The squad for USA - Canada

[Bxl Boy]

Canadian Head Coach, Frank Yallop, has announced his squad of 19 players for Canada’s upcoming friendly against the USA on January 22 in San Diego, California.

The Canadians will hold their training camp from January 8–20 in Carson, CA before traveling to San Diego on January 20 for the first match of 2006 for both countries.

The match will be played at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego. Kickoff has been set for 5:00pm PT.

Tickets ranging in price levels from $25 to $90 are currently available at ussoccer.com, at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion Box Office (Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and by phone at 619-260-7550 (Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Groups of 15 or more can purchase tickets through the University of San Diego by calling 619-260-7550.

Yallop has recalled eight players from the squad that beat Luxembourg 1-0 in mid-November. The youngest of those eight, Will Johnson, is presently with Dale Mitchell’s U20 team in Guadalajara, Mexico, but will join the squad following Canada’s involvement in the Chivas Cup.

Viking midfielder, Sandro Grande, has returned to the squad since recovering from the niggling calf strain that kept him out of the Luxembourg game.

Armed with a new contract and club, Goteborg striker, Ali Gerba, has also recovered sufficiently from a series of knocks and strains and is fit for selection.

The Montreal Impact is well represented and will be sending six players to sunny California. Adam Braz, Gabe Gervais, and Greg Sutton were regular contributors in 2005 and have been recalled to Yallop’s squad. Joining them will be defenders Nevio Pizzolitto and Andre Hainault and midfielder Patrick Leduc. The trip will be Hainault’s first with the senior squad.

Molde striker Rob Friend, who had declined the invite to Luxembourg due to club commitments, makes a long-awaited return to the national team fold.

Toronto-native Adrian Serioux will also be back since his departure from Millwall in the fall of 2005. Serioux left the London-based club in late September for personal reasons and is presently unattached, but has been entertaining offers from several clubs interested in the midfielder’s services.

“I am looking forward to these two weeks with the squad,” said Head Coach Frank Yallop. “It’s not often we get a chance to have our players for an extended training camp prior to a friendly so from that perspective, this is a welcome opportunity.”

“It will also allow us the luxury of playing two or three scrimmages during the camp (in Carson), which is something we have been unable to do in the past.”

Yallop is also fully aware of the dangers the Americans pose, even without many of their European regulars.

“I know the US will be without many of their European-based players but they still have the ability to put together a very talented ‘domestic-based squad’, as was witnessed throughout the World Cup qualifying rounds and the last Gold Cup. A lot of guys will be keen to show Bruce (Arena) that they are capable of contributing to his World Cup squad, so they will take this game, and the games against Norway and Japan very seriously.”

“2006 will be an important year for us,” concluded Yallop. “It’s vital that we solidify our pool of regular players this year and begin to move towards establishing a 'team' that will compete for the 2007 Gold Cup, and of course qualifying for South Africa, which will likely start in 2008.”

Following the US game…

Following the match against the USA, Canada’s Men’s National Team has agreed to an international friendly on March 1st, 2006 (the next available International Match Date on the FIFA coordinated International Calendar) against Austria. The match will be played at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria. Kick-off has tentatively been scheduled for 8:30pm local time.

Roster – Canada Men’s National Team

Player Pos. DOB Caps G/S Club Hometown

Ademolu, Stephen F 10/20/1982 1 0 Tromso Windsor, ON

Bernier, Patrice M 9/23/1979 14 0 Tromso Montréal, QC

Braz, Adam D 06/07/1981 6 0 Montreal Impact St. Laurent, QC

de Rosario, Dwayne M/F 5/15/1978 35 7 Houston Scarborough, ON

Friend, Rob F 1/23/1981 4 0 Molde Kelowna, BC

Gerba, Ali F 7/27/1982 5 1 IFK Goteborg Montréal, QC

Gervais, Gabriel D 9/18/1976 7 0 Montreal Impact Brossard, QC

Grande, Sandro M 9/29/1977 9 1 Viking Stavanger Montréal, QC

Hainault, Andre (Andrew) D 6/17/1986 0 0 Montreal Impact Hudson, QC

Hutchinson, Atiba M 02/08/1983 18 2 Helsingborg Brampton, ON

Jazic, Ante D/M 2/26/1976 13 0 FC Kuban Halifax, NS

Johnson, Will F 1/21/1987 1 0 Chicago Fire Woodridge, IL

Leduc, Patrick M 12/26/1977 3 0 Montreal Impact Montréal, QC

Pizzolitto, Nevio D 8/26/1976 9 0 Montreal Impact Montréal, QC

Pozniak, Chris D/M 01/10/1981 14 0 Haugesund FK Scarborough, ON

Reda, Marco D 6/22/1977 2 0 unattached Woodbridge, ON

Serioux, Adrian D/M 05/12/1979 7 0 unattached Scarborough, ON

Stamatopoulos, Kenny GK 8/28/1979 3 1 Tromso Markham, ON

Sutton, Greg GK 4/19/1977 6 2 Montreal Impact Enfield, NH

[ken]

This looks like a stronger squad than the one that lost to the U.S. a couple of januaries back. I like the idea of taking a look at Hainault and with all those defenders we may see Hutchinson in midfield. Now if only the game was being broadcast in Canada.

