loyola Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Thanks to jonny63 on BS for the heads up about this. http://www.kickoff.com/tournaments/bafana/index.php?LeagueVar=37#fixture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadiankick97 Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Yeeyeee!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 quote:Originally posted by loyola Thanks to jonny63 on BS for the heads up about this. http://www.kickoff.com/tournaments/bafana/index.php?LeagueVar=37#fixture That's good prep. for the hot confines of CA. Looks like South Africa have continued to struggle recently... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 I heard about this too, but apart from the link above, I can't find any confirmation of a Canada match v. South Africa. Every other fixture list I can find (including the official USSF site) has the US visiting South Africa on November 17, but no mention of a Canada game 4 days later.\ Hopefully this game will come to fruition, as the Canadians need to be exposed to as much competition as possible ahead of the WCQ, and South Africa offers something different than the usual Euro/CONCACAF teams we've been playing all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Awesome. We need all the games we can get! I just hope that this is televised! They could always put the bubble over BMO Field and have it here if it doesn't work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Rudi I heard about this too, but apart from the link above, I can't find any confirmation of a Canada match v. South Africa. Every other fixture list I can find (including the official USSF site) has the US visiting South Africa on November 17, but no mention of a Canada game 4 days later.\ Well I hope this is true. One of the nice things about the CSA's often poor communication skills is that I can easily see this game being confirmed without the CSA announcing it officially for some time. Perhaps it is because the venue has not been confirmed that the CSA hasn't officially announced it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Rudi and South Africa offers something different than the usual Euro/CONCACAF teams we've been playing all the time. Agreed. So far I like the latest type of matchups that we have been getting. South Africa, Iceland, Costa Rica are sides that we can measure ourselves against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenfield Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I hate to be the realist here, but the idea of sending our boys to South Africa for a friendly does beg a few questions. I'm all for getting the MNT more games. I like the idea of playing countries from different regions, with different styles of play. But is a trip to South Africa really worth it? Assuming most of our players fly out of Toronto, London, and Frankfurt to get there (and using Cape Town as the destination), a quick look on expedia.ca says the following: Toronto-Cape Town $1600, 23 hours London-Cape Town $1100, 12 hours ($700, 8 hours London-Toronto) Frankfurt-Cape Town $1300, 13 hours ($800, 9 hours Frankfurt-Toronto) Is it worth spending this kind of money to go down there when the CSA is always strapped for cash? (I would expect that SA would help defray costs, but by how much?) What about travel times and the effect on the players? The time change would be minimal (for Euro players), but that long in a plane does affect people. I guess there could be an upside in that, having been for the friendly might make the players want to get back there a little bit more, but if they don't already want it bad enough, why are they playing for us? I would much prefer to see the team play here in Canada ... The Costa Rica game is the first here in Toronto in ages. The Soccer Canada website lists TWO matches in Canada SINCE the last WCQ campaign. Thats TWO games in THREE YEARS! To qualify for the WC we need to play at least EIGHT games at home. Maybe we should get a little practice in on our own turf? One last point ... regardless of where we play our home games for WQC, it has been a long time since we've played there. Everyone is talking about what the atmosphere will be like for Costa Rica in a couple of days. I have my ticket, convinced 3 friends to join me, and will be supporting our team as much as possible. Having said that, I think that we supporters could use a little practice ourselves. Not a criticism, just that we want to sent a message when teams come here. I think that message has likely gotten clearer in TFC/MLS terms as the season has gone on. Maybe I'm wrong here, but practice does make perfect, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 Well, this game is schedule for November 21 and November 17 is also a FIFA daes so I would hope for another game at that time, maybe playing somewhere else or even in SA. I think this would be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 quote:Originally posted by greenfield I hate to be the realist here, but the idea of sending our boys to South Africa for a friendly does beg a few questions. I'm all for getting the MNT more games. I like the idea of playing countries from different regions, with different styles of play. But is a trip to South Africa really worth it? Assuming most of our players fly out of Toronto, London, and Frankfurt to get there (and using Cape Town as the destination), a quick look on expedia.ca says the following: Toronto-Cape Town $1600, 23 hours London-Cape Town $1100, 12 hours ($700, 8 hours London-Toronto) Frankfurt-Cape Town $1300, 13 hours ($800, 9 hours Frankfurt-Toronto) Is it worth spending this kind of money to go down there when the CSA is always strapped for cash? (I would expect that SA would help defray costs, but by how much?) Possibly by quite a bit. South Africa have already qualified for the World Cup as hosts & they are probably eager to play a billion friendlies before hosting the tourney. I think the host teams usually puts up quite a bit of the cash to bring a team in to play them, and with these guys it could be a lot. Remember when we went to Libya, they paid for all of our expenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcaout Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 I'm wondering if they would play at a neutral venue in England. I've heard of friendlies being held there before. Often it seems like it might have a natural draw for ex pats like an african country paired with a caribbean one in London. Also less travel for European based players on both sides. Where ever it is I think its a good match up and one we could get a result in. If its in South Africa it might be really hot by November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 As an organization with regular travel, there is no way the CSA would be paying retail prices for their tickets. Though with their ineptness, they might well be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 quote:Originally posted by greenfield Is it worth spending this kind of money to go down there when the CSA is always strapped for cash? (I would expect that SA would