Canada men's national soccer team

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Canada
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Canucks, The Maple Leafs,
Les Rouges (The Reds)
AssociationCanadian Soccer Association
ConfederationCONCACAF (North America)
Head coachCanada Dale Mitchell
Most capsRandy Samuel (82)
Top scorerDale Mitchell (19), Jesse Madore (19)
Home stadiumNational Soccer Stadium
FIFA codeCAN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current55
Highest40 (December 1996)
Lowest103 (March 2007)
First international
Unofficial:  United States 0 - 1 Canada Canada
(Newark, USA; November 28, 1885)
Official:  Australia 3-2 Canada Canada
(Brisbane, Australia; June 7, 1924)
Biggest win
Unofficial:  United States 0 - 7 Canada Canada
(St. Louis, USA; November 16, 1904)
Official:  Malaysia 0-5 Canada Canada
(Singapore; August 24, 1986)
Biggest defeat
 Mexico 8 - 0 Canada Canada
(Mexico City, Mexico; June 18, 1993)
World Cup
Appearances1 (first in 1986)
Best resultRound 1, 24th place 1986
CONCACAF Championship &
Gold Cup
Appearances11 (first in 1977)
Best resultWinners, 1985, 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2001)
Best result1st round, 2001

The Canadian men's national soccer team is overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association and represents Canada in international competitions at the senior men's level. The side has traditionally struggled to earn recognition at home and abroad while experiencing little international success. As in the United States, the Canadian women's national soccer team has enjoyed more international success than the men. The FIFA rankings for December 2007 have the men's team ranked 55th out of 208 countries, while the women's team is ranked 9th out of 121 countries as of September 2007 (the men's rankings are updated monthly, while the women's rankings are updated quarterly). Both national teams languish to a large extent in the shadow of the country's highly successful national ice hockey teams, as hockey is Canada's de facto national sport and most soccer players convert to the more "respected" sports by high school.

Past members of the national team, including Roger Sportsnet commentator Craig Forrest, have stated numerous times that the Canadian national program is in need of a major overhaul. Forrest believes Canada has the support and talent to compete for a World Cup berth, something it has failed to do for two decades.



History

Early years

Soccer was being played in Canada before rules were formalized in Britain, with the Dominion Football Association (1877) and the Western Football Association (1880) acting as precursors to the modern-day Canadian Soccer Association. In 1885, the WFA sent a representative team to New Jersey to take on a side put forth by the American Football Association, the then-unofficial governing body of the sport in the United States. In an unofficial friendly, Canada defeated their hosts 1-0 in East Newark, New Jersey. The American team won 3-2 in a return match one year later. In 1888, a team comprised of 16 Canadian-born players and organizer David Forsyth (who immigrated to Canada one year after his birth) represented the WFA in a tour of the British Isles, earning a record of nine wins, five draws, and nine losses.[1]

In 1904, Galt Football Club represented the WFA at the Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri. With just three teams competing, Galt defeated two American club sides, Christian Brothers College (7-0) and St. Rose (4-0). In 1905, a British team of touring amateurs dubbed the Pilgrims toured Canada, with their match against Galt billed as the "championship of the world". The match was played in front of almost 4000 fans in Galt (now a suburb of Cambridge) and ended in a 3-3 draw.[1]

The Canadian national team toured Australia in 1924, playing a series of "test" friendlies against their hosts, including their first official match, a 3-2 friendly defeat to Australia in Brisbane on June 24, 1924. In 1925, Canada played their old rivals the United States in Montreal, winning 1-0 on Ed McLaine's goal. In a return match in November of 1925 in Brooklyn, New York, Canada was defeated 5-1. One year later, Canada lost 6-2 to the USA in the same city, before playing four internationals in a 1927 tour of New Zealand.[1]

World Cup qualifying 1957 to 1985

Following the lead of British football associations, Canada withdrew from FIFA in 1928 over a dispute regarding broken time payments to amateur players. They rejoined the confederation in 1946, and took part in World Cup qualifying in the North American Football Confederation (a precursor to CONCACAF) for the first time in 1957, the first time they had played as a national team in 30 years. In their first qualifier, Canada defeated the USA in Toronto 5-1, but lost in Mexico twice to their hosts (not playing a home game due to financial reasons) 2-0 and 3-0 before defeating the USA 3-2 in St. Louis. Mexico advanced as group winners, however, as Canada missed out on the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden.[1]

Canada secured qualification for the 1986 World Cup after beating Honduras 2-1 in St. Johns, Newfoundland in 1985. Mexico had qualified as hosts, with Canada earning the remaining CONCACAF spot and the de facto title as CONCACAF champions. At the finals in Mexico in 1986, Canada impressed in a 1-0 loss to France in the first round before losing to both Hungary and the USSR 2-0, finishing at the bottom of the group.

