINSON 48’ (own goal); DONOVAN 90’

Cautions: CANADA – DE ROSARIO 23’; SERIOUX 25’, 82’; BRAZ 45+; USA – DONOVAN 45+; MASTROENI 75’; CONRAD 90+’

Expulsions – SERIOUX 82’

CANADA: 1–SUTTON Greg; 2–BRAZ Adam; 5–GERVAIS Gabriel; 6 – BERNIER Patrice; 8–SERIOUX Adrian; 10–OCCEAN Olivier (9 – GERBA Ali 70’); 11–BRENNAN Jim (12–GRANDE Sandro 79’); 13–HUTCHINSON Atiba; 14–DE ROSARIO Dwayne (Capt.); 15–SIMPSON Josh; 16–LEDUC Patrick (17–PETERS Jaime 68’)

Head Coach: YALLOP Frank

Subs not used: 3–POZNIAK Chris; 4-MCKENNA Kevin (susp.); 7–HUME Iain; 18–DODDS Rhian; 33–FRANKS Mike

USA: 18-KELLER Kasey (Capt.); 3-VANNEY Greg; 4-ONYEWU Oguchi; 5 - O’BRIEN John (7-BEASLEY DaMarcus 67’); 6-CHERUNDOLO Steve; 10-DONOVAN Landon; 13-NOONAN Patrick (14-ARMAS Chris 81’); 16-WOLFF Josh; 19-RALSTON Steve; 23-POPE Eddie (12-CONRAD Jimmy 46’); 25-MASTROENI Pablo

Head Coach: ARENA Bruce (USA)

Subs not used: 1-HAHNEMANN Marcus; 2-HEJDUK Frankie; 8-DEMPSEY Clint; 9-QUARANTA Santino; 11-CASEY Conor (inj.); 15-OLSEN Ben (out); 21-DAVIS Brad (out); 22-SANNEH Tony (out); 24-REIS Matt (out)

Referee: BRIZAN Neal (TRI); A1: TAYLOR Joseph (TRI); A2: GARWOOD Anthony (JAM; Fourth Official: PRENDERGAST Peter (JAM)

http://canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2262

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada loses to U.S.

Cdns blanked 2-0 at Gold Cup soccer tournament

By JIM MORRIS

SEATTLE (CP) - Bad luck stalked Canada again in a 2-0 loss to the United States on Saturday, but it's the national soccer team's inability to score goals that has strained their chances of advancing to the second round of the Gold Cup tournament.

An own goal in the 48th minute put coach Frank Yallop's young side on its heels after playing some gritty defence. The Americans iced the game when Landon Donovan scored off a header in injury time.

The loss extended Canada's 20-year losing streak against the U.S. and left Yallop's squad winless after two games in Group B play at the Gold Cup.

Canada must defeat Cuba in their next match Tuesday to keep alive any hope of moving onto the next round of the tournament.

Canada, ranked 75 places behind the No. 10 Americans in the world rankings, managed to hold their own for over half of Saturday's game until fate took a hand.

U.S. midfielder John O'Brien took an innocent looking shot. Defender Atiba Hutchinson headed the ball, causing it to change direction into the net, past keeper Greg Sutton's outstretched hand.

Yallop was left wondering what his team has done to offend the soccer gods.

"I think I've run over a black cat or something," said Yallop.

"I don't know what's happening.

"It never helps when you concede a goal, especially an own goal. It was just one of those unfortunate things it goes in the net when were doing OK in the game."

Any angry Sutton fired his water bottle on the field after the goal.

"We can't seem to get the right breaks," said the keeper who plays for the Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League.

"Playing against a team like this you can't have those things happen. You can't be too disappointed in our play. Even at the end we had chances to tie the game."

As time ticked away in the game the Canadians pressed for the tying goal. Both Ali Gerba, off a pass from Jaime Peters, and Sandro Grande missed the net on good chances.

Scoring has been a problem for the Canada. The team hasn't registered a goal this tournament and has been outscored 17-7 in its last 11 games.

"We've played well enough to get goals but we can't seem to get the final touch, the correct ball into the box that will give us that goal we so desperately deserve," said Yallop.

"The guys are trying their best to do it."

Canada showed some good ball movement against the Americans. The passing was crisp, but mostly around the perimeter.

When the forwards tried to penetrate the rock-solid U.S. defence they were foiled like nails being pounded into brick.

"They are solid on the back and hold their position very well," said striker Dwayne de Rosario.

"We were trying to get around them as much as possible. We did have our chances to finish."

