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Canadian All-Time XI


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Whenever I think of our great goal scorers it always baffles me how the all time leader only has 19. Stern John on t&t has something like 67 international goals. Then landycakes isnt even thirty and he has over 30 himself.

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quote:Originally posted by Alex

Whenever I think of our great goal scorers it always baffles me how the all time leader only has 19. Stern John on t&t has something like 67 international goals. Then landycakes isnt even thirty and he has over 30 himself.

Yup! that speak volumes and pretty much answers the question of why we have qualified for the WC only once.

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quote:Originally posted by fishman

I know that this is going back in time, but if Lettieri is being mentioned, surely Jack Brand deserves a shout.

How about Ken Pears or Joe Kennaway? Tough to judge players from different eras. Pears played senior amateur in BC and the 1958 World Cup qualifiers. Kennaway played eight seasons as Celtic's first choice in the 1930s. He won the Scottish league twice and the Scottish Cup twice.

Maybe the list should be Canada's All Time Television XI.

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We had this debate years ago, it’s fun to revist it now. I’m happy to say I have no doubt about DeGuzman’s place. I recall saying DeGuzman had to prove himself over more time to be in that stature. Hopefully in three or four years Atiba Hutchinson will have made the same leap.

Up top is so hard. Even if you bump DeRosario or Mitchell to a withdrawn/midfield role there’s still Catliff, Bunbury, Segota, Vrablic, Pesch, Radzinski . . . and those that are mocking Catliff need to remember (or realize) what he was like when he had good knees.

Great shout on Erroll Crossan. A ‘forgotten’ Canadian great. Plus Carl Valentine as another great outside mid as well.

I know it’s a totally different era but Joe Kennaway was easily one of the best keepers in the world in the 30s.

For arguments’ sake (in classic 4-5-1): Kennaway; Lenarduzzi, Samuel, DeVos, Wilson; Stalteri, DeGuzman, Gray; Mitchell, DeRosario; Bunbury/Catliff.

I can’t decide on a target forward they were both so good in different ways. There’s maybe less depth in midfield as far as names being mentioned, but I’d take those three in a heartbeat.

You could also swap Lenarduzzi and Stalteri, but I think both deserve to be in the 11.

cheers,

matthew

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quote:Originally posted by Alex

Whenever I think of our great goal scorers it always baffles me how the all time leader only has 19. Stern John on t&t has something like 67 international goals. Then landycakes isnt even thirty and he has over 30 himself.

Landycakes has 100 caps for the US and 36 goals. For perspective, that is a Dale Mitchell like ratio (19 in 55 caps).

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quote:Originally posted by Free kick

There are other things to consider. Concacaf was a very different region at the time. There was civil war and political unrest throughout central america and though Canada may have seemed like a power in the region several notches below Mexico, that was likely more as result of weakness in the region than our actual strength. The US was nothing and had nothing in the game to offer.

I don't agree with this analysis. The only change is that the US has joined Mexico as a perennial qualifier. There were always good Central American and Caribeann teams, they just ebb and flow in terms of who the power is based on developing one or two exceptional players. Haiti, El Salvador and Surinam were regional second tier powers on par with us. Other nations were pretty good, not pushoevers for us by any means and have remained essentially where they were then. Costa Rica is currently coming back to the pack. Any notion of them permanently being in the top 3 is extremely far fetched IMO. We've had a blip. Keep in mind that we were second as late as the 1994 WC Qualifying, at a time when CONCACAF had but one spot (the Host US taking a second, and at that point, no better than equal to us).

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quote:Originally posted by Gordon

Landycakes has 100 caps for the US and 36 goals. For perspective, that is a Dale Mitchell like ratio (19 in 55 caps).

But I think that both ratios are very good. Though you have consider the uniqueness of this region compared to Europe and south america where every team is tough and there are few small sides. In Conacaf its the opposite. Peschisolido was at clip hovering around 10 goals in 50 games. But take away the goals he scored against the tiny countries in our region and/or the goals he scored non official competitions and the strike rate become even more glaring. I checked it out once and it become something like one or two goals in total.

I am not saying that its all his fault. The team and tactics had a lot to do with it. But still this all makes Mitchell and Donovan's numbers more impressive. But its also why I did not include Pesch on my list even though if you were to consider clubs and professional career, you might place him ahead of Mitchell and arguably even Bunbury.

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Pelerud says..

Coach Even Pellerud, who led his native Norway to the FIFA Women's World Cup crown in 1995, has nothing but the highest praise for his star striker.

"She is without doubt the greatest player in the history of Canadian soccer, male or female," said the Norwegian tactician, who will be stepping down after the Beijing Games. "When Christine is one her game she makes her team-mates believe that they can beat anyone in the world."

So does Sinclair get on the list of Canada/s greatest 11 ?

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quote:Originally posted by Trillium

Pelerud says..

Coach Even Pellerud, who led his native Norway to the FIFA Women's World Cup crown in 1995, has nothing but the highest praise for his star striker.

"She is without doubt the greatest player in the history of Canadian soccer, male or female," said the Norwegian tactician, who will be stepping down after the Beijing Games. "When Christine is one her game she makes her team-mates believe that they can beat anyone in the world."

So does Sinclair get on the list of Canada/s greatest 11 ?

Is she playing against men?

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quote:Originally posted by Whither Canada

Is she playing against men?

Nope most of her games are against low ranking third world countries... but hey .. its the National team coach talking FIFA.com surely his opinion has to be valued ? ... or does it ?
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