[David C.]

Perfect squad, except for the inclusion of Leduc and the exclusion of (or rejection from?) Hirschfeld.

[Gian-Luca]

"The Jenny Craig Pavillion Box Office"???

Is this where Bruce Arena is hanging out these days?

[El Hombre]

Not a bad lineup. Could put a decent 11 out there.

Should anything be read into the fact that Stephen Hart and Jim Cannovan are the assistant coaches with Watson nowhere to be seen?

[Gian-Luca]

One other significant Scandinavian based player (outside of Hirshfeld) that is missing is Olivier Occean. Granted, there are enough strikers being called with Gerba, Friend, Ademolu & Johnson (even if you don't count DeRo as one anymore).

[Alberto7]

quote:Originally posted by David C.

Perfect squad, except for the inclusion of Leduc and the exclusion of (or rejection from?) Hirschfeld.

Quite surprised that Hirschfeld is not with the team. I wonder if he has had words with Yallop?

Apart from that , I am very happy with the squad. Excellent to see Friend back as well as Hainault included. Once again the Impact are doing their bit with six players called up. I am a bit surprised that Jason Jordan did not get a call. Is there anybody else from the Whitecaps that deserves to be on the team?

[john tv]

What surprises me greatly and concers me even more,is that there are very few players from the West.In fact only one.

[Cheeta]

Leduc?

Well that's it for me.

[Alberto7]

quote:Originally posted by john tv

What surprises me greatly and concers me even more,is that there are very few players from the West.In fact only one.

Ok, so who would you add then? Corrazin? Franks? Valente?

[john tv]

I don't really know who,just struck me as a little bombshell that's all.

[Gian-Luca]

Well if by West you meant to include Alberta then Hirshfeld is an obvious ommission of player hypothetically available.

If you mean BC in particular, well there's not too many other players that I can think of that should have been called. Actually rather than be concerned about the lack of dominance of BC-based players in the current player pool (as once was the case not too many years ago), we might feel a little relieved that there is no "BC-boys" preference that Yallop is showing which had often been alleged to be the case under Lenarduzzi.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Leduc?

Well that's it for me.

Well that's the main disappointment for me, along perhaps with Pizzolitto. I didn't think either played well enough last time round to even warrant another look, but I guess Yallop is giving him a second chance to both. Frankly though with Gervais & Reda at centre back, pushing Atiba into midfield with Grande, Serioux, DeRo, and Bernier all in the midfield mix, its difficult to see why either Leduc or Pizzolitto would even start against the US. I don't think its likely. The only disappointment is whether other younger players could have been given a look at the camp instead in those positions (and to be fair, he is doing that with Hainault).

[loyola]

Well, Sutton did well this summer and Kenny did well against Spain, both deserve the call.

Maybe Hirshfeld should have been called but we have two spot at the GK position, he might get a call for a game in Europe (and maybe he declined too, we just don't know who Yallop did call first).

I'm glad to see Serioux in this squad.

Johnson and Haineault are nice inclusion since they are both very good prospect for us.

[The Ref]

With 5 (five) coaches as part of the delegation, we should do well.

[loyola]

We have 1 head coach, 2 assistant coach and 1 GK coach. What's the problem?

For a two weeks training camp, that's the kind of staff we should bring.

That's one less than the US, and with all their delegation(14) the US could have a nice staff vs. players scrimmage.

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=287651

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by john tv

What surprises me greatly and concers me even more,is that there are very few players from the West.In fact only one.

I blame the eastern-based media. Those bastards.

[Richard]

Just goes to show you can't please all the people all the time. First we have complaints that the national team has too much BC (western) representation. Now it's not enough, too much of an eastern bias, where are the western representatives. The man is choosing what he believes is the strongest team from the players available, who cares what part of Canada they are associated with!

[john tv]

I realize that this extremely sensitive.I just wonder why,is this a fluke or are there reasons which we don't know about.Is it scouting, player development.I really have no personal reason whatsoever to question this,just looking for answers.I hope it is a pure coincidence.So let's leave it at that.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by Richard

Just goes to show you can't please all the people all the time. First we have complaints that the national team has too much BC (western) representation. Now it's not enough, too much of an eastern bias, where are the western representatives. The man is choosing what he believes is the strongest team from the players available, who cares what part of Canada they are associated with!

Bravo on that.

On the negative side vis a vis Yallop, but I'm happy to see the relatively long camp.

[LUFC]

For those of you asking about Hirschfeld and Occean.

(From Neil Davidson's article.)

"Yallop said he did not call up goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, who plays for Rosenborg in Norway, because he liked the way Kenny Stamatopoulos (Tromso, Norway) played against Spain and Luxembourg.

"And I wanted to take a good look at Greg Sutton again," he added.