U.S. goaltender Kasey Keller, voted the player of the game, said Canada didn't give up.

"We missed some good chances," he said.

"We let Canada stay in the game to the end and that is frustrating."

The Gold Cup determines the championship of CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. The 12-team tournament is divided into three divisions of four teams.

Earlier Saturday, Costa Rica beat Cuba 3-1.

The U.S. and Costa Rica are tied on top of Group B with 2-0-0 records and six points in the standings, where a win is worth three points and tie one. Canada and Cuba are both 0-2-0 for no points.

Canada wraps up the preliminary round against Cuba at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

Yallop admitted his team has its back against the wall.

"It doesn't look great for us," he said.

"Hopefully we can get the win, get some help, and move into the next stage."

The top two teams from each of the three groups, plus the two third-place teams with the best records, advance to the second round.

A crowd of 15,109 watched the game, leaving plenty of empty seats among the 68,000 at Qwest Field, home of the NFL Seattle Seahawks. A small contingent of Canadian fans, dressed in red and draped in matching scarves, waved Maple Leaf flags.

Canada lost 1-0 to Costa Rica, ranked 24th in the world, Thursday in the opening game of the Gold Cup.

Costa Rica's goal came off a penalty kick on a disputed handball call in the 30th minute.

The last time the Canadian men beat the U.S. was April 2, 1985. In the 11 meetings since Canada is 0-6-5.

The Americans are now 18-0-0 in first round game since the inception of the Gold Cup in 1991.

The Gold Cup championship game will be July 24 at Giants Stadium.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2005/07/09/1124567-cp.html

[yankiboy]

Your guys played hard and except for the Hutchinson own goal and not being able to finish offensively, they played very well. Basically you guys were playing with 1/2 Montreal Impact and your "B" team, (no disrespect to the Mighty Mighty Montreal Impact). So the result is not a great surprise. Also Serioux getting sent off obviously complicated things.

By the way, on the US Spanish language broadcast, the Telefutura commentators spent a good amount of time discussing Canada's Golden Age, WC86, the great performances and players from that era and factors that they believed have adversely affected your Nationa Team now. Surprisingly enough for once they knew what they were talking about, for the most part. They failed to really discuss the USL teams existence or how they play a role in the current national team pool but I have to admit that I was impressed. Those usually biased blowhards actually gave Canada props and went to great lengths to educate the viewers about Canada's brighter soccer history.

[Canuck Oranje]

Not too much more needs to be said except, I still find that Canada doesn't seem to move much off the ball. I don't recall seeing any overlaps. But that too is probably because the team isn't well prepared for this tournament and also probably because of some inexperience. I turn to the gospel according to Cruyff for some comments, "Speed... What is speed? The press usually mistakes speed for insight. You see, if I start running a little bit earlier than you, I look faster." But he also says, "Football is simple. But playing simple football is very difficult."

Like others on this board, I have to agree. We have a problem with discipline it seems. I think the Coach needs to address this in a better way because whatever he is doing is not working. Yes players are responsible for their actions but when you see a team getting getting red cards over a series of games, others also have to accept some responsibility to correct the problem.

Without getting into player ratings, I will only say that, in my opinion, Hutchinson has got to be the best player on this team. He was unfortunate with the own goal, but he also probably saved a few with some of his play. I am not surprised that EPL teams are interested in him.

Also, I am fine with Sutton as our keeper. He looks solid if unspectacular.

I have become more concerned about our offence now than with our defence. At least, we have key defenders that have declined to participate in this tournament that will be at or near their peak in 2010. The same can be said for our midfield. On the other hand, our current strikers need a lot of development to become world class and capable of taking us to a World Cup Final.

As a side comment, if this tournament for us is all about developing players for WCQ in 2008, I wonder if Peters would have been better training every day in Ipswich rather than being involved in this tournament. Let's hope we see Peters more against Cuba.

Finally, being its Sunday and I began with the gospel according to Cruyff, I thought I would leave you with Cruyff's answer to whether he believed in God, "No, I don't believe in God. I mean: in Spain all 22 players always say a prayer before entering the pitch. So if God existed every match would end in a draw." Classic.

[Gian-Luca]

Some further thoughts after watching the match a 2nd time. Bernier, despite missing a great chance to score by flubbing his control for the 2nd game in a row, actually played some nice through balls, something we don't see often enough from our midfielders. It may be worth putting him in the middle alongside Grande & let Peters or a recovered Hume on the right if we want to keep Atiba at centre-back. We still have Lester More to worry about.

