Canadians abroad: February 22-28, 2008

[nolando]

yikes...Onstad plays 90 and lets in 6, including four from the same player (the brazilian Bare) as houston loses the final of the pan-pacific championship 6-1 to gamba osaka...no sign or mention of DDR.

too bad all of the sides used so many spare parts in the tournament as it would have been really interesting for a fan of any of those leagues (as many of us here are) to know how their team really measures up to the other leagues.

Apparently it was a record crowd for a hawaian soccer match.

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080224&content_id=140376&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

BTW there was no sign of Harmse again as galaxy won the 3rd place game 2-1 against Sydney, so at least one aussie fan would have been disappointed not to have seen some revenge thrown Harmse's way

[jpg75]

Klukowski on for the whole 90 as Brugges regain sole possession of 1st place overall with a 0-1 win at Lokeren.

[MM2]

http://www.insidesoccer.net/

New format, in process of creating profiles for all players that well be linked to the player's

name in the table, see D'Agostino for an example. There is also a profile for Stalteri on the site, will be linked next week.

[SCF08]

Graham Ramalho played 90mins for FC Groningen reserves in a 0-2 loss against FC Twente reserves.

Marcel de Jong is starting for Roda JC in the Dutch Cup QF away against FC Dordrecht from the first division.

EDIT :

Roda have taken a 0-2 lead after 50 minutes and Marcel de Jong scored the 0-2 from a free-kick on the right wing. He curled in a cross and it didnt get touched by anyone and it found the corner of the net.

[Winnipeg Fury]

quote:Originally posted by SCF08

Graham Ramalho played 90mins for FC Groningen reserves in a 0-2 loss against FC Twente reserves.

Marcel de Jong is starting for Roda JC in the Dutch Cup QF away against FC Dordrecht from the first division.

EDIT :

Roda have taken a 0-2 lead after 50 minutes and Marcel de Jong scored the 0-2 from a free-kick on the right wing. He curled in a cross and it didnt get touched by anyone and it found the corner of the net.

Welcome back, we were worried you had left us

[Guest Can. in UK]

Ross Smith set up the only goal in D&R's victory last night.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7260365.stm

Incidentally, they have gone on a pretty good run since his regular inclusion in the team (3 wins in a row!!). Looks like they will avoid relegation.

[N-A]

Hastings plays 90mins for ICT away to Celtic in the Scottish Premier. Picks up a YC in the 76mins for unsporting behaviour.

2:1 Celtic

[loyola]

Some Adam Street news for the last month:

Adam was in goal (and feeling "unwell" at the start of the game) as WHU U-18's won 2-0 against Crystal Palace on February 23.

February 16, Street was also in goal as WHU U-18's won 1-0 against Southampton.

Feb 9, he was in goal for a 4-1 win over Norwich City U-18's.

Feb 2, he was in goal in a 2-0 win over Arsenal. The press release mentionned that Street was fully fit again after his collarbone injury.

Jan 26, he was in goal in a 3-3 tie with Charlton Athletics U-18.

He was an unused sub for the reserves against Fulham on Feb 20th, against Birmingham City on the 12 and again on January 23 against Portsmouth (Begovic was in goal for Portsmouth).

[tarnado1555362291]

Lars Hirschfeld starting for CFR Cluj in the Romanian Cup against FC Brasov. 0-0 to start the second half.

Cluj move on after a 1-0 win in extra time.

[papa stillz]

Hello everyone,

Since Bigbird has stopped reporting on Italy I will report on Robert Stillo's progress on Genoa's Allievi Nazionale team every now and then. He is one of a few Canadian kids I follow because obviously there is a connection. He is doing very well and is presently in 4th place in the league, 4 teams seperated by only a few points. He has the second lowest goals against, only to the Juventus goalie. He is training well and Genoa is happy with his progress. He trains with Rubinhio and Scarpi from the first team on occasion and has been on the bench for the reserve team against Mantova. We are going over for march break to watch a few matches, one against Torino who is just ahead in the standings. Should be a great trip. He has also been scouted for the U-17 Italian National team. A shame because Canada is putting all their eggs in a basket with certain keepers with not much interest in kids that fall thru the cracks, he being only one of a few I could mention. Robert would like nothing more than to play for his birth country and maybe one day that might happen. Untill then, he will just keep training and making things happen for himself in Europe. For anyone who is interested in further info, I would be glad to send links or Pictures of the matches and results. Thank you www.genoacfc.it

[Joe MacCarthy]

quote:Originally posted by papa stillz

He has also been scouted for the U-17 Italian National team. A shame because Canada is putting all their eggs in a basket with certain keepers with not much interest in kids that fall thru the cracks, he being only one of a few I could mention. Robert would like nothing more than to play for his birth country and maybe one day that might happen.

First, thank you for the update and please keep posting about Robert's progress as we are all interested.

But let's just nip this stuff in the bud right now. We've just had more than our share of a player playing musical countries. Either the kid is Canadian or not. He wants to play for his country or not. As they say, the name on the front of the shirt is a helluva lot more important than the name on the back.

