Canada vs Venezuela (May 29th)

[loyola]

I was just thinking it's been quieter right now than I can remember previously...

A lot of long time posters have either disappeared or are posting a lot less these days. Jeffrey S., Joe Mac, Winnipeg Fury, Massive Attack, YNWA and a few others as well. I think this is why this place is quiet....a win against Argentina would change that in a second

[xabuep2]

Is this the same stadium we played the friendly at in 2007?

No Scottie, the game played in 2007 was at the "Pachenchon Romero" stadium in Maracaibo, second city of Venezuela. That game finished 2 - 2.... I remember was a good game, Stephen Hart was the head coach of Canada like now.

[Obinna]

I don't know really I can't quite put my finger on it. sure it has improved features like you mentioned but I actually have a bit of trouble getting on this one sometimes, mabye its just me though.

[gator]

I don't mind the new forum, I kind of like the added features! I do wonder where some of the veteran posters have gone, it has been super quiet on here! Hopefully with all the MNT action coming up old and new posters will get more involved, sometimes it's dissappointing to post something and have no responses for a day or two! Getting back to the topic, I really look forward to this match, the last one (2-2 draw) was realexciting! There's lots of action ahead, come on guys throw some ideas out there!

[canucklefan]

I was just thinking it's been quieter right now than I can remember previously...

A lot of long time posters have either disappeared or are posting a lot less these days. Jeffrey S., Joe Mac, Winnipeg Fury, Massive Attack, YNWA and a few others as well. I think this is why this place is quiet....a win against Argentina would change that in a second

I don't know if I'm part of the exeption or part of the rule, but to me, there's not reason to get exited, at least not yet. This is WC's year and we are talking about friendlies and also, if you look at recent results, our NT has collected a lot of losing results, to be more specific, Canada has lost in his last 4 games. Do I want to see our NMT play against these football nations? Yes, of couse, and I hope to get some wins, or at least one win but that remains to be seen.

[loyola]

I don't know if I'm part of the exeption or part of the rule, but to me, there's not reason to get exited, at least not yet. This is WC's year and we are talking about friendlies and also, if you look at recent results, our NT has collected a lot of losing results, to be more specific, Canada has lost in his last 4 games. Do I want to see our NMT play against these football nations? Yes, of couse, and I hope to get some wins, or at least one win but that remains to be seen.

It's exciting because we are scheduled to play 3 home friendlies (if the reports about September games are true) and are using the pre-WC time to play 3 strong teams (something we didn't do in 2006 when we didn't played a game prior to the WC).

I must admit that I'm expecting we'll probably lose all 3 or get a tie in one of them, but I think it's a positive thing for the team if they can spend 2-3 weeks together and get some quality games on top of that. It's good to see that kind of preperation 2 years prior to the WCQ start. If we keep getting games and training camps we should be well prepared for 2012.

[way2goeh]

I also have been to Venezuela a few times. Caracas is chit! Expensive hotels and food. Only thing worth doing in Caracas is the teleferico (gondola) for city views and strawberries with whipcream (yum). Also, the taxis are dangerous. ALways have the hotel call one or take a black taxi from airport (ONLY!!!) Also as soon as you get out of customs, people will ask you to exchange money black market. I did this and had NO PROBLEM and safe. Rates vary but I got triple the bank rate. Car rentals are bloody expensive BUT gas is practically free and thats no joke. Maybe $2 to fill the car. Meat is difficult to find in grocery stores and venezuleans eat chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most american restaurants are there. Margarita Island is a duty free island and prices are down right cheap!! Caracas airport has NOTHING AMERICAN. This means NO BEER, NO VODKA, NO ANYTHING, not even chocolate.

Merida is a beautiful city. If you like hotdog or hamburger icecream, this is the place to go. They have hundreds of varities of icecream that I wouldnt dare try....lol Also has the longest cable car in the world ( 3 gondolas- 5000 metres and snow on top)

If anyone does go to Venezulea, go to Margarita Island. Its a 40 min flight from Caracas and the island is great, cheap (well cheaper than Caracas) and some great beaches. Also, if you have the money, fly from Caracas to Los Roques (archapeligo islands) with some of the best beaches/islands in the WORLD!!!! It aint cheap but well worth it. Just google Los ROques photos and be blown away.