I watched the game with a lot of other Voyagers and we were all suprirsed when Sportsnet put up a graphic saying we were being outshot 15 to 2 early in the 2nd half. Since none of us could believe it, when I re-watched the match I made a point of counting how many shots we had - we had 5 attempts in the first half alone (not including the Occean breakaway nullified by the debatable last-second offside call) and a 6th by the time they put up that graphic. Apparently the idiots at Sportsnet, or Concacaf if they got the stat from them, don't count shots that are blocked before they reach the goal as shots. If the stat was shots on goal, that would be one thing, but then we should have had zero by that point as we didn't hit the target until the 73rd minute. No big deal, just another reason to hate Sportsnet.

[Ashton Gate]

I agree with the previous posters about Atiba Hutchinson, he was stellar for Canada. The virtually goal saving tackle on Beasley in the 71st minute was real class.

[john tv]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Some further thoughts after watching the match a 2nd time. Bernier, despite missing a great chance to score by flubbing his control for the 2nd game in a row, actually played some nice through balls, something we don't see often enough from our midfielders. It may be worth putting him in the middle alongside Grande & let Peters or a recovered Hume on the right if we want to keep Atiba at centre-back. We still have Lester More to worry about.

I watched the game with a lot of other Voyagers and we were all suprirsed when Sportsnet put up a graphic saying we were being outshot 15 to 2 early in the 2nd half. Since none of us could believe it, when I re-watched the match I made a point of counting how many shots we had - we had 5 attempts in the first half alone (not including the Occean breakaway nullified by the debatable last-second offside call) and a 6th by the time they put up that graphic. Apparently the idiots at Sportsnet, or Concacaf if they got the stat from them, don't count shots that are blocked before they reach the goal as shots. If the stat was shots on goal, that would be one thing, but then we should have had zero by that point as we didn't hit the target until the 73rd minute. No big deal, just another reason to hate Sportsnet.

Was going to SW however the parking seemed a problem.Decided to visit several bars.Well I had a problem to get them to change channels,omce that was done no one was watching. Very strange indeed.I did not hear the commentary but the game itself technically was up there.Smart playes,great passing and some great commitments to their respective countries.I was thinking about Ben Knight who dismissed the A league.Anyway,i strongly believe that what our team displayed was the best ever skill level and that's why I also know that this team will do us very proud in the future and they are oh so young. A smart gamble by Yallop.

Hey GL don't hate these guys,it's for free.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by Gordon

...we are ebcoming the Arsenal of CONCACAF (unfortunately only in the discipline record).

You might want to go back and check the Fair Play tables of recent seasons. You'll find that's a myth perpetuated by the English media over the last couple of years. In fact, I do believe they finished second in the table last season...

Sorry 'bout yer luck.

[marcl_19]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Yes, because Serioux's whining at the Ref when the play was dead and our keeper was about to kick the ball upfield is just the sort of thing I was talking about, being an exact comparison to the team's captain objecting to a 100% incorrect penalty call that even Ray Charles today, being both blind and dead, would have been able to tell was not a penalty.

Come on Gordon, I think you could give me a little more credit than that.

Team discipline overall is a problem under Yallop, we had two players sent off in all of Holger's time as coach (a good 5 years) and have 5 already under Yallop (after a year as coach) - McKenna, Serioux, Gervais, Occean, and Stalteri. No question that this is a problem with Yallop as coach, unless you all think this reversal of red card fortunes is a mere coincidence, and alongside the puzzling starting of Leduc in this tourney, the two biggest criticisms I have of Yallop as a coach right now. Otherwise I think the team has looked good considering its inexperienced B team nature. No goals, true, but Yallop can't put the ball in the net and the team has played solid defensively and created scoring chances from the run of play against good teams.

Very agonizing, scoreline flattered the US, they probably should have won but for the second game in a row we lose on an un-earned goal (to use a baseball terminology), while having a player who should have been sent off (surprised no-one has mentioned this) scores an insurance goal while we are down to 10 men instead.

Gervais looked decent today, so I'm tempted, with Serioux gone, to go for a more offensive line-up, putting McKenna and Gervais at centre-back against Cuba and Atiba alongside Grande. Failing that give Rhian Dodds a chance, please bench Leduc I think we've seen enough. Anyone know why Grande didn't start?

I hope Hume is healthy as we have to put him wide on the right against Cuba. We need to win that game, and by as many goals as possible, and have to go for broke. Hume may not be as good defensively as Berniew but he's better offensively. Failing that I'd even start Peters.

make that 6......didnt hume get 2 yellows in the 2nd game vs belize?