NAFC Championship and Gold Cup

In 1990, Canada took part in the NAFC Championship for the first time, hosting the tournament with Mexico and the USA. Mexico and Canada sent their full squads, but the USA sent a 'B' team and does not count the games as official internationals in its records. Canada won after a 1-0 win over USA on May 6th and a 2-1 win over Mexico on May 13th, all three goals scored by John Catliff, the tournament's top scorer.

Canada has had mixed fortunes in the CONCACAF Gold Cup since 2000, winning that year's tournament after emerging from the first-round on a coin-toss tiebreaker with invited side the Republic of Korea. A quarter-final extra-time upset over Mexico on Richard Hastings' golden goal set the stage for an unprecedented run to the final where Canada defeated Colombia 2-0 at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Canada swept the awards ceremony, with goalkeeper Craig Forrest winning MVP honours, Carlo Corazzin securing the Golden Boot, and Hastings named "Rookie of the Tournament"

Recent success

Canada has enjoyed relative success in the Gold Cup, with third-placed finishes in 2002 and 2007 (with Guadeloupe) on either side of disappointing first round exits in 2003 and 2005. In 2007, under interim coach Stephen Hart, Canada won their group before losing in the semi-final to the USA. Canada were controversially robbed of a late equalizer on a play incorrectly flagged offside. In total, the team's 2007 record consisted of four wins, three losses, and three draws.

In qualifying for both the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, Canada was unable to capitalize on their Gold Cup success, failing to reach the final stage of CONCACAF qualifying on both occasions.

On June 7, 2006, head coach Frank Yallop resigned for a job with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Yallop, whose record was 8-9-3 since his hiring on December 16, 2003, returned to the league where he began his coaching career as an assistant in 1999 with the Tampa Bay Mutiny. The former Canadian international had won MLS Cup titles with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 and 2003. On May 18, 2007 the CSA named Dale Mitchell as the new head coach of the senior team. He took over after coaching the under-20 side to three defeats in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in July of 2007.


Recent results

Date Tournament Location Home Team Score Away Team Scorers
20 November 2007
Friendly
South Africa Durban  South Africa
2:0
Canada Canada
12 September 2007
Friendly
Canada Toronto Canada Canada
1:1
Costa Rica Costa Rica
De Rosario 54'
22 August 2007
Friendly
Iceland Reykjavík  Iceland
1:1
Canada Canada
Occean 75'
21 June 2007
Gold Cup
United States Chicago Canada Canada
1:2
 United States
Hume 76'
16 June 2007
Gold Cup
United States Foxborough Canada Canada
3:0
 Guatemala
De Rosario 17', Gerba 33', 44'
11 June 2007
Gold Cup
United States Miami  Haiti
0:2
Canada Canada
De Rosario 31', 35'
9 June 2007
Gold Cup
United States Miami Canada Canada
1:2
 Guadeloupe
Gerba 35'
6 June 2007
Gold Cup
United States Miami  Costa Rica
1:2
Canada Canada
de Guzmán 57', 73'
1 June 2007
Friendly
Venezuela Maracaibo  Venezuela
2:2
Canada Canada
De Rosario 5', Gerba 85'
25 March 2007
Friendly
Bermuda Hamilton  Bermuda
0:3
Canada Canada
Hutchinson 25', Radzinski 30', Stalteri 44'

Upcoming fixtures

Date Tournament Location Home Team Away Team
March 23 2008
Friendly
Estonia Tallinn Estonia Estonia Canada Canada
June 14 2008
World Cup Qualifier
Canada TBA Canada Canada  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
June 21 2008
World Cup Qualifier
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines TBA Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Canada Canada

Youth sides

Canada's Under-20 team has qualified for five of the last six FIFA World Youth Championships. In 1997, the team advanced to the second round of the event. Canada also qualified for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 WYC's. In 2003, Iain Hume and Atiba Hutchinson led Canada to a quarter-final appearance that ended in a golden goal loss to Spain in extra time. In 2007, Canada hosted the tournament, and despite an impressive run in friendlies leading up to the competition, went winless in first round play without scoring a goal.

