2010 CONCACAF U17 Tournament

[Vic]

March 9-20, 2010

- CONCACAF U17 Championships

- Women's U17 World Cup Qualifier

- Host: San José, Costa Rica

- Eight entrants, 1v2 crossover, top 2 teams qualify for World Cup

[u]GROUP A[/u]:  USA / Costa Rica / Haiti / Cayman Islands

[u]GROUP B[/u]:  [COLOR="red"][b]Canada[/b][/COLOR] / Mexico / Jamaica / Panama


[i]* Kickoff times in U.S. Eastern; local times in parentheses[/i]


Thursday, March 11:  Jamaica vs. [COLOR="red"][b]Canada[/b][/COLOR], 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, March 13:  Panama vs. [COLOR="red"][b]Canada[/b][/COLOR], 4:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m.)

  Monday, March 15:  [COLOR="red"][b]Canada[/b][/COLOR] vs. Mexico , 9:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Thursday, March 18:  Semifinal 1, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.)

Thursday, March 18:  Semifinal 2, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Saturday, March 20:  Third-Place - Semifinal losers, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.)

Saturday, March 20:  Championship - Semifinal winners, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake last month, will open the CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship against the defending champion United States, the start of the 16-game, 11-day event.

Despite the calamity which according to some estimates has killed 200,000 in the country, Haiti has confirmed its participation in the second biennial U-17 championship, the first time it has qualified for the CONCACAF finals of a women's youth event since the 2002 U-19 tournament.

CONCACAF President Jack Warner visited Haiti on Sunday, committing support and offering encouragement to the Haitian Football Federation.

"Haiti's participation in this tournament under the most difficult circumstances is a testament to the will and commitment of the Haitian Football Federation, their players and coaches and the Haitian people," Warner said. "We applaud their perseverance and look forward to working together to rebuild their football program and country."

The team already has arrived in Santo Domingo, where the Dominican Football Federation is providing lodging, training facilities and other assistance to help prepare the side for next month's championship.

The tournament, to be played entirely at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium - the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense - in Alajuela, Costa Rica, will open March 10, a day later than originally announced, and will conclude with the title and third-place matches on March 20.

Like the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship in January, all matches from the U-17 event will be streamed live free of charge at CONCACAF.com. Each game will also be available on-demand shortly after its conclusion.

The CONCACAF event will qualify two teams, along with Under-17 Women's World Cup host Trinidad & Tobago, for the world championship in September.

Immediately following the Haiti-United States match, host Costa Rica will play the Cayman Islands in the nightcap of the opening day, Group B doubleheader.

Group A will begin the following day, March 11, with Panama playing Mexico and Jamaica facing Canada.

Group play will continue on alternate days through March 15, with the semifinals set for March 18.

From CONCACAF.com: http://www.concacaf.com/page/WUnder17s/NewsDetail/0,,12813~1953542,00.html

[Guest Ed]

I see the US got an incredibly tough group, not a bunch of pushovers like Canada's group. LOL. I am surprised T&T weren't somehow in Group A but they are host.

[Vic]

I think a talented director could do a great documentary on the USA v. Cayman game.

The Panamanian women have not played in a long time and I have no idea what their youth programs are like. They could well be a major surprise.

The two finalists go the the World Cup so the rules of engagement are pretty simple:

Route 1 - is winning the group and beating Costa Rica in the semi. You never know in group play and we could squeeze through with a tie, but that probably means winning every game and beating Mexico, Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica.

Route 2 - is coming in second in the group and beating the USA in the final. Not impossible but the Americans do a lot of national work at the 14/15/16 age groups that give them a bigger head start at this age and make it even more formidable.

[ThruBall]

The U17 is age group is where composure on the ball and technical skills among a broad base of players may be at a minimum, perhaps even for the USA team. With Concacaf Championship being the first International Championship for the majority of attending players, nerves and a lack of awareness regarding the speed of play at this level will intensify the pressure players feel during a game. A simple style of soccer for an inexperienced team could prove to be a very effective team tactic going into the competition. Canada’s direct style may be a handful to deal with for a lot of the players competing. However, if the technical skills and tactical advances in player and team play demonstrated at the U20 competition are similar for the U17 age group, it will be a long and hard and painful competition for our Canadian girls. :confused:

I think the top competition among the attending nations is USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada. It will definitely be a signal if Canada doesn’t make the semi-final games. Making it into the championship game must be considered a significant achievement for these players and the program.