[Timotas]

quote:Originally posted by marcl_19

make that 6......didnt hume get 2 yellows in the 2nd game vs belize?

Yeah you're right.

[The Ref]

Yallop needs to get a hold of this discipline sh(i)t. Discipline out of control is what did Bobby in.

[elricko]

There sure is a lot of whinging, excuses, ref-moans etc etc on this board--- I prefer to deal in facts and black -and whites,and the bottom line is that Canada is still light years behind the USA, when at one time 25 years ago , we were leading them in the soccer world!Yallop has done as well as possible considering the serious lack of present talent , there are 6 or 7 players who look to have an extremely bright future, but the present is here and now. If the USA had buried all their chances, it could have been 5 or 6-0. As for referee bias, I think the worst tackle of the 2 Canadian games was the tackle from behind by Jim Brennan against Costa Rica--should have been, and would have been, a instant red in the EPL. Blaming the coach for lack of a player's discipline makes no sense, do you honestly believe Yallop is not furious with the utter stupidity of McKenna, etc? The Canadian players's consistent angry, petulant reactions, reiterates the traits on this board, many of you are whining as much as the Canadian players were whining. Until Canada produces players who have the confidence to "think winning", and instill those thoughts into practise-------sports headlines will always read......"......and Canada once again lost to ........" Maybe we can the beat the minnows ,Cuba, and with a bit of luck--who knows--and I truly believe, we are at long last learning how to play a passing, one-touch attractive game, but we have a long, long way to go. Ain't life fun--thank gawd I'm a Chelsea supporter!

[redhat]

Still in Seattle, great match yesterday despite the obvious disappointment.

Met up with quite a few of the Voyageurs/Southsiders (canso, VF,

footy, mmaster,zack, Cheeta, etc.), and even got a few of the players

(McKenna, Hume, Grande, Franks, Pozniak, etc) to sign my 7 month-old

son's hat before the game. Got the chance to chat with Hume about

whether he was starting and he indicated his leg problems. The team

was very accessible, although very quiet.

The game was well played considering this was never our A team. More

like our developmental B team (no disrespect intended). Simpson,

de Rosario, Occean, and Sutton played well, and Brennan improved much

more than in the Ticos game. Atiba, despite the own goal, was the

best back although Adam Braz and Gabriel Gervais did well to close

them down. In fact we were surprised that Donovan did not get a

red card for the punch on Gervais. We were so incensed at the

refereeing that we started a practice of waiving U.S. dollars like

a red card to the referee. C'mon, 2 red cards in 2 games? CONCACAF

refs are something. The Serioux send-off was deflating, although

we continued on until the Donovan header (quite nice).

We mainly left the game feeling both games were win-able, but fell

short. The Canadian team acknowledged our section at the end of

the match despite the disappointment. We of course continued our soccer discussion at the bar across the street, over Guinness and

even Labatt Blue. Good game, but like my father-in-law says,

"Close enough only works at horse shoes and hand grenades." Yep.

edited for length

[youllneverwalkalone]

The Voyageurs were our strongest link. Great volume, especially for the smaller CR contingent. I think Nazz (VF) had more appearances on camera than many of the players!

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Had he not been, Kasey would have been sent off to play with Mr. Dress-up.

Hey, Gian-Luca: Finnigan called and is p*ssed that you didn't refer to him, too, in your reference, but he gives you props, anyway!

How ironic, within the context of your Canada-US discussion, that Mr. Dress-up was an American!

[Alex M]

Contrary to popular opinion, I think the first two games have been an extremely positive sign. Yallop wasn't going to change things over night and make us an instant winner but you can definitely see him working. The practice time isn't there so why not call up guys that practice together daily?

The few things that have bugged me though. Leduc. I caught the last 80 minutes of the Costa Rica game. I didn't know he was playing until he gave the ball away in the 35th minute. Probably his first touch too. It'd have been nice to have De Guzman there but whatever. I think I'd rather see Hume put in on the wing and move either winger towards the middle.

DeRosario. He's incredible in tiny amounts. I definitely don't think he's got the stamina to play a full 90, the way he plays anyways. I'd like to see him come off the bench, maybe for the 2nd half and cause fits for everyone. He's extremely creative but his finishing is piss poor and he can't cross to save his life.

I'm super excited to see what a year under Peters' belt will do for him. He appares to have a ton of talent and once he can build up the stamina, maybe bulk up a tiny bit, he'll be a star, I have no doubts.