Airline prices:

Caracas- Merida- $400

Caracas- Porlamar (margarita Island) $120

Caracas- Los Roques $300

I loved Venezuela. You wouldnt even know that Chavez is president. Oh, in Sabana Grande ( caracas) has a Mcdonalds every block, incase your desperate.....lol

[TFCRegina]

It's exciting because we are scheduled to play 3 home friendlies (if the reports about September games are true) and are using the pre-WC time to play 3 strong teams (something we didn't do in 2006 when we didn't played a game prior to the WC).

I must admit that I'm expecting we'll probably lose all 3 or get a tie in one of them, but I think it's a positive thing for the team if they can spend 2-3 weeks together and get some quality games on top of that. It's good to see that kind of preperation 2 years prior to the WCQ start. If we keep getting games and training camps we should be well prepared for 2012.

Bingo. If anyone's read soccernomics, I'd recommend it. They don't stuff it full of their numbers, but instead explain their findings, so you don't need to be a technically trained economist to understand. I'd like to see the numbers myself...

But one of the things they found was, after adjusting for other facts, that the more national games you play, the better you do. Footballing experience at the international level is good, win or lose, because it gets the team used to working together and allows the managers to experiment with tactics. I'm perfectly ok with losing lots of friendlies if it means we do well at the 2011 Gold Cup and 2014 Qualifiers.

[Sam]

Any word from the CSA on this match yet? We know they've vetoed the Ecuador rumour...

[jonny63]

Venezuela team :

1. José Leonardo Morales – Arquero – DVO. ANZOATEGUI SC

2. Daniel Valdez - Arquero – ZAMORA FC

3. Juan Pablo Villarroel – Defensor – DVO. ITALIA FC

4. Oswaldo Vizcarrondo – Defensor – ONCE CALDAS (COLOMBIA)

5. Grenddy Perozo – Defensor – DVO ANZOATEGUI SC

6. Luiyi Erazo – Defensa– REAL ESPPOR CLUB

7. Carlos Salazar – Defensor – DVO. ANZOATEGUI SC

8. Henry Pernía – Defensor – LLANEROS FC

9. Óscar Rojas – Defensor – LLANEROS FC

10. Luis Vargas – Defensor – YARACUYANOS FC

11. Tomas Rincón – Medio – HAMBURGO (ALEMANIA)

12. Mario Sánchez – Medio – DVO. ANZOATEGUI SC

13. Giácomo Di Giorgi – Medio – DVO. ANZOATEGUI SC

14. Carlos Fernández – Medio – DVO. ANZOATEGUI SC

15. Francisco Flores – Medio – CD LARA

16. Agnel Flores – Medio – MINEROS DE GAYANA FC

17. Víctor Pérez – Medio – CARABOBO FC

18. Ángel Chourio – Medio – REAL ESPPOR CLUB

19. Yohandry Orozco – Medio –ZULIA FC

20. Ángelo Peña – Medio – SPORTING BRAGA (PORTUGAL)

21. Richard Blanco – Atacante – DVO ITALIA FC

22. Edgar Mendoza – Atacante – CD LARA

23. Edder Farías – Atacante – MONAGAS SC

Juan Fuenmayor (Valerenga-Noruega) y Nicolás ‘Miku’ Fedor (Getafe-España);

Venezuela play two warm up matches in Aruba (!) Today against Arùba NT and Saturday against Britannia (Aruba Club Champions).

Livestream today from 8 pm local time ;

http://www.sporttvaruba.com/

[nolando]

Venezuela team :

Juan Fuenmayor (Valerenga-Noruega);

Venezuela play two warm up matches in Aruba (!) Today against Arùba NT and Saturday against Britannia (Aruba Club Champions).

http://www.sporttvaruba.com/

Interesting - a teammate of Lars Hirschfeld.

[nolando]

Dream debut: Straith to play for Canada against Argentina

By Brian Drewry

Adam Straith played against some very good soccer players this season while in his second year with Energie Cottbus of the Second Bundesliga in Germany.

But now, he’s about to go up against the best in the world.

Straith, the Oak Bay High School and Bays United product, was named yesterday to Team Canada’s roster for their upcoming tour of South America, where they’ll play against Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and World Cup-bound Argentina. Straith and the Canadians will also see action against Venezuela. The game against Argentina, is ranked No. 7 in the world, is slated for May 24, while the match against Venezuela goes May 29. Both games will be televised live on Rogers Sportsnet.

