Canada to play USA in June friendly

Kudos to CSN's Ben Rycroft, who scooped part of tomorrow's big CSA centennial year announcement by telling us, in a piece for CBCSports.ca, that the jewel in the crown of celebrations will be a June friendly against the USA.

The date has not been confirmed, but the next available international window, following the February 29th date when Canada will face Armenia, is from June 1-5, and a match on that weekend would make for ideal preparation in advance of Canada's WCQ opener in Havana.

Rycroft gets it right when explaining why USA was the right choice:

Out of that though has grown awareness about the need to ensure home support for the Canadian team. It's what led to the decision to play all of opening round World Cup qualifiers in Toronto. And it's, ultimately, why the U.S. - who traditionally doesn't have a large contingent of travelling support - is the perfect choice as a send off to the next round of World Cup qualifying, which begins in June.

The Americans are a good measuring stick for Stephen Hart's team, and a good result in June could provide the team with confidence should they need to steal some points in a hypothetical Hex appearance.

Canada's record, as you may know, has not been good against the USA in the recent past. Many of us will recall a certain piece of skull-fuckery by certain CONCACAF officials in a recent Gold Cup match, but the misery goes back much further. In fact, Canada last beat the USA in a senior men's international in 1985. You can see the results for yourself.


The other details to be announced at tomorrow evening's event are the locations for the three WCQ matches to be played in June, September, and October; and the unveiling of Umbro's centenary jersey. Expect commentary on these announcements in the days to come.

CCL records by country, team

With the Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament having come and gone (congrats, ladies, on qualifying for London) the next item on the Canadian soccer agenda is a late February friendly with Armenia.

But some fans, particularly those in Toronto, will be looking past that match and forward to the CONCACAF Champions League quarter finals. I may be alone in this, but I find the modern incarnation of the tournament, since 2008, to be one of the most exciting and important developments in the region.

As a means of building up participation, I offer you the following tables, ranking the performance of countries in the tournament over the last 4 editions, as well as the top 20 teams, each measured by points earned (3 per win, 1 per draw) per game.

For once I'll provide the stats without comment:

By country

Country	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	PPG
Mexico	82	22	23	340	149	191	2.11
Canada	13	8	7	34	29	5	1.68
Costa Rica	18	8	18	64	68	-4	1.41
Puerto Rico	10	8	9	41	44	-3	1.41
USA	35	20	39	135	142	-7	1.33
Honduras	26	8	34	98	113	-15	1.26
Guatemala	9	8	13	40	57	-17	1.17
Panama	13	8	26	54	80	-26	1.00
El Salvador	8	9	19	33	71	-38	0.92
Trinidad	6	4	22	37	77	-40	0.69
Guyana	0	1	1	2	10	-8	0.50
Nicaragua	0	1	3	2	5	-3	0.25
Haiti	0	0	2	0	7	-7	0.00
Belize	0	0	2	0	12	-12	0.00

* Country records (w-d-l) do not include matches against teams from the same country. Goals for and against do include these matches, due to a data-gathering oversight.

Top 20 teams

TEAM	COUNTRY	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	PPG
Monterrey	Mexico	13	3	2	30	12	18	2.33
Pachuca	Mexico	10	2	2	32	10	22	2.29
Morelia	Mexico	6		2	18	5	13	2.25
Cruz Azul	Mexico	25	6	9	89	33	56	2.03
Los Angeles Galaxy	USA	5		3	11	9	2	1.88
Atlante	Mexico	6	4	2	16	7	9	1.83
Santos Laguna	Mexico	16	3	9	68	40	28	1.82
Universidad Nacional	Mexico	13	6	6	51	25	26	1.80
Montreal Impact	Canada	5	3	2	15	10	5	1.80
Real Salt Lake	USA	6	3	3	26	17	9	1.75
Alajuelense	Costa Rica	4	1	3	10	9	1	1.63
FC Dallas	USA	4	1	3	8	11	-3	1.63
Toronto FC	Canada	8	5	5	19	19	0	1.61
Marathon	Honduras	13	2	11	41	44	-3	1.58
Toluca	Mexico	8	4	6	36	17	19	1.56
Saprissa	Costa Rica	10	4	8	29	28	1	1.55
Olimpia	Honduras	8	3	7	28	22	6	1.50
Libera Mia	Costa Rica	1		1	3	6	-3	1.50
Puerto Rico Islanders	Puerto Rico	10	8	9	41	44	-3	1.41
W Connection	Trinidad	3	2	3	14	12	2	1.38

All data can be viewed here.

