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Mini Florida Camp


Bxl Boy

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Canadian head coach Frank Yallop has announced a squad of 16 players for a mini-camp in Sunrise, Florida. The camp is scheduled to take place from May 1-8, 2006 and will feature many of those players that played at the FIFA World Youth Championship Holland 2005 and as a result, are eligible for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Yallop has also included a handful of players that have been out of the squad for the last while, or are making their first appearance with the senior team.

Dave Simpson, who has made several appearances with Canadian youth teams in the past, will be making his first appearance with Yallop’s squad. The 23-year-old Toronto-native is enjoying a good season with Hungarian club Papa Lombard FC and will certainly hope to make a lasting first impression on the Canadian head coach.

Montreal Impact midfielder Antonio Ribeiro, like Simpson, will be making his first appearance with Canada’s senior team although the 26-year-old Montreal-native has been involved in Canada’s youth programs in the past. Ribeiro is coming off what was perhaps his best season with the Impact, playing in 23 games and grabbing six points – all despite undergoing abdominal surgery at the beginning of the 2005 campaign.

Yallop has also included two new names to the fold.

Atlético Bello midfielder Alex Schleer and Chicago Fire defender Jack Stewart will be making their first appearances (at any age) with a Canadian national team.

As mentioned earlier, the mini-camp squad is littered with players who will be eligible for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Goalkeepers Asmir Begovic and Josh Wagenaar; defenders Andre Hainault and Brad Peetoom, along with midfielder/forward Ryan Gyaki all represented Canada at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland and will in all likelihood be pivotal contributors to Canada’s U-23 team when qualifying for Beijing 2008 begins next year.

The squad, however, is not without veteran leadership.

Jim Brennan, Canada’s goal-scoring hero from the 2-0 victory over Austria on March 1, 2006 along with no-nonsense defender Adam Braz and the versatile Ante Jazic will no doubt provide Yallop’s young squad with experience and leadership.

Yallop will also rely on the veteran experience of Tony Menezes, who is making a long-awaited return to the senior team. Menezes last appeared for Canada in January 2003 and has recently signed with the Toronto Lynx of the USL First Division for the 2006 campaign.

“This is a superb opportunity for the coaching staff to work with some of our younger players who will likely figure in our Olympic squad and some players that have not been in the squad that often,” said Canadian head coach Frank Yallop.

“There is no substitute with working up-close with the players and for me, this is the best way of seeing if they fit into the squad and are the type of players we are looking for to compete at the highest level.”

There is a possibility of one or two additional players being added to the roster over the next few days. Details regarding any additions will be released immediately at canadasoccer.com.

Roster

Player

Pos.

DOB

Caps

G/S

Club

Hometown

Begovic, Asmir

GK

6/20/1987

0

0

La Louviere

Edmonton, AB

Braz, Adam

D

06/07/1981

7

0

Montreal Impact

St. Laurent, QC

Brennan, Jim

M

05/08/1977

43

6

Southampton

Newmarket, ON

Gyaki, Ryan

M/F

12/06/1985

0

0

Sheffield United FC

Calgary, AB

Hainault, Andre (Andrew)

D

6/17/1986

0

0

FK Siad Most

Hudson, QC

Jazic, Ante

D/M

2/26/1976

15

0

unattached

Halifax, NS

Leduc, Patrick

M

12/26/1977

3

0

Montreal Impact

St.-Lambert, QC

Menezes, Tony

D

11/24/1974

27

0

Toronto Lynx

Toronto, ON

Peetoom, Brad

D

03/02/1986

0

0

Syracuse University

Abbotsford, BC

Ribeiro, Antonio

M

10/08/1980

0

0

Montreal Impact

Montreal, QC

Schleer, Alex

M

02/25/1985

0

0

Atlético Bello

Toronto, ON

Simpson, Dave

F

01/11/1983

0

0

Papa Lombard FC

Scarborough, ON

Stewart, Jack

D

05/29/1983

0

0

Chicago Fire

Torrance, CA USA

Sulentic, Ive

M

12/24/1979

2

0

St. Pauli

Richmond

Wagenaar, Joshua

GK

2/26/1985

0

0

ADO Den Haag

Grimsby, ON

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Yeah, I've never heard of Stewart or Scheer.

It's always good to expand the pool though, although Stewart's connection to Canada may be tenuous. Maybe he was born in Canada like Will Johnson was.

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Jack Stewart stats. Born in California, maybe he has a Canadian parent. Can always use another defender.

2006 season stats

GP Goals Assists

1 0 0

name: Jack Stewart

position: D

height: 6-2 weight:180

Birthdate: May 29, 1983

Hometown: Torrance, CA

last club:

Regular Season Stats full bio l year-by-year stats

year team gp gs min g a sht sog fc fs c ej

2006 Chicago 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Career 10 3 402 1 0 10 5 4 2 1 0

The rookie season of Fire defender Jack Stewart somewhat fell in line with the saying "better late than never." The Southern California native diligently put in every minute possible for the Fire's MLS Reserve Division in 11 of its 12 contests. Stewart continued to plug away and eventually earned just over 400 minutes of first-team minutes across nine contests, including a trio of starting nods. And that "better late than never" adage paid off on Oct. 5, when Stewart came in as a second half sub and score three minutes into second half stoppage time to help the "Men in Red" tie the game and earn the point they needed to clinch their return to the MLS Cup Playoffs. Stewart continued his magic in the postseason, scoring first for Chicago in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against D.C. United to help the Fire to a 4-0 win. Having shown he can produce in the clutch, the Notre Dame product is now firmly in the picture for a starting spot on the Fire's backline as he enters his second MLS campaign.

