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Canada to play Spain, Luxembourg.....


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quote:Originally posted by mjoni

Kenny may be another keeper to consider. He's been getting a lot of kudos lately with Bodens BK.

Kenny is an obvious choice. While DF has played nothing but a couple of first team games in his entire career, Kenny was the starting goalie in the same league with Kalamata (which he only lost because he left the team to sit on the bench at the Gold Cup).

He has never looked back in Sweden, always the starting goalie regardless of club. Yes, he's now in the second tier, but his experience far surpasses that.

That said, I think Sutton has played well in all his matches and is deserving as our starting goalie. Definetly a better choice than Lars at this point. While Sutton has had surprisingly little in these past matches, none of the goals could be considered his fault and he has looked confident and sharp.

My only concern with Sutton at this point is that the USL season is far too short for him to stay on top of his game for too many inactive months. A starting position in Europe is really what he needs to cement his poisition as Canada's number one.

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quote:Originally posted by mjoni

Kenny may be another keeper to consider. He's been getting a lot of kudos lately with Bodens BK.

Kenny is an obvious choice. While DF has played nothing but a couple of first team games in his entire career, Kenny was the starting goalie in the same league with Kalamata (which he only lost because he left the team to sit on the bench at the Gold Cup).

He has never looked back in Sweden, always the starting goalie regardless of club. Yes, he's now in the second tier, but his experience far surpasses that.

That said, I think Sutton has played well in all his matches and is deserving as our starting goalie. Definetly a better choice than Lars at this point. While Sutton has had surprisingly little in these past matches, none of the goals could be considered his fault and he has looked confident and sharp.

My only concern with Sutton at this point is that the USL season is far too short for him to stay on top of his game for too many inactive months. A starting position in Europe is really what he needs to cement his poisition as Canada's number one.

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First, I think it is important to play the top national sides because it will uncover weakness that would not be evident playing less talented sides. As an example, I have seen the Dutch side perform great against one team and then look average against the best sides. Hiddink also got his Korean side to play against the best opposition possible to prepare them for WC2002 and was heavily criticized by the press and fans for doing so (only to be viewed as a god after WC2002).

Second, I think the MNT program still has a credibility problem with the top Canadian players. While they may not say it publicly, their actions suggest that. Yallop and the CSA do not have the luxury of choosing an Adriano to replace Ronaldo like Brazil. We need our best players playing whether we doubt their loyalty or not. A game against Spain should be taken as an opportunity to get the best 11 Canadian players on the field and bygones be bygones.

Third, I don't have a problem with Canadian players getting exposure from playing a top National team. I do have a problem with a coach selecting players with only that goal in mind. The coach's role is to develop the best national team and to win games. Getting the best result possible against Spain should be the goal. For this reason, it is my opinion that the CSA needs to be completely open about the reasons why our best players are not playing when they don't play. After all, a good result against Spain would do much more for Canadian soccer players (regardless of where they play) than a 5-1 loss using players we would like to see play in Europe. Not to mention what that would do to the morale on this Board.

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Kenny is worth considering but he's in the same shoes as Sutton. Won't he be playing the most crucial games of his season when this game is played. Speaking of psyche, would Boden want him to be shelled for 4. I think not. Anyway, I'd choose Sutton over Kenny if everyone was available. It's all useless specualtion as I'm sure Sutton will get the call. Like it or lump it, the match might be a showcase for him to land in Europe. You'd think that 6'6 frame + a decent busy performance might land him somewhere.

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quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje

We need our best players playing whether we doubt their loyalty or not.

I like many of your points but I am not sure what you mean by that statement[?]

Wouldn't you only want guys in your squad who want to be there in the first place? It doesn't build much of a "team" if you have a number of players who don't really want to be part of the program. Could you elaborate some more?

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Sorry for the confusion.

My point was simply that we cannot choose not to invite a player because they declined in the past (eg. Radzinski, Nsaliwa, Klukowski, etc.).

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

I like many of your points but I am not sure what you mean by that statement[?]

Wouldn't you only want guys in your squad who want to be there in the first place? It doesn't build much of a "team" if you have a number of players who don't really want to be part of the program. Could you elaborate some more?

