Cyprus Cup 2013

[Vic]

Just some housekeeping to set this up for anything that gets released.

Canada has won three of the five Cyprus Cups and with the titleholders France absent this year, the only other past champion on the island will be England.

By ranking we have a bit weaker draw than the Yongchuan with the following in our group

#14 Netherlands

#19 Finland

#26 Switzerland

China was (#12 Norway, #16 South Korea and #17 China).

Our placement opponent in Cyprus will likely be one of:

#8 England (the imperial choice)

#11 Italy (the dramatic choice)

#16 South Korea (the payback choice)

The Swiss are plucky. They have some strong players but lack depth and are accordingly pretty inconsistent. We've played them three times in Europe in the past three years and are two wins and a draw, with no games decided by more than a goal.

We haven't played Finland in over five years but are two wins and a draw with them since the millenium.

We've played the Netherlands five times in four years, all in Europe as well, and have won every game outscoring them 12-2. You would think that would make them our favoured opponent, but anyone who beats France is no slouch.

Recent matches of our group opponents:

Netherlands

FEB v. Belgium (A)

NOV v. Wales 2-0 (A)

OCT v. France 1-0 (H)

SEP v. Sweden 1-2 (H)

JUN v. Serbia 4-0 (A)

JUN v. England 0-1 (A)

JUN v. North Korea 2-0 (H)

Finland

FEB v. Russia (H)

SEP v. Ukraine 1-0 (H)

SEP v. Estonia 5-0 (A)

JUN v. Belarus 4-0 (H)

JUN v. Kraine 2-1 (A)

MAY v. Belgium 1-0 (H)

APR v. Slovakia 2-0 (H)

Switzerland

OCT v. Sweden 0-3 (A)

SEP v. Kazakhstan 1-0 (A)

SEP v. Turkey 3-1 (A)

AUG v. Austria 2-1 (A)

JUN v. Romania 4-2 (A)

JUN v. Spain 4-3 (H)

MAY v. Ireland 1-0 (H)

APR v. Germany 0-6 (H)

[Lord Bob]

Great preview, Vic. For those who don't already know, the tournament runs from March 4 to March 13, presumably in Larnarca and Agia Napa. Vancouver round trips from just $1,700!

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Although we have known the group stage opponents for some time now; we now have the match days/times for the group stage:

Wednesday March 6th:

Canada vs Switzerland 14:30 in Lanarca (7:30am Eastern / 4:30am Pacific)

Friday March 8th:

Canada vs Findland 17:30 in Nicosia ( 10:30am Eastern / 7:30am Pacific)

Monday March 11th:

Canada vs The Netherlands 17:30 in Nicosia (11:30am Eastern / 8:30am Pacific)

Note: Since we move into summer time on March 10th, Cyprus is only 6hrs ahead now, not 7

There are no plans for any broadcasts; live twitter updates and video highlights will be provided.