Jimmy Brennan is awesome but he sucks. He's great one minute, then he can't control the ball the next. Frustrating to watch sometimes but one of our better players, no doubt.

Finally, Occean, Gerba, whomever is up front needs to take a lesson from LD. You don't need to settle the ball down and then shoot, EVERY single time!!! One time it, head it, whatever. Just get the chance on goal.

Finally, Sutton rocks my world. A big keeper with the athletism that is common among north american athletes. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a conract in Europe after this.

Anyhow, that is all.

Oh, Yallop rocks.

Alex

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by marcl_19

make that 6......didnt hume get 2 yellows in the 2nd game vs belize?

Whoops, you're right. There have been so many under Yallop its difficult to remember them all.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by elricko

If the USA had buried all their chances, it could have been 5 or 6-0.

Oh come on. They had more chances yes, but that was hardly a game they deserved to win by 5 or 6 goals. The US had one bad miss the whole game, Gervais made a save on another and the scored on a third really good chance. Everything else was half-chances or fluffs on what could have been good chances (which we should know all about as we had plenty of both as well). I don't recall Sutton making a single difficult stop.

[Gordon]

The 5-6 nothing is really nonsense. And of course, the best of the missed chances in that game was Berniers. Donnovan was too close and not in a position to get powere onhis shot and couldn't go across the goal because of Sutton. The only choice he had was to sneak it through the defender. Didn't make it, probably no better than 50-50 he scores there. The blown header was also no better than 50-50 as it was a difficult one to get good power on and we have a little thing called a keeper in try to prevent it. They got a garbage goal, a real nice goal against a 10 men side pushing forward. The rest of their chances were less than 1 in 10 of scoring at best. Good on them for creating and taking them, they did more of that than us, but the notion of poor finishing is a myth to anyone who watches a lot of soccer.

We should have done better with the Serioux shot blocked by Bernier (I think that is the third time a player has cut into the shooting lane in the last 5 games), DD should have done better with his open shot and if Leduc gets another 6 inches on his chip, Occean (I think) is in free on Keller. Not saying any of those should have scored or that they were even 50-50 except for the Leduc chip which might have been 50-50 had it gone over. While the chances were in the US's favour, none of them were sitters. Players make mistakes and defenders make plays too. The US were a better team but 2-0 flatters them a bit. Not outrageously so, but much like padded bra flatters a women, there is more there than should be.

Was Cheeta wearing a number 5 Canadian jersey? If so, I can say I saw Nazz (Vancouver Fan) Red Hat, Geoff Wallace and Father, Cheeta, little redhat. There was a guy who looked like IanCanada, but I was not sure.

[Soccer_Josh]

I hate to nag at the officials. But the referee made many "questionable calls" agsinst Serioux to a point where we lost it...which gave him a yellow card.

[pstain]

quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje

Not too much more needs to be said except, I still find that Canada doesn't seem to move much off the ball. I don't recall seeing any overlaps. But that too is probably because the team isn't well prepared for this tournament and also probably because of some inexperience. I turn to the gospel according to Cruyff for some comments, "Speed... What is speed? The press usually mistakes speed for insight. You see, if I start running a little bit earlier than you, I look faster." But he also says, "Football is simple. But playing simple football is very difficult."

This is a very good point that no one really mentions. It was the same way in the U20's when players would get dispossessed easily because they could not find anyone open for a pass. I don't think it's just the lack of preparation or inexperience but rather the coaching these players receieved during their youth.

[leekoo]

"There's not some guy playing for Chelsea that's a Canadian and is a forward," said Yallop. "These guys are the best we've got."

looking towards canada vs cuba, is this quote a yallop boo boo poopty poopty poo or is this his reverse psychology routine ...

[pstain]

quote:Originally posted by leekoo

"There's not some guy playing for Chelsea that's a Canadian and is a forward," said Yallop. "These guys are the best we've got."

We'd still have the same probably if we did have a striker playing for Chelsea[]

[analyst]

Why didn't Hume play and why doesn't Yallop move De Rosario to midfield, playing behind the two front runners? And why didn't Yallpop give Pozniak a start instead of Braz?

The Voyageurs in Section 120 were noticeable again. Good on you.

As someone else mentioned, Hutchison's goal saving tackles in the penalty area were tremendous. Any big defender like McKenna, Braz or Reda would have been called for penalies if they did the same thing. Serioux had a great game just like he did for Yallop last summer. Bernier played very well, as did Occean. Why did Yallop take Occean off and leave DeRosario on?

How much $ are our players being paid for taking part in the Gold Cup?