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A world away: When Canada qualified for the 1986 World Cup, players hoped it was just the beginning

Dan Stinson

CanWest News Service

1595 words

3 June 2006

National Post

Toronto

S2

English

© 2006 National Post . All Rights Reserved.

VANCOUVER - As the greatest sports show on Earth gets set to unfold -- soccer's World Cup tournament -- it's a time of eager anticipation for 32 teams and their devout fans on the fields and in the stadiums of Germany.

Aficionados of Canadian soccer will have to be satisfied with a stroll along memory lane.

After failing to qualify for the 2006 global spectacle, Canada's claim to fame on soccer's international stage remains a berth in the 1986 World Cup tournament in Mexico. It was this country's first, and only, appearance in the quadrennial tournament.

Memories of those heady days of Canadian soccer are still remarkably vivid on the 20th anniversary of the historic achievement.

"It was historic, but I remember thinking at the time that this was something for Canadian soccer to build on," says Tony Waiters, a transplanted Englishman who was head coach of Canada's '86 World Cup team. "There's no doubt that qualifying for the World Cup was a great achievement in itself. But my hope then was that we had laid the foundation for future success in Canadian international soccer. Sadly, that hasn't been the case."

Canada's 'March to Mexico' was helped in large part by many of its players' participation in the North American Soccer League -- a continent-wide, star-studded circuit that at its zenith featured some of the best players in the game. Brazilian legend Pele, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, England's Alan Ball and Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands were among the world-class players who played in the NASL before its demise following the 1984 season.

Waiters, who was head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps in their 1979 NASL championship season, has no doubt that the league was the main factor in the Canadian team's World Cup berth.

"The majority of Canada's players had played in the NASL, with and against some of the best in the game," Waiters says. "It was a case of sink or swim for Canadian players to keep their jobs in the NASL. They were forced to raise their level of play to keep their jobs and were well prepared to play for the national team as a result."

Mexico had qualified automatically as host team in the '86 World Cup, leaving Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras to battle for the one remaining CONCACAF zone berth in the then 24-team tournament.

Waiters' 22-man roster included 14 players who were either born in B.C. or products of the B.C. soccer system. The list included forwards Dale Mitchell and George Pakos, midfielders David Norman, Mike Sweeney, Randy Ragan, Jamie Lowery and Greg Ion, defenders Bob Lenarduzzi, Bruce Wilson, Randy Samuel, Ian Bridge and Colin Miller, and goalkeepers Paul Dolan and Sven Habermann.

Rounding out the roster were forwards Carl Valentine, Igor Vrablic and Branko Segota, midfielders Pasquale de Luca, Gerry Gray and Paul James, defender Terry Moore and goalkeeper Tino Lettieri.

Canada clinched a World Cup berth with a 2-1 win over Honduras on Sept. 14, 1985 in St. John's, Nfld. Pakos and Vrablic scored Canada's goals -- both off Valentine corner kicks -- before a capacity crowd at King George V Stadium and a nationwide CBC TV audience.

It was Valentine's only qualifying game for Canada. Born in Manchester, England, he joined the Canadian team from his English League club, West Bromwich Albion.

"I was hoping to be picked to the England [World Cup] team," says Valentine, who played for the Whitecaps in their '79 championship season and returned to the English League following the NASL's demise. "As it turned out, I was the first English League player to qualify for the '86 World Cup. Canada qualified for Mexico before England did -- and I've always worn that as a sort of badge of honour."

The euphoria of qualifying for the World Cup was quickly tempered by Canada's draw in the tournament. Pitted against reigning European champion France, Hungary and the Soviet Union, Canada was placed in Group C -- a widely regarded group of death that led oddsmakers to take bets on Canada's chances to even score a goal in the initial stage.

Canada's first opponent was France, on June 1, 1986 at Leon, Mexico. The French team included captain Michel Platini, who at the time was regarded as one of the world's most elegant midfielders. Equally vital to the French team were midfielder Alain Giresse and forward Jean-Pierre Papin, a future European player of the year.

"My most vivid memory of the '86 World Cup was standing in the tunnel prior to our game against France," says Lenarduzzi, Canada's starting right fullback. "The Canadian players were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Platini and Giresse, and I remember thinking it was only a matter of how many goals we were going to get beaten by. At that point, you started to realize that this thing's for keeps."

Dolan, who at age 20 was Canada's starting 'keeper against France, had other thoughts.