Ticket tracking

Back in 2009, as the hype began to build in advance of the Montreal Impact's CONCACAF Champions League clash with Santos at Olympic Stadium, I became rather obsessed with tracking the ticket sales for that match.

Now that Toronto FC is selling tickets for their quarterfinal match, some interesting comparisons can be drawn.

I don't any useful conclusions can be made, since so many significant variables are in play. For example:

• Montreal didn't have the advantage of welcoming the most famous soccer player in the world to their stadium.
• Toronto FC has been the recipient of largely glowing press over the last 5 years, as a fan experience if not a team on the pitch.
• Both teams have engaged in promotional pricing and some house-papering to varying degrees.

But you just want the numbers. Back in '09, Montreal reached the 35,000 tickets sold mark on February 4th, just over 3 weeks ahead of their game. Toronto reached that number yesterday, with over 6 weeks to until their knockaround with the LA Galaxy.

The lesson, then, is that there is certainly a market for big one-off matches in big indoor stadiums during the soccer-starved winter months. And that the clubs' pricing suggests that the event as marketing opportunity exceeds its value as a sheer moneymaker.

Canada to 74, Josh Simpson joins Young Boys

We're number 74!

It's the middle of the month, so cue the release of the latest FIFA rankings. The CP release follows the standard template, including the obligatory sandwich shot

Canada is tied with China in the rankings, sandwiched between Iraq and Georgia.

But if it makes you feel any better, in the latest Human Development Index rankings, Canada is 6th, sandwiched between New Zealand and Ireland. Iraq is 132nd. Georgia, interestingly, is 75th in both rankings.

The FIFA rankings won't affect Canada meaningfully for a few years now, so I have nothing further to say on the matter.


Josh Simpson to spend 3.5 years with Young Boys

The big news yesterday was that Josh Simpson had terminated his contract with Turkey's Manisaspor after claims of non-payment. That led immediately to irresponsible and premature speculation that he would sign with his hometown (well, almost) Vancouver Whitecaps, which would be a disappointing step back. This can be put to rest with confirmation by a Simpson relative on the Vs board that he has signed a 3.5 year deal with Young Boys Bern of the Swiss League.

The Swiss League is no great pool of talent (don't tell Eric Hassli) but Young Boys play in Europe nearly every year and are in a Europa League position currently.

The single day that Simpson spent unattached compares favourably to the travails of Milan Borjan, who has been unemployed for weeks, and counting, after ending his stay with Sivasspor, another Turkish club, under similar circumstances.

Speaking of unreliable speculation, a Dutch-language Turkish football website suggests that Turkey giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce were in competition for his services. If this was true, one could argue that the Young Boys move suggests a lack of ambition. But it's likely more truthy than grounded in fact.

The linked article uses the "according to Turkish media sources" instead of the more common English catch-all "player A has been linked to ...".

Canada to play Armenia in Cyprus

Armenia!

Hey there, 2012! It's me. Sorry you haven't heard from me yet.

But today there was news significant enough to warrant a post. After a much-rumoured late February friendly against Tunisia apparently fell through, the CSA announced today that the men's national team would take on Armenia in Cyprus on February 29th.

This is an important year, undoubtedly, for the Canadian national team. In a few short months (5 to be exact) the squad will be taking on Honduras, Panama and Cuba for one of two spots into the final hexagonal round of CONCACAF qualifying. 2012 is also the centennial year for the association, with a glamour friendly or two vaguely promised.

A neutral site match against Armenia is surely not a glamour friendly. The Armenians had a decent showing in Euro qualifying but ultimately fell short, finishing 3rd in their group behind Russia and Ireland. Their FIFA ranking of 46 is 26 spots better than Canada, so they should pose a good test.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Canada has never faced Armenia in international play. They have, however, played a match in Armenia. Armenia, Colombia, that is; a 3-0 loss to the Colombians on March 30th, 1988.

In a news conference, Stephen Hart suggested Atiba Hutchinson, Canada's best player by some measure, would not be fit enough to be selected. This may be a somewhat political way of saying that PSV Eindhoven might not be keen on letting him go for a meaningless match, as Hutch was injured twice on international duty in 2011. He has been taking part in the friendlies during the Eredivisie winterstop, so there is no reason to believe he wouldn't be ready by then.