MLS Experience

2005: Scored one goal in 401 minutes across nine matches (three starts) in his rookie season in 2005 … Made MLS debut when he entered at the half on 5-14 vs. MET in Fire's 3-0 defeat … Made first MLS start on 7-23 @ COL … Scored first career MLS goal on 10-05 vs. MET, a tally that tied the match at 2-2 and resulted in the Fire clinching its spot in the 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs … The goal also made him the Fire's 17th different goal scorer in 2005, tying the all-time League mark for most scorers on a team in a single season (D.C. United - 1997) … MLS Cup Playoffs: Started in both his appearances for Chicago in postseason play, registering one goal in 164 minutes of play … Went 74 min. in his MLS Cup Playoff debut on 10-30 @ DC, scoring the game-winning goal in the 10' of the Fire's 4-0 win in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series … Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: Started in one of his two appearances in the U.S. Open Cup, registering 133 minutes in helping Chicago reach the Semifinals of the competition … Made first start with Fire's first-team on 7-13 @ Western Mass, playing the full 90 min. in the Fire's 3-1 win in the U.S. Open Cup Third Round … MLS Reserve Division: Started in 11 of the Fire Reserves 12 contests in 2005, logging 990 minutes of action … Topped the Fire Reserves with 990 minutes played, 11 starts (tied w/ Montz) and 11 appearances (tied w/ Montz and Robinson) … Saw all 90 min. for Fire Reserves in their inaugural match, a 4-1 loss @ D.C. on 4-10.

College

Fundamentally sound defender and a dominant physical presense on the field … A three-time All-BIG EAST performer.

2004: An anchor for Notre Dame's back line and catalyst for several Irish scoring opportunities … One of 15 semifinalists for the 2004 MAC Hermann Trophy award … Big East Defensive Player of the Year … Scored on two of his eight shots … Named to All-BIG EAST First Team for second straight season.

2003: Helped the Irish defense hold its opponents to one goal or less in 20 of 23 contests … All-BIG EAST First Team.

2002: Started all 21 games for the Irish … All-BIG EAST Second Team.

2001: One of two freshmen to see action in all 19 games (started 12).

International

Called into both U.S. U-20 and U-18 National Team camps.

High School/Club

High School: Played four years at South Torrance High School in Torrance, CA … Finished as the school's fifth all-time leading scorer with 124 points (42 goals/40 assists) … Three-time All-State honoree … Four-time Bay League all-conference selection … Named California Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Soccer Coaches Association of America during his senior season in 2000 … NCSAA High School All-American … Three time all-California Interscholastic Federation selection.

Club: Participated in the adidas Elite Soccer Program … Led Breakway Soccer Club to the Region IV semifinals in 2000, as well as five state crowns … Member of California ODP state team since 1997, which won the National title in 2001.

Personal

Best soccer moment came in the 2005 playoffs when he scored and helped the Fire beat D.C. United 4-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals … Most influential figure in soccer is Bobby Clark, his coach at Notre Dame … Admires Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and Chelsea's John Terry … Serves as a youth soccer coach for the Chicago Kickers … Enjoys donating time to the Fire's charitable arm, the FireWorks for Kids Foundation … Off-field interests include the real estate business … Enjoys listening to Death Cab for Cutie and never misses an episode of 24 … Favorite movies are I Am Sam and The Terminal.

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Interesting squad with a little bit of everything, older, younger and unknown players.

The ref: I'm living in Quebec and the fields aren,t ready yet unless the turf fields. I would imagine they are in better shape in Vancouver with a more friendly climate. But I guess it's cheaper to fly those guys (most from the east coast and Europe) to Miami than Vancouver? I don't know.

I think a more legitimate question would be why don,t we organize one or two friendlies instead of this camp?

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Here's the staff with a nice inclusion of a former player:

Staff

Frank Yallop - Head Coach

Stephen Hart - Assistant Coach

Paul Dolan - Goalkeeper Coach

Morgan Quarry - Manager

Dave Foley - Physiotherapist

Garret Kusch - Massage Therapist

Vic Mendes - Equipment Manager

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

Here's the staff with a nice inclusion of a former player:

Staff

Frank Yallop - Head Coach

Stephen Hart - Assistant Coach

Paul Dolan - Goalkeeper Coach

Morgan Quarry - Manager

Dave Foley - Physiotherapist

Garret Kusch - Massage Therapist

Vic Mendes - Equipment Manager

And a member of The Kids In The Hall!

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I haven't seen much of Stewart, but he was pretty highly touted as maybe the best defender in the 2005 MLS Draft. He played a ton in the reserves last year. He has good size and imagined him as a central defender, but I think he prefers to play on the right. He got forward pretty well and would be not a bad depth guy at right back. But I haven't seen a lot of him and he's behind Logan Pause in Chicago. I was maybe surprised at his skill because I didn't expect him to be wide in the first place, but I don't think I was basing the idea of him being a central defender on anything. I think it was just an idea I got in my head.

cheers,

matthew

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I haven't seen much of Stewart, but he was pretty highly touted as maybe the best defender in the 2005 MLS Draft. He played a ton in the reserves last year. He has good size and imagined him as a central defender, but I think he prefers to play on the right. He got forward pretty well and would be not a bad depth guy at right back. But I haven't seen a lot of him and he's behind Logan Pause in Chicago. I was maybe surprised at his skill because I didn't expect him to be wide in the first place, but I don't think I was basing the idea of him being a central defender on anything. I think it was just an idea I got in my head.

cheers,

matthew

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

I think a more legitimate question would be why don,t we organize one or two friendlies instead of this camp?

Great point. A pre World Cup game or two would be the way to go. The money spent on this camp would at least help.

And if your going to have the camp, hold it in a place where there could actually be some media attention. Perhaps here in Vancouver and the 17 degree temperatures we have been having lately, or Victoria or Edmonton, places where they could help promote the U20 games vs Brazil in May.

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