"We were expected to get pummelled, so I didn't feel quite as uptight as you'd normally think a young player would be going into a World Cup game," he says. "France were clearly favoured and we just wanted to keep the score respectable. I actually felt pretty good. I had a good warmup and a focused mindset going in. It certainly wasn't a nothing-to-lose attitude because we were playing France."

Dolan was somewhat prescient. France couldn't break through Canada's disciplined defence until the 79th minute, when Yannick Stopyra headed a long cross from the right flank across goal to Papin, who tapped the ball home near the far post.

The goal stood up for a 1-0 France win.

"It was an unfortunate sequence of errors on our part and I was as much to blame as anyone," says Lenarduzzi. "I should have cut the cross off. Dolie [Dolan] came out for the cross and missed, and I thought it was going out for a goal kick."

Dolan says Canada earned instant respect in the Mexican media after the game.

"Before the game, the Mexican reporters were asking me how many goals I would let in," he says. "Eight? Nine? I just smiled and said we hoped to keep it close."

It was Canada's best performance in the World Cup. Hungary and the Soviet Union posted 2-0 wins over Canada at Irapuato on June 6 and 9, respectively, making the oddsmakers look good on the no-goals bet.

Canada's failure to qualify for a World Cup tournament in those 20 years has been a subject of much analysis and discussion -- especially in light of the fact that Canada didn't even reach the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the Germany World Cup.

Waiters says a professional soccer league is desperately needed in Canada -- similar to the Canadian Soccer League that operated from 1987 to 1992 before financial problems, mostly related to travel expenses, forced its demise.

Lenarduzzi says another key to Canada's World Cup qualifying chances is youth player development. "We need to do a better job developing Canadian players who are seven, eight and nine years old," he says. "Most of the rest of the world does a better job developing those players than Canada does. We need a more streamlined and comprehensive approach right across Canada."

One point is sure: Canada was slotted at 83rd in the latest world rankings by FIFA, soccer's governing body. Which suggests this country has a long road to travel before another story of a World Cup appearance can be written.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

A look at the coaches and players from Canada's 1986 World Cup team and what they are doing now:

HEAD COACH

Tony Waiters Owns and operates World of Soccer business in Surrey, B.C.

GOALKEEPERS

Paul Dolan Goalkeepers coach with Canada's senior national team; broadcaster; Umbro sports equipment employee. Tino Lettieri Employed in food industry in Minneapolis. Sven Habermann Car salesman in Fraser Valley, B.C., area.

DEFENDERS

Bob Lenarduzzi Vancouver Whitecaps' director of soccer operations. Randy Samuel Has own soccer coaching service business in Richmond, B.C. Ian Bridge Head coach, Canada's under-20 women's team. Bruce Wilson Head coach, University of Victoria Vikes men's team. Colin Miller Head coach, Abbotsford Soccer Association. Terry Moore Policeman in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

MIDFIELDERS

Pasquale de Luca Living in Edmonton. Gerry Gray Coaching soccer in Federal Way, Wash. David Norman Runs own online sports registration company in Vancouver. Randy Ragan Lawyer in Ottawa. Mike Sweeney Runs own soccer club in Cleveland. Jamie Lowery Operates tour bus in Victoria. Paul James Athletics director, York University in Toronto. Greg Ion Runs youth soccer team in Tacoma, Wash.

FORWARDS

Dale Mitchell Head coach, Canada's under-20 men's soccer team. Carl Valentine Head coach, North Shore Soccer Association. George Pakos Civil servant in Victoria. Igor Vrablic Unknown. Branko Segota Unknown.

CanWest News Service

Ran with fact box "Where Are They Now?" which has been appended to the story.

Black & White Photo: Georges Gobet, AFP; Getty Images / David Norman, right, and Canada may have lost all three games at the World Cup, but the team won a mountain of respect for how it played.

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Similarly...

World Cup experience in 1986 made player proud

Mercury staff

298 words

3 June 2006

Guelph Mercury

Final

A4

English

Copyright © 2006 Guelph Mercury.

GUELPH

The World Cup is a heck of an experience, especially for the few lucky enough to play in one.

Randy Ragan was a fresh-faced 27-year-old product of the British Columbia soccer scene when he represented Canada at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

"It was a wonderful achievement, something I'm definitely proud of," Ragan remembers fondly.

It was the one and only time Canada has qualified for the World Cup. They went quickly and quietly, losing all three of their games by a combined score of 5-0, although they did manage to give world power France a scare before a late goal gave the Frenchmen a 1-0 win.

Ragan said it was hard to soak up the sense of event at the time because the players were just too busy.