Hirschfeld will be recalled at a later date, Yallop said.

The coach said he also opted not to summon Olivier Occean because he has just moved clubs (to Norway's Lillestrom) and because he has plenty of strikers.

"I want to look at Rob Friend, I want to look at Ali (Gerba)," he said. "I've got Dwayne (DeRosario), I've got Steven (Ademolu). We're OK in that position. You can't bring in six, seven, eight strikers . . . I want to make sure the squad's balanced."

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2006/01/03/1377572-cp.html

[nolando]

Might as well put the whole Davidson article here:

TORONTO (CP) - Canada will rely on eight North American-based players and eight who play in Scandinavia for a Jan. 22 soccer friendly against the U.S. in San Diego.

The 19-man Canadian squad also includes defender-midfielder Ante Jazic (FC Kuban, Russia) and two players currently without clubs: defender Marco Reda and defender-midfielder Adrian Serioux.

The Jan. 22 date is not one reserved for international friendlies, with European leagues playing as usual. That means no Tomasz Radzinski (Fulham), Paul Stalteri (Tottenham) or Iain Hume (Leicester City) from England or Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain).

The Scandinavian leagues, like Major League Soccer and the second-tier United Soccer League in North America, are currently out of season, allowing Yallop to draw on their talent.

Because almost all the players are out of season, Yallop is bringing them in for a camp starting Jan. 8 in Carson, Calif., to help improve fitness.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena will also be relying on domestic talent. Of his 30 players invited to a camp starting Thursday in Carson, all but one play in the MLS. The other, defender Heath Pearce, plays in Denmark.

While 17 of the 30 American players invited have less than 10 caps to their credit, Arena has talent and experience at his disposal. Los Angeles Galaxy star striker Landon Donovan has 73 caps, as does Real Salt Lake defender Eddie Pope. Columbus Crew defender Frankie Hejduk has played 68 times for his country.

In contrast, the entire Canadian roster has a combined 157 caps.

The Americans are ranked eighth in the world, compared to No. 84 for Canada.

Yallop said he did not call up goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, who plays for Rosenborg in Norway, because he liked the way Kenny Stamatopoulos (Tromso, Norway) played against Spain and Luxembourg.

"And I wanted to take a good look at Greg Sutton again," he added.

Hirschfeld will be recalled at a later date, Yallop said.

The coach said he also opted not to summon Olivier Occean because he has just moved clubs (to Norway's Lillestrom) and because he has plenty of strikers.

"I want to look at Rob Friend, I want to look at Ali (Gerba)," he said. "I've got Dwayne (DeRosario), I've got Steven (Ademolu). We're OK in that position. You can't bring in six, seven, eight strikers . . . I want to make sure the squad's balanced."

Yallop will also have Will Johnson in camp. The Chicago Fire forward is currently with the under-20 team at the Chivas Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The Montreal Impact have six players on the squad: goalkeeper Sutton, defenders Adam Braz, Gabe Gervais, Nevio Pizzolitto and uncapped Andrew Hainault, and midfielder Patrick Leduc.

Yallop says he has watched Hainault with the under-20 team and wanted to keep talent from the younger levels moving up. Hainault has his paperwork in order and is looking to hook up with a club in England.

Yallop's roster for the U.S. game includes eight players from the squad that beat Luxembourg 1-0 in November. Midfielder Sandro Grande returns after recovering from a calf injury that kept him out of the Luxembourg game.

Following the U.S. game, Canada will play Austria in a friendly March 1 in Vienna.

[nolando]

I also find it strange that OO is not here- in an all Scandinavian and USL squad I find it hard to believe he doesnt have the talent to fit in. Maybe DDR is being marketed overseas again, but why would you need to have a good look at him rather than OO, who is still so raw, so young and so unproven? I think we all know what DDR brings to the team, and his skill/confidence level is not all that likely to have changed since the last batch of matches. OO on the other hand, needs to cement a place. I think there's something else going on- not a good enough excuse for me.

Great to see Serioux back- I would love to see him out to try and prove his Millwall critics wrong and do his family proud by being the best footballer he can be, and I for one don't bet against him. A class act, that guy!!

[nolando]

...and another thing... doesnt anyone else find that this long of a camp, and dragging everybody down to California for only ONE game is a bit of a waste? Surely we could have set of an exhibition against a Mexican squad, or maybe against one of the CONCACAF also rans like Jamaica or Haiti or Panama or somebody. All this time, money, and energy spent for one game always seems like a waste to me and seems counterproductive to the stated goal of seeing what some of the bubble players can do. Give each of those guys a full ninety minutes and you might just see what they can do. Intersquad scrimmages and running around cones sure ain't going to help this team develop. Maybe it's just me...

[loyola]

I agree Nolando, we would have time for one or two more games during that training camp.

It's the third or fourth camp like that under Yallop and we have played only one international frinedly during those camp (Barbados in 2004 I think).

Serioux will be in MLS next year....that's my prediction. He was very good this summer during the GC (except for the red card) and he played well against Spain too.