NPE Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s U18 National Team defeated Liverpool FC 1-0 on Tuesday thanks to an own-goal 17-minutes into the contest. Canada’s Rudolph Mayard whipped in a deep, in-swinging corner toward the far post that was met by Cristian Nunez and nodded back across the Liverpool goal. An unfortunate Liverpool defender lashed at ball with his left foot but could only manage to slice his attempted clearance into the roof of his own goal. The Canadians held off the threat from their English opponents to preserve the victory but will have to thank goalkeeper Asmir Begovic for some remarkable saves late in the match. As they had done against Huddersfield U18s a week earlier, Canada and Liverpool had agreed to play 3-30 minute periods with unlimited substitutions. Canada’s defense looked extremely solid throughout the match but when Kyle Oliveira had to leave the game after only 47 minutes with an ankle injury – an injury that will likely see the defender miss the Manchester United match in two days – there was some cause for concern. But youngster Kennedy Owusu-Ansah stepped into the role and the Canadians never missed a beat. But late into the match, Begovic was called upon to secure the win. With just ten minutes remaining, a rasping, 25-yard drive off the boot of a Liverpool attacker looked destined for the upper corner of the Canadian goal but Begovic, at full-stretch, sailed across the net to tip the shot over the bar. Next up for Canada will be Manchester United on October 27, 2005 at United’s training ground in Salford. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 11:15am GMT. “We are learning more about the players with each match this trip,” said Canadian Head Coach Dale Mitchell immediately following the victory. “Today some of the guys showed real potential. Overall this is a good result that we had to work very hard to get.” Canada’s U18 National Team will compete in the 2007 FIFA World Youth Championship in Canada. The biennial event is second only to the FIFA World Cup™ in size and scope and will showcase the most talented under-20 soccer players in the world. The tournament has been the coming-out party for some of the game’s top players - Maradona, Saviola, Raúl, Marco Van Basten, Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Thierry Henry, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto and Dunga as well as Canada’s Craig Forrest and many members of the current Men’s World Cup Team including Julian de Guzman, Paul Stalteri, Atiba Hutchinson and Iain Hume. Last held in CONCACAF in 1983 in Mexico, Canada’s most recent participation in this event occurred last June in the Netherlands from June 10 - July 2, 2005. Canada enjoyed it’s its best ever finish in a World Championship in December 2003, losing to eventual silver medalist Spain on a golden goal in the quarter finals in the United Arab Emirates. The Canadian Championship will take place in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria with the tentative dates for the tournament set for July 1-22, 2007. Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Friendly Liverpool Academy Liverpool, England CANADA U18 – 1 (1) LIVERPOOL FC U18 – 0 (0) Goals: CANADA U18 – unavailable (own-goal) 17; LIVERPOOL FC U18 – none Cautions: CANADA U18 – none; LIVERPOOL FC U18 – none Expulsions – none CANADA U18: 1-Asmir Begovic; 2-Kyle Oliviera (5-Kennedy Owusu-Ansah, 47); 12-Nana Attakora-Gyan; 4-Andrew Hainault; 13-Gabriel Gala (3-Anthony DiBiase, 75); 7-Hector Contreras (14-Massimo Di Ioia, 43); 6-Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault; 8-Cristian Nunez (17-Vince Petrasso, 75); 15-Rudolph Mayard (11-Gavin McCallum, 55); 10-Will Johnson; 9-Simeon Jackson (16-Shane Lammie, 55) Head Coach: Dale Mitchell (CAN) Subs not used: 20-David Monsalve; 22-Zach Kalthoff; Stephen Lumley (unavailable – Tonsillitis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Good result especially considering how many players we are missing from this age group: Edgar, Vitoria, Peters, Lombardo, and De Guzman and Lensky if they choose to play for us who are all playing at high level and/or in a good program and our 87s with the exception of Lensky. Also, there are all the university players like D'Agostino, Bartkus, McLeod, Ricketts, Turnbull, Napoleteo and Elliot missing plus Kerek at Freibourg and Gomez at River Plate (and O'Connor at 1860 Munich who is injured) and the two underage guys Periera at Porto and Maras at Kaiserslautern (both of which have a shot at making this club). In essense, other than Begovic and Johnson (and possibly Beaulieu-Bourgault) we would probably have a whole different starting line up come 2007 which makes this result all the more impressive. Here's hoping that some of these guys get signed on by English clubs and are able to spend a couple of years in a competitive environment in advance of the 2007 World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Good result especially considering how many players we are missing from this age group: Edgar, Vitoria, Peters, Lombardo, and De Guzman and Lensky if they choose to play for us who are all playing at high level and/or in a good program and our 87s with the exception of Lensky. Also, there are all the university players like D'Agostino, Bartkus, McLeod, Ricketts, Turnbull, Napoleteo and Elliot missing plus Kerek at Freibourg and Gomez at River Plate (and O'Connor at 1860 Munich who is injured) and the two underage guys Periera at Porto and Maras at Kaiserslautern (both of which have a shot at making this club). In essense, other than Begovic and Johnson (and possibly Beaulieu-Bourgault) we would probably have a whole different starting line up come 2007 which makes this result all the more impressive. Here's hoping that some of these guys get signed on by English clubs and are able to spend a couple of years in a competitive environment in advance of the 2007 World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sstackho Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I believe SoccerCentral advertised that this Saturday they will have a report on the U-18 training camp in England from Paul Romanuk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sstackho Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I believe SoccerCentral advertised that this Saturday they will have a report on the U-18 training camp in England from Paul Romanuk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Correct, sstackho. Romanuk now lives in the UK with his wife and has been approached to do some work for Soccercentral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Correct, sstackho. Romanuk now lives in the UK with his wife and has been approached to do some work for Soccercentral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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