Welcome to the forum and keep the reports coming

[youllneverwalkalone]

I don't want to discourage anyone from posting and I don't blame anyone from feeling a connection to their parents' country, but what I do find distressing is that De Guzman, Fernandes, Vitoria, and now this post all bring up petty hurt feelings about being cut/ignored from some useless Canadian youth team.

I realise it must be flaterring and tempting to play U-17 for Italy but what are the odds Roberto will ever start for the Italian Senior team? Let's just say 100 to 1 for arguments sake. What are the odds he could start for Canada. Well, it has to be a lot better, say 10 to 1. Probably better cause Street is the only other name I think of in his age group. Those are good odds. Really good odds. If he bides his time, establishes himself as a pro, he can't be ignored for long. Our player pool is just too small. Especially at keeper.

Maybe in five years when -here's hoping- Daniel Fernandes still doesn't have a senior cap for Portugal he will be leading us to 2014.

[jpg75]

It doesn't help that Canada has not had a camp yet for the '89+ group forming the next U20's. But even if we had a U17 camp this year for the '91's, there's no telling who would make the team. There's Adam Street, Roberto, Julien L-L and the DeBellis kid at Benfica all contending.

IMO, we need to have a good look at all 4 of these goalies to figure out what each is capable of.

[massimo]

quote:Originally posted by papa stillz

He has also been scouted for the U-17 Italian National team. A shame because Canada is putting all their eggs in a basket with certain keepers with not much interest in kids that fall thru the cracks, he being only one of a few I could mention. Robert would like nothing more than to play for his birth country and maybe one day that might happen. Until then, he will just keep training and making things happen for himself in Europe.

I agree with Papa Stillz on this one, I have seen this as well. Players that are not placed by the inner circle of their club/region or CSA become a sort of 2nd class citizen here in Canada, I just find that sad, very sad.

On another note the best of luck to Robert Forza Inter...I mean GENOA hehehe.

[Joe MacCarthy]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

I don't want to discourage anyone from posting and I don't blame anyone from feeling a connection to their parents' country, but what I do find distressing is that De Guzman, Fernandes, Vitoria, and now this post all bring up petty hurt feelings about being cut/ignored from some useless Canadian youth team.

IIRC Rob Friend was ignored for quite a spell. Now look at him with the Nats and his club. No excuses, pouting, threatening, or other assorted immature BS. I believe when he was left off the Gold Cup squad (a few years ago) that was playing in Seattle (correct me if I'm wrong) he expressed "disappointment" he wasn't contacted when so close by. Richard Hastings is another good example of class behaviour, just being honoured to wear the Leaf, biding his time and look what he did at the Gold Cup.

Only 11 can play, someone has to be left out, just be patient, wait your turn and if you're good enough, you'll play.

I always hear about beer buddies and "the auld boys network" pulling the strings, well if that's the case, judging by the look of our team today, some of those "auld boys" have some really good suntans.

It just makes me wonder what parent will be smart enough to realize that his kid might be the superstar to take Canadian soccer to the next level and maybe attain the accompanying endorsement opportunities of a Donovan Bailey, Mike Weir etc because the soccer field (pardon the expression) is wide open.

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by Joe MacCarthy

IIRC Rob Friend was ignored for quite a spell. Now look at him with the Nats and his club. No excuses, pouting, threatening, or other assorted immature BS. I believe when he was left off the Gold Cup squad (a few years ago) that was playing in Seattle (correct me if I'm wrong) he expressed "disappointment" he wasn't contacted when so close by. Richard Hastings is another good example of class behaviour, just being honoured to wear the Leaf, biding his time and look what he did at the Gold Cup.

Only 11 can play, someone has to be left out, just be patient, wait your turn and if you're good enough, you'll play.

It just makes me wonder what parent will be smart enough to realize that his kid might be the superstar to take Canadian soccer to the next level and maybe attain the accompanying endorsement opportunities of a Donovan Bailey, Mike Weir etc because the soccer field (pardon the expression) is wide open.

Couldn't agree more. Whatever grievance these players/prima donnas

may have, legitimate or not, such is life.

As my old coach would say when complaining about something:

"ahh, just walk it off ...";)

[papa stillz]

Thanks to all for the welcome to the post. For clarity to some of the comments, Robert is in no way bitter or angry about not being recognized by his birth country. The best word used was "disappointed" and in no way stops him from trying to attain his dream of playing at the top level. The oversight should be used as motivation to attain your dream no matter what people may think and that is what he was brought up to believe.If anything, it can be used as another example of how somebody at Canadas top level failed to see potential in a player that another country jumped all over. Have we seen that before? From conversations with some of the coaches, they seriously didn't realize that we had youth players that could potentially play at the top levels. Our sport is hockey. If nothing else, he has opened some eyes in Italy about our country.If I recall, was not Street looked at for Englands national team as well? Is he any less canadian? It is a compliment that they are looking at Robert as well and I don't think any kid would turn down any chance they had to play internationally for what ever country wanted them......just my opinion. Great things are achieved by great dreams!