[Soccer9]

You are right in saying that a more simple/direct play can be effective at this age especially if you have not practiced together as a team much. Maybe this is why BR is building the team the way he is...

US U17's maybe more impressive than their U20's performance recently. The U17s have had quite a bit of int'l experience and just last week played the German U17's and beat them 2x... not under ideal conditions apparently... so maybe these games do not represent the full story. They also played Germany last year 2x. And went to Argentina for a few games and did well....

From what I hear, our U17's will be going to T&T for a warm-up tournament end of Feb and then directly to Cost Rica for the championship. They will be away for more than 3 weeks! Quite a challenge for a young group of players.

Hoping for the best, or else we will have nothing to follow in our youth WNT for a long while.

[Vic]

Very true about nerves and tactics and the Americans this year. Last time we went to France for a couple of games, and I'm really curious why we are sending these kids in virtually capless and cold. And not just age-wise compared to our U20 women's preparation, it's gender too - the last U17 boy's U17 qualification prep included:

Mexico - 13 day camp, 5 games

Florida/Guatemala - 12 day camp, 4 games

Costa Rica - 9 day camp, 3 games

That's 34 days and 12 games, all out of the country representing Canada.

The Panamian women beat Guatemala and Costa Rica a couple of times a few years ago. They could well show up green like Cuba at the U20, but if they have someone talented running things, they could also show up and win the group.

[lensois]

The U17 is age group is where composure on the ball and technical skills among a broad base of players may be at a minimum, perhaps even for the USA team...

However, if the technical skills and tactical advances in player and team play demonstrated at the U20 competition are similar for the U17 age group, it will be a long and hard and painful competition for our Canadian girls. :confused:

Having attended and written a technical report on the last U-17 World Cup I can say that a broad base lack of technical ability and composure were not in evidence by a lot of the team. If anything, these areas were good, it was the teams that were tactically limited that had some problems. While there was good turnover in the Canadian roster for U-20 qualifying, most of the other teams included a pretty good number of U-17 players from the previous cycle so what we saw in the past few weeks was a progression of what was seen in the U-17 cycle. My guess would be that this crop of U-17s on the whole will be even better, particularly out of those countries who are really pouring resources into their women's programs--Japan and North Korea in Asia, Costa Rica and T&T (especially for this tournament as the hosts) in CONCACAF, Chile in SA, the Scandinavian countries, Netherlands, Germany, France in Europe, and New Zealand continues to devote more resources to its program in Oceania.

[Vic]

Yes, it's all about fluidity

The Japanese were insane. And the North Korean U19's, I mean U17's, are always clinical.

France had the bad luck to draw Iceland and Germany in their U17 group and couldn't nab one of the six 2nd place wildcards and didn't make the European final 16. England is throwing a lot into their youth programs, and Sweden and Norway always do too. The surprises so far are the Swiss and the Irish. I've heard the Swiss have their act together.

Wouldn't it be great to see Mana Iwabuchi and Rosie White do it again.

[lensois]

France had the bad luck to draw Iceland and Germany in their U17 group and couldn't nab one of the six 2nd place wildcards and didn't make the European final 16.

Indeed, I was confusing the 2010/2011 standings with the 2009/2010 standings.

England is throwing a lot into their youth programs, and Sweden and Norway always do too.

Denmark should be included in that group as well.

The surprises so far are the Swiss and the Irish. I've heard the Swiss have their act together.

The Swiss certainly do have a fine program up and running, they are starting to produce some young players on a pretty regular basis. Ramona Bachmann should be interesting to watch this season in WPS.

I know that the Irish are very excited by their crop of U-17s. Of course, they are also interested in discovering any US or Canadian players with Irish heritage to give a look at both the 17 and 19 levels. Bit of a touchy subject around here lately I know!