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quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje

Sorry for the confusion.

My point was simply that we cannot choose not to invite a player because they declined in the past (eg. Radzinski, Nsaliwa, Klukowski, etc.).

I understand now, thanks.:)

Difficult call with regards to whether or not you keep asking a player to join the MNT (as has been discussed thoroughly before in other threads) because I don't think we get enough in depth media reporting on each individual case, such as the Nsaliwa situation: we get snippets of soundbites from the parties involved, then we engage in conjecture.

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quote:Originally posted by canso

Does a friendly cap tie you though?

Mr. Grumpy would know.

If you be referring to me:), mon, the answer is yes as long as it is an A class friendly between FIFA member senior national sides.

If Javier/Jonathan were to play for the under-21's however, it would only be a "partial captie", as a player is allowed, on approval, a switch of country one time as long as it is approved before turning 21 and along as he has not played for the senior side in an Alevel match such as against Spain. Therefore, J/J Jr could play for us in the Spain game, he would be permanently cap-tied capped. He may want to wait to keep his options as open and clean as possible until he is ready and has the opportunity to commit.

For my two-cents worth, I think the idea of playing a team the calibre of Spain is a great idea. The result, even if it is 5-0 for Spain, is not the important point, the experience against playing against major world clss players (in Spain's case the parts are greater than the whole) would be invaluable. I don't buy the argument that playing against Portugal was unhelpful, even if it was followed by underperforming. Luxembourg has really stunk for the last 10 years, but in this age of relative parity, they too will be helpful. Broad and varied experience is what we should get now (it is what we learn and do with it after that we need to work on), we can get back into Concacaf friendlies from 2007. Being overwhelmed on the field and not having that much possession is still useful. The actual performance and result is not as important as relative progress, and it is the backward step against the quality of the Cuba team (who had the worst performance they have had for years to amplify it) is what has upset me.

edited: second paragraph, I made a mistake, sorry me bad. My brain is somewhere else these days[:I].

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An ideal 11 vs Spain?

<center>Sutton

Stalteri Klukowski Hutchinson Brennan

Grande

de Guzman Simpson

Hume

Occean Radzinski</center>

Subs: Imhof, Bircham, Gerba, Serioux, McKenna, Nsaliwa and some sort of goalie

I think that the diamond midfield that we used against the US worked fairly well. I'd like Grande to see if he can play a defensive midfield role, since at the back he would provide a good bridge to help distribution from the back to to front. Actaully, given a solid back line like the one above we might actaully be able to play the ball out of the back under the kind of pressure that Spain will put us under.

The forward midfielf of de Guz, Simpson and Hume should be able to work forward with some skill and be defensively responsible at the same time (something that they'll need to be on at least a few occasions I'm sure).

Radzinski usually works well at the club level with a big target man, and I guess Occean's the best we have. The entire mid is capable of giving them accurate service, so the pair up front might be able to create a few chances and bag one or two.

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Speaking with Sutton, the thing was that last winter his strategy for finding a club wasn't the best. He stayed on too long with a Championship side (I believe) who finally offered him a back-up role, which he didn't want. By then he went to see another club or two but it was too late. He knew he needed to play first-string and that's why he came back to the Impact. Next winter, he'll spend one week at many clubs and try to catch on. He could have been a reserve like Hirsch or Dani, but chose to play first-team ball.

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I will bet all the players will want to play in this game. I say to hell with all those who refused the GC call. F*#K Tam, Stalteri, deGuzman, Razinski, Klowoski they only want to play when it suits them I am fed up of those guys. jamaica, mexico, usa players waiting in line to join their country's team. But our so called stars?????

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It wasn't a case of a refused call, it was a case of loyal players moving to new clubs and needing to be there for their first pre-season (in the case of JDG, Stalteri and Kluka). Not sure if Radz should be there, but it'll depend on our other forwards available.

I don't think we should call up Tam for this game, but maybe for the Lux game.

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Funny.. In another thread, you are looking forward to add these players. Here you want to do something else to them.

For your information, FIFA had to threaten sanction two Mexican players to get them to come back to the Confederation Cup a few weeks back. Ronaldo asked to be excluded from Brazilian side at the Confederation Cup. This is not only a Canadian Problem.

