2010 CONCACAF U17 Tournament

[Bill Spiers]

The big news now that the kids are home and parents are talking. It would seem that after the team beat the USA, BR announced to the team, that Head coach Morace had put the game plan together after the Mexico lost on how to defend against the mighty scoring machine. BR and his staff worked hard over the few days they had with the team to get them to commit and understand her game plan.

Well done Head Coach and Bravo B.R for working together for the girls and Canada....can we have some more of that for the world stage? It would be nice!

Gives an answer to those who were wondering what Morace was doing at the tournament ! Winning is all about teamwork ! The club I belong to has a great organisation with competent people working with each coach, attending games, evaluating players and coaches, recommanding courses of action and we have winning teams sometimes with players and/or coaches that are not as good as opponents that however can't rely on such support. Great BR and Morace teamed up together ! We need all help we can get wherever it might come from !

The information I have is slightly different. BR and his staff already had a game plan for whoever they would face in the semi-final - US or Costa Rica. Once it was known that the US were our opponents, BR certainly discussed the upcoming game with Morace and others and listened to their thoughts and suggestions on implementing the game plan.

And in response to an earlier comment, I understand BR had regular talks with IB recognising that he had scouted and selected many of these players and had worked with them up until the end of last year.

As one of the above posters said ... "Winning is all about teamwork!" ... and I think we saw the results of that teamwork in Costa Rica!

[Soccer 19]

Ya gotta love all of this political postering . The bottom line is that the players did there job's. Who cares whether it was a collective aggreement from Morace and her staffers to BR and his staffers. The girls all did their jobs that day and thats all that matters. I just find it funny that now all these stories are coming out that oil and water are now mixing together. Five months of hard preparation is now needed , camps , friendlies , more camps more friendlies. Lets hope the CSA is funding everything that BR and his taff want to do. I hope that we are not going to see the 17's keep playing the boys and that they get the international preperation they need to get them through the 1st round and further. Good luck in the coming months ladies and coaching staff.

[The Ref]

I know we are all singing praises to BR and the girls. All very deserving indeed. Now Morace has gotten into the picture like by magic. Maybe she had something to do with it too, who knows. But let us think for a minute that the U.S. had won by scoring towards the end of the game or in extra time. We would all be criticizing heavily B.R. for trying to defend with 8-9 players instead of trying to score. Did he planned it this way, to go to PK and win it there? I doubt it. But, who cares, he took a chance and won. Not only that, but his win will become part of Canadian soccer history.

[Bill Spiers]

But let us think for a minute that the U.S. had won by scoring towards the end of the game or in extra time. We would all be criticizing heavily B.R. for trying to defend with 8-9 players instead of trying to score. Did he planned it this way, to go to PK and win it there? I doubt it.

If you read the game report I posted on page 19 from a neutral (at least, not pro-Canadian) source - ussoccer.com - they certainly played a defensive strategy and hoped to score on the break. In fact, they appear to have had the better chances:

"While the USA dominated possession, it was actually Canada who had the better chances in the first half, all coming off counter attacks, set plays and several giveaways in the back by the Americans".

And the fact that the US keeper, Bryane Heaberlin, was named by ussoccer.com as Woman of the Match, confirms that play was not always in the Canadian end.

[mtlfan]

Agreed 100%

[kj52]

I must have been watching a different game. I was cheering full out for the Canadian girls, hoping to see an upset against the U.S. juggernaut but if the Americans had brought their shooting boots it would have been a debacle. My heart was in my mouth the entire game waiting for what seemed was going to be the inevitable breakthrough by the other side. It was great to see a team of gritty, never-say-die players pull off a David v. Goliath encounter but seriously does anyone really see a future playing that style? I thought U17 was about player development and exposure to international soccer for the players, not putting on exhibitions of bunker soccer. Where are our strikers and attacking mids in this country? on vacation?

[Vic]

No, they're in the World Cup.

[mtlfan]

No, they're in the World Cup.

Well said!

[Soccer9]

On the above.....We are in the WC yes, but reality is that we need to play better soccer and score more goals. Would we need better skilled players, well this would not hurt. Are there some not on the team currently.... well yes to that also as it is always the case with our National teams. But this was the case with the U17's in New Zealand also; We got to the 1/4 finals with a narrow win vs NZ and 2 ties, one being vs Panama I believe? And in CR we had some trouble also.

For me this is not always about whether we have the right player selection but lack of proper preparation. We are very good at organising our female teams defensively especially having a nice pool of athletic players. But being effective in the attacking third, well that is a different story... lots more time needed to get that working well. Having 2-3 camps will not get you very far on that front.

Hopefully, we can progress on this point this summer a lot more, including bringing in new players to challenge the ones that went to CR already... You always need that to build a winning/competitive team.