"We really didn't get to think about it too much because we were so busy either playing games or training," remembers Ragan.

Canada had the dubious distinction of playing in the worst-attended game of the '86 cup when just 13,800 were in the stands for the game against Hungary.

Ragan agrees that Canada's trip to the World Cup in 1986 should have been a building block for Canadian soccer. Unfortunately it was the pinnacle. Canada has failed to qualify for the five subsequent World Cups.

"Soccer at the higher level just isn't that big of a deal here," Ragan said shortly after he was introduced into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002.

These days Ragan lives between Rockwood and Guelph and is a lawyer with Legal Aid in Toronto. He also coaches his youngest son's youth soccer team in Guelph.

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Here's a longer, localized article for the Vancouver Sun. I've italicized the parts that stood out as different.

Heady Days: WORLD CUP SOCCER I It's been 20 years since our national team captivated the nation with its magic 'March to Mexico.' They haven't been back since.

Dan Stinson

Vancouver Sun

2171 words

3 June 2006

Vancouver Sun

Final

D1 / Front

English

Copyright © 2006 Vancouver Sun

As the greatest sports show on Earth gets set to unfold -- soccer's World Cup tournament -- it's a time of eager anticipation for 32 teams and their devout fans on the fields and in the stadiums of Germany.

Aficionados of Canadian soccer, however, will have to be satisfied with a stroll along memory lane. After failing to qualify for the 2006 global spectacle, Canada's claim to fame on soccer's international stage remains a berth in the 1986 World Cup tournament in Mexico. It was this country's first -- and only -- appearance in the quadrennial tournament.

Memories of those heady days of Canadian soccer are still remarkably vivid on the 20th anniversary of the historic achievement.

"It was historic, but I remember thinking at the time that this was something for Canadian soccer to build on," says Tony Waiters, a transplanted Englishman who was head coach of Canada's '86 World Cup team. "There's no doubt that qualifying for the World Cup was a great achievement in itself. But my hope then was that we had laid the foundation for future suceess in Canadian international soccer. Sadly, that hasn't been the case."

Canada's 'March to Mexico' was helped in large part by many of its players' participation in the North American Soccer League -- a continent-wide, star-studded circuit that at its zenith featured some of the best players in the game. Brazilian legend Pele, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, England's Alan Ball and Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands were among the world-class players who played in the NASL before its demise following the 1984 season.

Waiters, who was head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps in their 1979 NASL championship season, has no doubt that the league was the main factor in the Canadian team's World Cup berth.

"The majority of Canada's players had played in the NASL, with and against some of the best in the game," Waiters says. "It was a case of sink or swim for Canadian players to keep their jobs in the NASL. They were forced to raise their level of play to keep their jobs and were well prepared to play for the national team as a result."

Mexico qualified automatically as host of the '86 World Cup, leaving Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras to battle for the one remaining CONCACAF zone berth in the then 24-team tournament.

Waiters' 22-man roster included 14 players who were either born in B.C. or products of the B.C. soccer system. The list included forwards Dale Mitchell and George Pakos, midfielders David Norman, Mike Sweeney, Randy Ragan, Jamie Lowery and Greg Ion, defenders Bob Lenarduzzi, Bruce Wilson, Randy Samuel, Ian Bridge and Colin Miller, and goalkeepers Paul Dolan and Sven Habermann.

Rounding out the roster were forwards Carl Valentine, Igor Vrablic and Branko Segota, midfielders Pasquale de Luca, Gerry Gray and Paul James, defender Terry Moore and 'keeper Tino Lettieri.

Canada clinched a World Cup berth with a 2-1 win over Honduras on Sept. 14, 1985 in St. John's, Nfld. Pakos and Vrablic scored Canada's goals, both off Valentine corner kicks, before a capacity crowd at King George V Stadium and a nation-wide CBC audience.

It was Valentine's only qualifying game for Canada. Born in Manchester, England, he joined the Canadian team from his English League club, West Bromwich Albion.

"I was hoping to be picked to the England [World Cup] team," says Valentine, who played for the Whitecaps in their '79 championship season and returned to the English League following the NASL's demise. "As it turned out, I was the first English League player to qualify for the '86 World Cup. Canada qualified for Mexico before England did, and I've always worn that as a sort of badge of honour."

The euphoria of qualifying for the World Cup was quickly tempered by Canada's draw in the tournament. Pitted against reigning European champion France, Hungary and the Soviet Union, Canada was placed in Group C -- a widely regarded group of death that led oddsmakers to take bets on Canada's chances to even score a goal in the initial stage.