Also following your strategy, it would be interesting to see if we ever get invited back to playing Spain. I can imagine the Spanish press when they find out their national team will be playing a bunch of A-Leaguers (no disrepect on my part but think about it).

quote:Originally posted by ANC2

I will bet all the players will want to play in this game. I say to hell with all those who refused the GC call. F*#K Tam, Stalteri, deGuzman, Razinski, Klowoski they only want to play when it suits them I am fed up of those guys. jamaica, mexico, usa players waiting in line to join their country's team. But our so called stars?????

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

Speaking with Sutton, the thing was that last winter his strategy for finding a club wasn't the best. He stayed on too long with a Championship side (I believe) who finally offered him a back-up role, which he didn't want. By then he went to see another club or two but it was too late. He knew he needed to play first-string and that's why he came back to the Impact. Next winter, he'll spend one week at many clubs and try to catch on. He could have been a reserve like Hirsch or Dani, but chose to play first-team ball.

A good move on his part.

Let's hope Lars can find some playing time somewhere.

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quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje

Funny.. In another thread, you are looking forward to add these players. Here you want to do something else to them.

For your information, FIFA had to threaten sanction two Mexican players to get them to come back to the Confederation Cup a few weeks back. Ronaldo asked to be excluded from Brazilian side at the Confederation Cup. This is not only a Canadian Problem.

Also following your strategy, it would be interesting to see if we ever get invited back to playing Spain. I can imagine the Spanish press when they find out their national team will be playing a bunch of A-Leaguers (no disrepect on my part but think about it).

yes they will be added and I stated as such, stating that the team will be a good one. but i am sick and tired of Canada begging players to play

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quote:Originally posted by ANC2

yes they will be added and I stated as such, stating that the team will be a good one. but i am sick and tired of Canada begging players to play

Well being the side we aren't we can't be too picky with the limited amount of quality players we have and "dump" our best players. How could you say F*#K Stalteri, deGuzman, and Razinski? Stalteri is starting with a new team, as is DeGuzman.. and Radzinski just wanted a break and Yallop wanted to give some younger and newer strikers a look.

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quote:Originally posted by JayWay

News flash! If you ever want to make it to the World Cup, heck, if you ever want to make it to the World Cup and not be embarrassed like in '86, then these are the teams we need to play.

That is correct, players and coaches improve when you play against better teams.

But allow me to disagree in this: We were not embarrassed in '86. We did not win, but certainly were not embarrassed!

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"the backward step against the quality of the Cuba team (who had the worst performance they have had for years to amplify it) is what has upset me"

I don't get that you're so upset about this. We dominated play, Atiba scored a wonder goal and we were victorious, ok, going home, but still... then again, this could simply be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, 30 years is a long time to watch Canadian soccer. Sheesh. It's a wonder you're not stark raving bonkers by now!

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quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

I'm gonna use that one. That's funny.

Carpenters spend less time with pine than Lars.

Oh, that's funny.

Problem is, I think that most benches nowadays are made of aluminum :D

So instead of "riding the pine", we might want to say "riding the aluminum" instead:D

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Guest Jeffery S.

Just want to say that I have not seen this confirmed in Spain yet. I sent the news to Marca and As and neither have reacted by getting a confirmation from the RFEF (Royal Sp Football Fed). In fact our CSA has not confirmed on their site either, or have they recently?

The only word from the Federation is that Spain's Sept 7 qualifier vs. Serbia in Madrid will be at the V. Calderon, At. Madrid stadium, as the Bernabeu is going through renovation work and may not be in conditions for an international (only a galactico) match.

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Guest Jeffery S.

Sorry, guess I haven't looked since the first day, and this came out the second day after the CP report it seems.

Still, nothing on the RFEF site, nothing in the papers. And I told some of them. I suppose they have to decide on their training site first, then they'll choose the stadium for the friendly in function of convenience, and maybe even heat, then announce it.

Normally against a lesser opponent like us they would pick a smaller stadium in a place that does not get to see the Spain nats too much, so La Coruña would indeed make sense, as would Santander, or closer to Madrid but north of it, like Valladolid. So we'll see, only that I'd like to get a cheap early fare for this.

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