Look out for appearances from some newish faces also playing in Europe. I'd expect to see at least one of Marcus Haber, Randy Edwini-Bonsu, and Milan Borjan to be called for the match.

The best soccer video of 2011

If you only watch one footie clip this year, please, oh please, let it be this one:

One of the underrated aspects of this video is the adidas ad in the back which reads the fastest boot just got a brain, when it is abundantly clear that the dude's brain just got a boot.

This video is interesting in a personal way to me. I spent a year living in the Netherlands and the first 6 months were spent in a small town in the dunes, where the nearest Eredivisie side was AZ Alkmaar, then just beginning their rise to big 4 status along with PSV, Ajax, and Feyenoord. In the middle of a fairy tale UEFA Cup run, I quickly caught the AZ fever. So popular was this club at the time that I couldn't manage to get tickets to a match at their cozy stadium (since replaced).

I did manage to take in two Ajax matches during the second half of my stint in the country while living in Amsterdam. Ajax are much like the New York Yankees of the Eredivisie: if you don't love them, you hate them. I sat through two underwhelming wins over bottom-feeders at the ArenA (where the above incident took place) secretly hoping the home side would fail to pull out the points. My friend and I were on the receiving end of a dual glare from father and son for failing to celebrate a late winning goal against long-since-relegated FC Den Bosch.


The kicking incident took place in a KNVB Beker (Dutch Cup) match with Ajax leading 1-0 in the first half. The match will now be replayed in its entirety, with teams allowed to field any XI they choose, at an empty ArenA on January 19th, a Thursday afternoon. AZ manager Gertjan Verbeek had pulled his players off the field in protest, and rightly so, after the AZ 'keeper, Esteban, had been red-carded for his actions.

Meanwhile, the Ajax fan at the centre of it all has become somewhat of an internet celebrity; a Hooligan Wesley meme is all the rage these days in Holland. On a not-so-light note, he has been sentenced to six months jail time.

2011: A blogging year in review

2011 was the year of twitter. Or was that 2010? In any case, what better way to summarize the most popular posts on the blog from the past year than to copy/past the tweet retrospective that I recently subjected my followers to.

o_o_t out of touch

Thanks to all my readers, contest entrants, and especially commenters at Out of Touch in 2011. Looking forward to a big 2012 in Cdn soccer!

47 seconds ago Favorite Reply Delete

o_o_t out of touch

1. "Nutrilite Canadian Championship pool: 2011 edition". For most, the only time they'll visit the blog oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/04/nutril… #yearinblogging

2 minutes ago

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2. "The new Canada kits: the good and the ugly" Remember when you cared about this? Me neither. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-ca… #canmnt #yearinblogging

3 minutes ago

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3. "New contest: Gold cup goals" Players picked tournament goal scorers to win a 2" Radzinski doll. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-co… #yearinblogging

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4. "Canada to host 2015 WWC" This successful hosting bid is one of the successes of 2011 that I barely remembered. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/03/canada…

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5. "Know your enemy #1: St Lucia" Will you ever give this country a second thought again?. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/07/know-y… #canmnt #yearinblogging

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6. "Canada v Greece: the roster so far" Roster speculation from the first friendly of 2011. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/01/canada… #canmnt #yearinblogging

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7. "Canadian content: A dismal report" A midterm grade on the atrocious Cdn content showing for the pro teams, esp. Van oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/07/canadi…

12 minutes ago

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8. "Voyageurs Cup Pool: Week 2 report". Interest in my contests always outstrips interest in my thoughts. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/05/voyage…

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9. "FIFA rankings: April" Of particular interest since they would affect seeding for WCQ. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/04/fifa-r… #canmnt #yearinblogging

16 minutes ago

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10. "CONCACAF WCQ round 3 schedule". It is what it says it is. oot-football.blogspot.com/2011/11/concac… #canmnt #tastethesoup #yearinblogging

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The year in blogging: I'll be counting down the 10 most popular posts on my blog from 2011. Feel free to put me on ignore. #soccer

19 minutes ago

The lesson? If the goal is to give the people what they want, then expect to see more sartorial musings and contests in 2012. But if you're being realistic expect more (or likely less) of the same.

Thanks for reading, and commenting. I'll give a special shout-out to my most dedicated commenter, BearcatSA, who is a real human and not a spammer (I think) and appears always to have read my posts before writing.