Canada's first opponent was France, on June 1, 1986 at Leon. The French team included captain Michel Platini, one of the world's most elegant midfielders. Equally vital to the French team were midfielder Alain Giresse and forward Jean-Pierre Papin, a future European player of the year.

"My most vivid memory of the '86 World Cup was standing in the tunnel prior to our game against France," says Lenarduzzi, Canada's starting right fullback.

"The Canadian players were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Platini and Giresse, and I remember thinking it was only a matter of how many goals we were going to get beaten by. At that point, you started to realize that this thing's for keeps."

Dolan, who at age 20 was Canada's starting 'keeper against France, had other thoughts.

"We were expected to get pummelled, so I didn't feel quite as uptight as you'd normally think a young player would be going into a World Cup game," he says. "France were clearly favoured and we just wanted to keep the score respectable. I actually felt pretty good. I had a good warmup and a focused mindset going in. It certainly wasn't a nothing-to-lose attitude because we were playing France."

Dolan was somewhat prescient. France couldn't break through Canada's disciplined defence until the 79th minute, when Yannick Stopyra headed a long cross from the right flank across goal to Papin, who tapped the ball home near the far post. The goal stood up for a 1-0 France win.

"It was an unfortunate sequence of errors on our part and I was as much to blame as anyone," says Lenarduzzi. "I should have cut the cross off. [Dolan] came out for the cross and missed, and I thought it was going out for a goal kick."

Dolan says Canada earned instant respect in the Mexican media after the game.

"Before the game, the Mexican reporters were asking me how many goals I would let in," he says. "Eight? Nine? I just smiled and said we hoped to keep it close."

It was Canada's best performance in the World Cup. Hungary and the Soviet Union posted 2-0 wins over Canada at Irapuato on June 6 and 9, respectively, making the oddsmakers look good on the no-goals bet.

Lenarduzzi was presented with Canada's best scoring chance in the three games, but miskicked a shot in the six-yard box in the match against the Soviet Union.

"A rebound fell right to me, but I first-timed a weak shot harmlessly into the 'keeper's hands. And I've been reminded of that miss for the past 20 years," Lenarduzzi says with a chuckle.

Canada's failure to qualify for a World Cup tournament in those 20 years has been a subject of much analysis and discussion -- especially in light of the fact that Canada didn't even reach the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for this year's World Cup.

Waiters says a professional soccer league is desperately needed in Canada -- similar to the Canadian Soccer League that operated from 1987 to 1992 before financial problems, mostly related to travel expenses, forced its demise.

"If we can't get a league of our own in Canada, I very much doubt that we can get to the World Cup finals," says Waiters. "People tend to forget that some very good players came out of the CSL. Many of those players graduated to European teams. We need to come up with the right business plan for a new Canadian league. If we don't have a national league to develop our players, we'll continue to struggle in international soccer."

Lenarduzzi argues that the current USL First Division, which includes the Whitecaps, Toronto Lynx and Montreal Impact as Canadian members, is the way to go. The USL had five Canadian teams as recently as 2004, when Calgary and Edmonton were part of the circuit. But the Alberta teams folded after the 2004 season.

"I'm not an advocate of a new Canadian league," says Lenarduzzi, the Whitecaps' director of soccer operations. "We've been down that road and it didn't work. I think we have to build on the USL model -- a north-south league that has Canadian teams playing against U.S. teams, as opposed to an east-west domestic league. In some respects, the USL is the modern-day equivalent of the old NASL. And we can see the standard of play improving every year in the USL."

Lenarduzzi says another key to Canada's World Cup qualifying chances is youth player development. "We need to do a better job developing Canadian players who are seven, eight and nine years old," he says. "Most of the rest of the world does a better job developing those players than Canada does. We need a more streamlined and comprehensive approach right across Canada."

Waiters agrees on that point.

"No question that youth development is very important," he says. "But I don't think three professional teams in Canada is enough. A new Canadian league would give our 18-, 19- and 20-year-old players a place to play. We must have a national east-west league. But no one seems to be addressing that need at the moment. It seems to be on the back burner."

Dale Mitchell, head coach of Canada's under-20 men's team that will play host to the FIFA World Youth Cup tournament in 2007, has long been an advocate of developing players at home.

"We need a full-time professional soccer league in Canada where players are paid, make a comfortable living, and can train year-round," he says. "I'm not really worried about the logistics of it. The main point is that we need to develop more of our players at home."