help defray costs, but by how much?) What about travel times and the effect on the players? The time change would be minimal (for Euro players), but that long in a plane does affect people. The hosts of international friendlies pay expenses for the visitors. thats why we never play at home. In regards to travel distance, its crossing times zones that cause much of travel fatigue. For Euro bases athletes, South Africa mean negligilble, if any, travel fatigue since they're pretty much in teh same time zone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 I'll bet South Africa made a deal that they would play friendlies at home against teams from all the regions, and that it would be part of their preparation funding. They have to play at home as much as possible as it is the way to sharpen organizational logistics, maybe some stadiums are ready, I am not sure, but in any case I bet our travel and stay come out of the SA budget for 2010. Apart from that having countries from all over the globe go to South Africa means promoting the country and its readiness to the world soccer community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Good news, let's hope we have another game against an african opponent on November 17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by loyola Good news, let's hope we have another game against an african opponent on November 17. Two friendlies in one week for Canada? Now that's just crazy talk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Well that's a relief to hear. A shame that it seems we are going to miss playing in October though (unless something is announced soon). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Well that's a relief to hear. A shame that it seems we are going to miss playing in October though (unless something is announced soon). I'm not saying it's a reason not to play game(s) in October but I always like to see what the ennemy is doing and it appears so far that October will be a quiet month for CONCACAF countries. I still hope we have a last minute announcement for a camp or a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. I'll bet South Africa made a deal that they would play friendlies at home against teams from all the regions, and that it would be part of their preparation funding. You're probably right; the host for a friendly or tournament usually pays for most of the cost, including accomodations, meals, and some transportation expenses. This is the same for international basketball, probably another reason that you can hardly see matches (in either soccer or basketball) played in Canada. There's usually some reciprocal agreement (like the matches against Jamaica), but well-funded hosts (like S.A. in this case) usually pay for these things to get their prep in order. This trip really becomes essential for our prep, since apparently we're on a tight budget. (I would suspect that's why reports about the U20s losing money would not be surprising.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefoot Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 there are so many good african countries, and it would be real challenge playing in those conditions....i hope we line up a game against cameroon!!! i lived there for six months, and might even consider a return visit if we do play a game there! hell i might even consider south africa...as its a good reason to get the heck out of canada winterland for a few weeks.. other nations worth a match...uganda, nigeria, senegal, tuniisia, there are quite a few really... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by lefoot there are so many good african countries, and it would be real challenge playing in those conditions....i hope we line up a game against cameroon!!! i lived there for six months, and might even consider a return visit if we do play a game there! hell i might even consider south africa...as its a good reason to get the heck out of canada winterland for a few weeks.. other nations worth a match...uganda, nigeria, senegal, tuniisia, there are quite a few really... It would be a little crazy to send our players half way around the world (its pretty damn far for our European players as well) to play one match. But certainly not beyond the realm of CSA absurdness. What about a match against a club team? South Africa has some half decent clubs does it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by gkhs It would be a little crazy to send our players half way around the world (its pretty damn far for our European players as well) to play one match. But certainly not beyond the realm of CSA absurdness. What about a match against a club team? South Africa has some half decent clubs does it not? Let's not forget that it's the SA federation that's paying for this game, so it's not that stupid to send the team there for one game. I surely hope we play another game but a one week training camp wouldn't be bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by loyola Let's not forget that it's the SA federation that's paying for this game, so it's not that stupid to send the team there for one game. I surely hope we play another game but a one week training camp wouldn't be bad either. Its silly, not for the money, but for the distance and complication of travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by gkhs Its silly, not for the money, but for the distance and complication of travel. Maybe, but we get some pretty silly travel in our region too. And it is going to give us a taste for South Africa, something we want the players to have, with a we'll be back. I think it is an excellent way to motivate the squad before qualifiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 quote:Originally posted by gkhs Its silly, not for the money, but for the distance and complication of travel. Well it can't be that much worse than flying the majority of the players from Europe to Canada (which we just did a couple of weeks ago) - and even then you have the problem of jumping several time zones which is usually the key thing cited in jet lag. The game is also at the tail end of a week-long international break, so the players should have adjusted by the time the game is played. If anything the problem will be how the clubs feel about playing these players once they have returned to their clubs. Although that is not going to be an issue for the MLS, Norwegian & Swedish-based players as I believe their seasons will be over by tha time. I'm of the view that we can't really afford to miss out on any decent-level friendlies. It's especially important that we play at least one game in the autumn to keep the team's on-field chemistry together & somewhat intact, rather than going 5 or 6 months in between games. Keys for this game personnel wise for me are: a) re-acquainting McKenna with his teammates, particularly his potential central defense partners, getting a look at Josh Simpson in the 4-5-1 & c) finding a spot for Tam (dependent of course on his citizenship situation). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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