National team debuts in 2011

One of the rituals in these parts at year's end is to have a look to see how the player pool for our men's national team has evolved. It's not always easy to say which players may have had their final kick of the ball for Canada in a given year (though I can't imagine we'll be seeing Paul Stalteri again in a Canada shirt), but it is possible to recognize those who had their first taste of the soup in. This will be the fifth year running wherein I carry out the exercise on this blog.

Have a look at previous years' debutants:

• 2007
• 2008
• 2009
• 2010
  

Before we get to the list of Canadians to receive their first senior cap this year, let's quickly look at how involved the 2010 first timers were in Stephen Hart's setup in 2011:

• Adam Straith: 5 matches, 450 minutes
  
• Terry Dunfield: 6 matches, 532 minutes
  
• Pedro Pacheco: 4 matches, 87 minutes
• Nana Attakora: 1 match, 20 minutes
• Marcus Haber: 1 match, 8 minutes
• Massih Wassey, David Monsalve, Randy Edwini-Bonsu, Gavin McCallum, Gianluca Zavarise, Carlo Rivas: no appearances

Being a non-Gold Cup year, and far away from critical WCQs, 2010 was used by Stephen Hart to see a number of players, with a total of 11 new selections. Of those 11 only two, Adam Straith and Terry Dunfield, were regular players in 2011. Haber and Attakora suffered from injuries and might otherwise have been more involved, while Randy Edwini-Bonsu is still one to watch for the future.

Now for 2011's debutants, first opponent, caps, and minutes played:

Player	Debut against	Caps	Mins
David Edgar	Greece	7	489
Milan Borjan	Greece	5	405
Tosaint Ricketts	Greece	9	225
Ashtone Morgan	St Lucia	2	109

Unlike 2010, where a lot of fringe-y players were given a chance, in 2011 Hart seems to have focused on those who he felt would be able to make an impact in important matches.

Here's a closer look at their contributions:

David Edgar (24 years old / Burnley FC, England)

It has been quite gratifying as a Canadian supporter to see the always-promising Edgar finally make his mark in 2011. One can only imagine how much more gratifying it must be for the player himself. On the club side, he had a handful of Premiership appearances and a memorable goal to his name years ago, but it took until this year for him to settle into a regular role in the Championship for Burnley. For Canada he was captain of the disastrous 2007 U20 side, but did not make an appearance for the senior side until February in Greece. His playing time was probably inflated by injuries to regular centre-halfs Kevin McKenna and Dejan Jakovic, but he's likely one of the first 3 or 4 names pencilled at the position for Canada. He also showed some versatility by deputizing at right back in one match, with mixed results.

Milan Borjan (24 years old / Sivasspor, Turkey)

Milan is a guy most of us probably hadn't heard of 18 months ago. For me, he is the most exciting of the players to get their first cap in 2011. Not because of any standout performances -- in fact, he had a memorable and costly gaffe in the Gold Cup match against Panama -- but because he provides quality at a position of little depth. Until Borjan's emergence, there wasn't much behind Lars Hirschfeld on the 'keeper depth chart; the minutes doled out to Kenny Stamatopoulos recently are evidence of that. Add Borjan's frequent statements of appreciation and devotion to his adopted country and you've got yourself a popular guy.

Tosaint Ricketts (24 years old / Politehnica Timisoara, Romania)

Somewhat of a super-sub under Stephen Hart, Ricketts made the most appearances of all new faces in 2011, featuring in 9 of 11 matches, but garnering only 225 minutes. He was also the only newbie to score, notching goals against Ecuador, Puerto Rico and St Kitts. He has speed to burn, but is unlikely to play a regular starting role until he can learn to better fit into the team concept. This much was in evidence in that final WCQ against St Kitts in Toronto, where his one goal disguised a bevy of squandered chances.

Ashtone Morgan (20 years old / Toronto FC, MLS)

The youngest man to make his debut, Morgan featured in late WCQs against St Lucia and St Kitts. He is the first product of the MLS academy system to make his Canada senior debut, which is itself an exciting development. At left back, he'll face continued competition from veterans Mike Klukowski and Marcel de Jong, both of whom play at a much higher level. Still, he looked adequate for Canada and his strong showings for TFC in MLS and CONCACAF Champions League suggest he is one for the future at the international level. One can only hope that his career continues to progress; he should look at Nana Attakora's 2011 season as a cautionary tale of how quickly a promising start to a career can become derailed.