One point is undebatable: Canada was 83rd in the latest world rankings by FIFA, soccer's governing body. Which suggests this country has a long road to travel before another story of a World Cup appearance can be written.

danstinson@shaw.ca

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Canada's day in the sun 1986 national team remembers country's only World Cup experience

CNS

864 words

9 June 2006

Winnipeg Free Press

WC7

English

All material copyright Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. All rights reserved.

Neville Judd The narrow players' tunnel at the Estadio Nou Camp, in Leon, Mexico, is not known for its ambience. In the summer it's like an oven and soccer players have little choice but to rub shoulders with one another before they take to the pitch.

Yet members of Canada's 1986 World Cup team have a hard time forgetting that tunnel: It was June 1, Canada's opponents were France, the reigning European champions and pre-tournament favourites.

"I remember lining up in this dark tunnel next to the French players, and I remember thinking, 'I know these guys, I watch them on TV every weekend,"' says Ian Bridge, who at the time was playing club soccer with Swiss side La Chaux de Fonds.

"Standing there and seeing that feared team... that was, for me, a little overwhelming," recalls fellow defender David Norman.

Teammate Bob Lenarduzzi recalls looking down a line of French players led by midfield maestro Michel Platini and thinking, "Oh Jesus... "

For Norman at least, that tunnel was the scene of his "single greatest moment" in professional soccer.

It might have been the single greatest moment for Canadian soccer itself. The 1986 tournament remains the only World Cup Canada has ever qualified for.

Qualification had been clinched eight months earlier on Sept. 14, 1985, a cold, drizzly day in St. John's, Nfld. Needing only a point, Canada got goals from Victoria's George Pakos and Igor Vrablic of Waterloo, Ont. to clinch a dramatic 2-1 win over Honduras.

Honduran players braved the cold, wearing tuques and gloves, while most of their travelling fans had mistakenly gone to Saint John, N.B., where they ended up watching the game in bars.

Bridge had to leave the game injured and couldn't even bear to watch. "I listened to the reaction of the crowd while I was in the showers," he laughs. "We were up till 2 a.m. having drinks with the mayor of St. John's.

"Qualifying for the World Cup, just knowing that we were going to play among the best teams in the world, that was like winning the World Cup for us."

Coach Tony Waiters developed the core of a Canadian team that had taken Brazil to a quarter-final penalty shootout in the 1984 Olympics and thrust them into intensive training camps and tours to prepare for the World Cup.

Pitted against France, Hungary (which had beaten Brazil in a World Cup warmup months earlier) and the Soviet Union, Canada had drawn their own Group of Death. But on paper at least, it wasn't expected to get any tougher than Game 1 versus France.

Paul Dolan, then 20, was given the nod in goal. He recalls enjoying the team's role of underdog.

"We weren't expected to do anything and France was loaded with talent," says Dolan. "I just felt that this was a great opportunity and I'm glad I looked at it that way because I felt how much fun it was."

After his moment of truth in the tunnel, Norman relaxed, too.

"When we ran out and got going it became just another game. It was just 11 vs. 11."

Watched by a television audience estimated at over one billion and buoyed by a sellout crowd of 36,000, Canada took the game to France.

"I don't think they believed that we would play such a high-pressure game at altitude in the heat of the day," says Bridge, who was marking future European Player of the Year Jean-Pierre Papin. "But we were naive enough to do that. We were an unknown quantity."

As Canada began creating its own chances, French fans turned on their team with boos and whistles.

"To hold the French would have been momentous in soccer, not just Canadian soccer," says Norman, who still has the game on videotape but has yet to show it to his seven-year-old son. "We could have stunned the soccer world."

It wasn't to be. In the 79th minute substitute Yannick Stopyra connected on a long cross into the penalty box, heading the ball across Dolan's goal to Papin, who finally escaped his marker for a simple tap-in.

"Paul Dolan, who had been brilliant, came out and was going for the cross," recalls Lenarduzzi. "I assumed he was going to get it, and stepped away. He missed it. I should have just headed it out for a corner but it was headed back across for Papin."

Canada lost its other two games. The Soviet Union, which had thumped Hungary 6-0, took 59 minutes to break down Canada, eventually winning 2-0, the same scoreline Hungary recorded over Canada.

"I don't have any regrets," says Dolan. "I played in the World Cup and that was the pinnacle of my career."

Twenty years later, the '86 team is barely mentioned on the Canadian Soccer Association's website and players have never had a reunion.

Perhaps it's about time.

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