[ThruBall]

"Originally posted by Lensois

Having attended and written a technical report on the last U-17 World Cup I can say that a broad base lack of technical ability and composure were not in evidence by a lot of the team. If anything, these areas were good, it was the teams that were tactically limited that had some problems.

I'm reading into this that the attending top teams i.e. USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada will require depth with in their player selection, and in particular carry players who possess above average soccer skills with an ability to play in different field positions effectively......Sounds like the days of the "keep it simple" game theory has passed!

[Vic]

I know that the Irish are very excited by their crop of U-17s. Of course, they are also interested in discovering any US or Canadian players with Irish heritage to give a look at both the 17 and 19 levels. Bit of a touchy subject around here lately I know!

There's usually not a month goes by the men's threads aren't a lot more "colourful." There's a girl in the Portuguese system, the American flip-thrower in the Brazilian, the Caribbean connections are well known, etc. As Ed mentioned in his list he is somewhat fond of players who were never given an opportunity with Canada. I'd go even farther and say I hope they do great. Another is the Pickering woman with the Jamaicans. But the rest is for the other thread.

If you come across any interesting U17 build-up please share the wealth...

[lensois]

There's usually not a month goes by the men's threads aren't a lot more "colourful." There's a girl in the Portuguese system, the American flip-thrower in the Brazilian, the Caribbean connections are well known, etc. As Ed mentioned in his list he is somewhat fond of players who were never given an opportunity with Canada. I'd go even farther and say I hope they do great. Another is the Pickering woman with the Jamaicans. But the rest is for the other thread.

Tony DiCicco recently talked about the number of US players that are playing for other countries. His comment was that the US really hasn't lost an impact player YET, but sooner or later he feels it will happen. The Mexican U-20s had a couple US players.

The list of Canadian players not given a chance could be pretty long. Just off the top of my head of youth players you have the likes of Nahiomy Ortiz and Sydney Horeau but as you said, that is better discussed in the other thread.

If you come across any interesting U17 build-up please share the wealth...

No problem at all.

[Vic]

Just some odds and ends:

The object of affection:

England has two Americans in their U17 camp announced last week.

We'll not see them until the World Cup later this year, but Pellerud has 8 Americans and 4 Canadians from the GTA in camp.

Chile has had their team set and been at it for 18 months.

Colombia had a 28-day training camp in Bogota and Bali.

Jamaica has 10 players from their 2008 Caribbean U15 Championship side that beat Haiti 3-0 and Trinidad & Tobago 3-2 in the final. They play a 4-4-2 and two of their key players are captain Trudi Carter (who just turned 15 two months ago) and Shanise Foster who both play in the midfield for their U20 team. Their main threat up front is Teola Caine who regularly provides the lion's share of their attack, including a hat trick in their first leg of their Aruba playoff, and another four in the 8-0 second leg.

The Panamanian coach Ezequiel Fernandez see's the tournament as an opportunity to gain experience. Their main provider up front is Angela Evans who scored half their goals in their final home and away with El Salvador for the last berth. No idea what kind of teams they send but in the U17 Central American Student Games, the Panamanian women strolled past Costa Rica 6-1. Panama is looking to play two international matches before the end of February, and they play Mexico on opening day, so we should have a good idea of what to expect well enough in advance.

[The Ref]

Our girls will play a 4 nations tournament in T&T as announced by T&T.

http://ttffonline.com/cms/index.php

[Vic]

What a downer when they cut out the music in that clip and flipped to Island Jack. Even if those kaleidoscope photos were making me feel higher than bejesus.

We play Mexico and Jamaica in group so that makes this tournament a pure poker game.

My Trini isn't world class but I'll attempt some translations:

"Warner revealed that initially efforts were made to get Norway, Sweden and the United States to play the tournament as well, but all were unavailable."

The response from the other end of the phone when they were asked to come was: "ewwwww"

"And he specially thanked sponsors First Citizens Bank, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coca Cola, stating that without them the tournament would not be possible, the Express reported."

Power Bar, Muscle Milk and Lucozade were "unavailable." Recent studies have shown that a breakfast of cold leftover congealed KFC and a litre of Coke is not only rocket fuel for a noon match, but will flush your system and mask even the most complex performance-enhancing compounds.