“This is unbelievable. I still can’t believe I’ll be going up against these guys I watch on TV,” Straith said over the phone from Cottbus, where he was busy packing as be boards a plane in Berlin on Monday morning for the flight to Buenos Aries.

“Never did I think I would get the call to the national team for this game. It’s just going to be amazing just being on the pitch in Argentina. I don’t know what to expect when we actually hit the pitch. It’s going to be something else, for sure.”

Straith is coming off a strong season in Cottbus, which is about an hour’s drive down the autobahn from Berlin. And it all started when the usually dominant 6-foot-3 centreback came off the bench to play outside back.

“At the beginning of the season I was just happy to have made the final 25-man roster of the main club because I had just finished playing with their youth team,” said Straith, who doesn’t turn 20 until September. “But about three games in, our right back got injured and they asked me to play there. I jumped at the opportunity and pretty much was in the starting 11 from then on.

“It was a bit of an adjustment playing the outside because there’s a lot more up and down running to do. But I got to like it.”

Cottbus, which was relegated from the First Bundesliga two years ago, wound up ninth this season in the 18-team Second Bundesliga, but Straith says they’re on track to get back to the top division.

“After the relegation, they went with a youth movement, which I was a big part of, and now all the young players are starting to come into their own and our team has really been the talk of the league now as being one to watch down the road.”

Straith’s success — he scored his first goal in his first game — is not only being noticed by Team Canada coach Stephen Hart. In a city and country where soccer is to the people what hockey is to Canadians, Straith is becoming somewhat of a celebrity.

“It’s an eye-opener, for sure. Cottbus is not a huge city at about 120,000 people, so the soccer team is ‘it’ for them. So it’s kind of neat getting recognized when you go out, and the people here treat our players great.”

Straith, who is under contract with Energie Cottbus until 2013 after being signed out of the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency program two years ago, barely has any spare time now. His German season ended last week and now he’s going to spend the next two weeks in South America before returning home to Victoria for one month of R & R.

“I’m busy but I love it. And after the month in

Victoria I head back for training camp.”

He won’t be far from a soccer ball in Victoria either. Straith has teamed up with current Victoria United coach Nick Daniel to put on a soccer camp for kids. The camp, run by EM-Sports Academy, will be for players aged 9-15 and will take place June 3-6. For information, call 250-813-1915.

“It’ll be great to get home and help out with kids and have some fun,” said Straith.

But before that, he’ll be busy wearing Canadian red and white in South America. While the two games will be his first with the senior national team, Straith does have seven caps with Canada’s under-20 team. The question now is, will Hart play him at his usual spot at centre back, or shift him outside?

“I don’t know where I’ll be playing. They’ve always known me to be a centre back because that’s where I played with other national teams. But I’m sure they’ve seen some tapes of me playing the outside, so I guess I’ll find out when I get there.”

And will there be some familiar faces in the Canadian camp, with the likes of veterans Paul Stalteri and Dwayne de Rosario along with Belmont Secondary grad Josh Simpson also being named to the team?

“You know, I don’t really know any of the guys on the senior team,” Straith said. “Of course I’ve heard of them, especially Josh. So it’s going to be nice to meet them and hang out together.”

And what’s he going to do when Messi comes storming through the midfield headed toward the Canadian goal?

“Pray, I guess?” laughed Straith. “How else do you stop that guy?”

http://www.timescolonist.com/Dream+debut+Straith+play+Canada+against+Argentina/3030763/story.html#ixzz0odKaIT8T

[Blue and White Army]

The schedule on Sportsnet's website says this will air on Pacific and Ontario at 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT. No dice for the West (MLB) and East (MMA/UFC) Sportsnet feeds.

Vancouver play in Rochester at the same time; Toronto play in San Jose at 10:00pm ET (making for a nice televised double-header for TO'ians); Montreal play the next day (Sunday at home vs. Carolina).

[Blue and White Army]

For those interested, here is a video of Aruba v Venezuela from May 20th.

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

Cannot wait. It will be great to see a more evenly matched game...

[loyola]

I m not sure if it s good or bad but if Haidar starts the Venezuela game it will be the 6th different keeper we start in our last....6 games:

Honduras (Sutton)

Macedonia (Wagenaar)

Poland (Hirschfeld)

Jamaica (Monsalve)

Argentina (Onstad)

And we haven<t scored since the GC round robin game against Costa Rica.