"’All three of them are helping to cushion the blow because this event is costing $1 million,’ he added."

We're shouldering a lot because some of these countries have nothing, and others countries have a lot but their teams have nothing.

"’Teams that do well in the World Cup generally excel because of home advantage. They have a country that believes in them. They have stars that the country know. The stadia are filled with voices shouting their names and chanting slogans synonymous to country support. We are ready, but we need to get fanatical. The world is coming to play and we must get behind the team and make sure they know that they are in Trinidad and Tobago,’ [Nataki] Kerr said."

Smart lady.

Closer to home we have stars too, and we don't need MTV or youtube, but we could use simple announcements of who we are playing and the team that's going.

[Soccer9]

That made me laugh Vic! He is a character that Jack.

Playing these teams 2 weeks before we meet them in Concacaf is pretty weird; like an exhibition game before a tournament against the same teams you will play in the tournament. This would have been great in Aug/Sep/09.

Sadder thing is that we need this warm-up tournament more than any other nation going.. so beggars can't be choosers!

As for the type of sponsor, well there I would take them any day if we can get a similar tournament in Canada.

[Vic]

Courtesy of the CSA:

Canada to participate in Women’s U-17 Four Nation Tournament

Canada will participate in a Women’s U-17 Four Nation Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago this 28 February to 5 March. The four-team tournament will feature Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and host Trinidad and Tobago. The tournament will feature players born 1993 or later.

“We are very grateful to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association for their gracious invitation to this Four Nations tournament,” said national women’s U-17 coach Bryan Rosenfeld. “These games will be our first international matches of the 2010 season. They will provide a great opportunity and challenge for the team prior to the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship in Costa Rica.”

Canada faces Mexico on 28 February, Jamaica on 3 March and Trinidad and Tobago on 5 March. Canada’s first two matches kick off at 17.30 while its third match kicks off at 19.30. All six matches will be played at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium.

The tournament provides an excellent stepping stone for the three invited nations who will then participate in the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship just one week later from 10-20 March. Only two of the eight teams in the 2010 championship will qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago. Host Trinidad and Tobago has already automatically qualified and will not participate in the CONCACAF championship.

Canada, whose title sponsor is BMO Financial Group, is looking to qualify for a second-straight FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Two years ago, Canada finished third at the inaugural CONCACAF championship and then reached the quarter-final stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008.

[ThruBall]

Interesting picture! The players seem to be talking or at least looking to someone with in their group, focused and attentive. Good to see.

Playing in a friendly against two of the teams Canada will need to beat in order to advance in the qualification tournament is a good idea; however is it good judgement by the head coach to be attending this competition just days before the championship tournament begins?

One could say "nothing ventured nothing gained" and it is very true this team lacks any real international preparation. My feeling is that the T&T competition has the potential to introduce risk of injury and will have an impact on player focus and possibly intensity. Asking players at this age to remain committed at the highest level for a period of 30 plus days outside of their natural environment, seems to be introducing an extra element of stress that the team will need to over come.

Anybody have other thoughts on this subject?:confused:

[The Ref]

Call me crazy but at a young age kids don't get injured as much or as often. This tourney may not be ideal but when the CSA does not give you anything else, at least it becomes a good run.

[navycyr]

As found on Quebec soccer federation site, there will be a training camp in Florida prior to the T & T tournament, players leaving Canada on February 23rd. 5 Quebec players, were selected all attending NTC.

CINQ QUÉBÉCOISES QUITTERONT BIENTÔT POUR LA FLORIDE

Cinq jeunes joueuses québécoises quitteront le 23 février prochain pour un camp de l’Équipe nationale U17-F en Floride avant de participer à un tournoi qui se tiendra au Mannie Ramjohn Stadium à Marabella, Trinidad-Tobago du 28 février au 5 mars. Ce tournoi regroupera quatre (4) pays soit le Canada, la Jamaïque, le Mexique et le pays hôte Trinidad-Tobago. Les jeunes filles sélectionnées sont :

- Sabrina Hémond (Lac St-Louis Lakers)

- Caroline Beaulne (Longueuil)

- Kylie Davis (Lac St-Louis Lakers)

- Charlene Achille (Longueuil)

- Sophie Therien (Lac St-Louis Lakers)

Suite à ce tournoi, l’entraîneur Brian Rosenfeld fera connaître sa sélection finale avant de quitter pour le Costa Rica où l’équipe canadienne participera aux qualifications de la CONCACAF du 10 au 20 mars en vue d’une qualification à la Coupe du monde U17 féminine de la FIFA 2010 qui se tiendra à Trinidad-Tobago du 5 au 25 septembre.

[Vic]

Yes clubs and districts all over the country have been promoting their kids who have been selected for a few weeks now. Bit of a curiosity why the team has never been posted.

Congrats to the Quebec girls.

Charlene Achile, Sabrina Hémond, Sophie Therrien, Kylie Davis and Caroline Beaulne

[Vic]

Just some U17 catch-up, going to have to break it into pieces to get the photos in.

First, due to a conflict with the local club team LD Alajuelense for the night spot our second game against Panama on the 13th has been rescheduled to 4:30pm EST.

CONCACAF Promo

[Vic]

USA

- in Florida this week to pare down from 24 to 20

- the team did 6 events last year and this is their second this year

- the play U of Miami Friday night

- 17 - 1993's, 6 - 1994's, 1 - 1995

- Morgan Brian followed up her two goals in the 2-0 Argentina win with a goal and assist in the 2-1 win over the German U17's

- results earlier this year against German youth teams:

Feb 1

2:1 (0:1) Germany U17

GER – Lena Petermann (16)

USA – Morgan Brian (70)

USA – Kaysie Clark (79)

USA/GER

Shots: 14 / 3

Shots on Goal: 8 / 2

Saves: 1 / 6

Corner Kicks: 2 / 0

Fouls: 7 / 13

Offside: 3 / 1

Feb 2

2:1 (0:0) Germany U16

USA – Kaysie Clark (63)

GER – Jacqueline De Backer (71)

USA – Lindsey Horan (76)

USA/GER

Shots: 9 / 5

Shots on Goal: 6 / 4

Saves: 2 / 4

Corner Kicks: 2 / 5

Fouls: 8 / 4

Offside: 2 / 2

[Vic]

JAMAICA

- just finished 2 games in Grand Cayman

- Speedy striker Shenika Williams (above) scored a hat-trick to lead Jamaica's Under-17 Reggae Girls to a 3-1 victory over the Cayman Islands in the first friendly and 6-0 over them on Sunday in the second.

- The last time both teams met was last May (2009) at the Drax Hall Play field in St Ann, Jamaica when that game ending 3-2 in favor of the Jamaicans. At half time the teams were locked at 2-2. In the second half Jamaica got their third goal in the dying moments of the game.

- A four-goal salvo in 10 minutes before halftime on Sunday left Cayman reeling and Jamaica coasting to a two-game sweep of the weekend series that served as a warmup for the CONCACAF Finals being held in Costa Rica next month. Shenika Williams scored four and Trudi Carter had the other two.

Shots on target:

Jamaica 7, Cayman 2

Shots off target: Jamaica 4,

Cayman 3

Corners:

Jamaica 4,

Cayman 4

Bookings:

Cayman: Alyssa Chin, Jetena Bodden, Amanda Nelson ;

Jamaica: Shantel Bailey Monique Roberts scythes down Shantel Bailey.

Cayman Net News Player of the Match: Shenika Williams (Jamaica)

[Vic]

CAYMAN ISLANDS

- Jamaica defeated the Cayman Islands 3-1 on Friday and 6-0 on Sunday. Chelsea “Charlie” Brown scored for the Cayman Islands. Caymans split their roster and played half each game.

- The Cayman girls were qualified last December for this final and have been undergoing technical training under the directions of Technical Director Thiago Cunha and Head Coach Bobby McLaren since early January.

- En-route to this finals they met the Dominican Republic on their turf and drew 2-2 despite losing their number one goal keeper Emily Kelly in the 25th minute of the game. Ashani Francis took over from Kelly in goal and did a fine job as goalkeeper.