[loyola]

well it seems we won t see a 6th keeper as Lars will be in Venezuela:

http://www.vif-fotball.no/article2910524.ece

[mluciani]

http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4296

New Canucks travel to Venezuela

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Canada’s men’s national team is traveling from Argentina to Venezuela for the second part of its South American trip. The Canadian team will have a couple of days of training together in Merida, Venezuela before facing Venezuela on Saturday 29 May.

The Canada-Venezuela match will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet. For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture link.

Seven Canadian players from the Argentina match have returned to their professional clubs. Rejoining Major League Soccer clubs are Dwayne De Rosario with Toronto FC, Pat Onstad and André Hainault with Houston Dynamo, and Will Johnson with MLS champion Real Salt Lake. Returning to European professional clubs are Daniel Imhof with St. Gallen in Switzerland and Josh Simpson with Manisaspor in Turkey.

Joining the Canadian team will be Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault (FC St. Pauli), Eddy Sidra (Energie Cottbus), Massih Wassey (Schalke) and Gianluca Zavarise (VfL Bochum) from professional clubs in Germany, Terry Dunfield (Shrewsbury Town FC) and Gavin McCallum (Hereford United) from professional clubs in England, and Issey Nakajima-Farran (AC Horsens) from his professional club in Denmark. Wassey was a late addition to the Canadian roster.

[masster]

Cannot wait. It will be great to see a more evenly matched game...

Is this game really going to be anymore competitive? I know Venezuela does not have the stars, but if we had a B squad against Argentina, we now have a D squad for this game.

[Gian-Luca]

http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4296

New Canucks travel to Venezuela

Share

Canada’s men’s national team is traveling from Argentina to Venezuela for the second part of its South American trip. The Canadian team will have a couple of days of training together in Merida, Venezuela before facing Venezuela on Saturday 29 May.

The Canada-Venezuela match will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet. For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture link.

Seven Canadian players from the Argentina match have returned to their professional clubs. Rejoining Major League Soccer clubs are Dwayne De Rosario with Toronto FC, Pat Onstad and André Hainault with Houston Dynamo, and Will Johnson with MLS champion Real Salt Lake. Returning to European professional clubs are Daniel Imhof with St. Gallen in Switzerland and Josh Simpson with Manisaspor in Turkey.

Joining the Canadian team will be Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault (FC St. Pauli), Eddy Sidra (Energie Cottbus), Massih Wassey (Schalke) and Gianluca Zavarise (VfL Bochum) from professional clubs in Germany, Terry Dunfield (Shrewsbury Town FC) and Gavin McCallum (Hereford United) from professional clubs in England, and Issey Nakajima-Farran (AC Horsens) from his professional club in Denmark. Wassey was a late addition to the Canadian roster.

They mention 7 players went back to their clubs but only list 6 of them. IIRC Peters is the 7th player that went back after the Argentina match.

Looking forward to seeing the new faces, including my namesake. I hope they all play, and hope even more I get to watch a Canadian team score a goal again!

[BearcatSA]

Is this game really going to be anymore competitive? I know Venezuela does not have the stars, but if we had a B squad against Argentina, we now have a D squad for this game.

Too much player turnover to build any sense of continuity/familiarity. Don't like the odds for improvement.

[nolando]

Hmmm...this must mean then that we won't see Haider at all? What was the point of this exercise?

[Bertuzzi44]

http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4296

Joining the Canadian team will be Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault (FC St. Pauli), Eddy Sidra (Energie Cottbus), Massih Wassey (Schalke) and Gianluca Zavarise (VfL Bochum) from professional clubs in Germany, Terry Dunfield (Shrewsbury Town FC) and Gavin McCallum (Hereford United) from professional clubs in England, and Issey Nakajima-Farran (AC Horsens) from his professional club in Denmark. Wassey was a late addition to the Canadian roster.

Bless their hearts but one word comes to mind: Underwhelming.

[BearcatSA]

Hmmm...this must mean then that we won't see Haider at all? What was the point of this exercise?

Who knows? Maybe Hart didn't like what he saw of him in training? Or one of the keepers has picked up an undisclosed knock.

[Joe Keeper]

I agree that the squad we will be fielding for the Venezulea game is a bit thin, but we have to remember the bigger picture. Right now Hart is trying to establish some new blood for the team and some depth. While our "A" team is certianly a cut above these sides, I think Hart is doing the right thing. We need to undergo a rebuilding faze after the last WCQ disaster. Results are not the only important thing here. We are always saying the MNT needs to give more people a look.