Stadium

Canada's national stadium is the National Soccer Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, known as BMO Field when local resident Toronto FC of Major League Soccer play league matches at home. Canada has also played internationals since 2004 at Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia; Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta; and Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, Quebec. The team is likely to play at Saputo Stadium in Montreal upon its completion. Additionally, games at the 2007 Under-20 World Cup (which Canada hosted) were played at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal; Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario; and Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, British Columbia.

Current national team members

(current through 06/18/07) According to the official site [1]

Goalkeepers
Player Date of birth Club Caps (clean sheets) Most Recent Call up
Asmir Begović 6/20/1987 England Portsmouth FC 0 (0) v Iceland, August 22, 2007
Roberto Giacomi 9/01/1986 Belgium KSK Beveren 0 (0) 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Lars Hirschfeld 10/17/1978 Romania CFR Cluj 20 (6) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Pat Onstad 1/13/1968 United States Houston Dynamo 49 (19) v Iceland, August 22, 2007
Kenny Stamatopoulos 8/28/1979 Canada Toronto FC (on loan from Tromsø IL) 5 (2) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Greg Sutton 4/19/1977 Canada Toronto FC 11 (4) 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Joshua Wagenaar 2/26/1985 Netherlands ADO Den Haag 1 (0) v Venezuela, June 1, 2007
Defenders
Player Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Adam Braz 6/7/1981 Canada Toronto FC 11 (0) v Venezuela, June 1, 2007
Marcel De Jong 10/15/1986 Netherlands Roda JC Kerkrade 1 (0) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Gabriel Gervais 9/18/1976 Canada Montreal Impact 11 (0) v Venezuela, June 1, 2007
Andrew Hainault 6/17/1986 Czech Republic FK Siad Most 8 (0) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Kevin Harmse 6/17/1986 United States Los Angeles Galaxy 5 (0) 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Ante Jazic 2/26/1976 United States Los Angeles Galaxy 19 (0) 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Michael Klukowski 5/27/1981 Belgium Club Brugge 9 (0) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Kevin McKenna 1/21/1980 Germany FC Köln 36 (9) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Richard Hastings 18/05/1977 Scotland Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. 36 (1) v Iceland August 22, 2007
Chris Pozniak 1/10/1981 United States San Jose Earthquakes 20 (0) v Costa Rica September 12, 2007
Marco Reda 6/22/1977 Canada Toronto FC 6 (0) v Venezuela, June 1, 2007
Josh Simpson 5/15/1983 Germany Kaiserslautern 16 (0) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Paul Stalteri 10/18/1977 England Tottenham 60 (7) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Midfielders
Player Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Patrice Bernier 9/23/1979 Germany Kaiserslautern 25 (0) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Jim Brennan 5/8/1977 Canada Toronto FC 44 (6) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Julian de Guzman 3/25/1981 Spain Deportivo la Coruña 24 (2) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Dwayne de Rosario 5/15/1978 United States Houston Dynamo 45 (13) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Rhian Dodds 10/3/1979 Scotland Kilmarnock F.C. 0 (0) v Iceland, August 22, 2007
Tamadani Nsaliwa 1/28/1982 Greece AEK 12 (1) v Iceland, August 22, 2007
Sandro Grande 9/29/1977 Norway Molde 12 (1) v Jamaica, October 8, 2006
Atiba Hutchinson 2/8/1983 Denmark F.C. Copenhagen 29 (3) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Daniel Imhof 11/22/1977 Germany Bochum 34 (0) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Nikolas Ledgerwood 1/16/1985 Germany 1860 München 1 (0) v Iceland, August 22, 2007
Issey Nakajima-Farran 5/16/1984 Denmark FC Nordsjælland 6 (0) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Martin Nash 12/27/1975 Canada Vancouver Whitecaps 36 (0) v 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Jaime Peters 5/4/1987 England Ipswich 13 (0) v Bermuda, March 25, 2007
Antonio Ribeiro 10/8/1980 Canada Montreal Impact 1 (0) v 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Adrian Serioux 5/12/1979 United States FC Dallas 13 (0) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Strikers
Player Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Stephen Ademolu 11/20/1982 Norway Tromsø 2 (0) v USA January 20, 2006
Rob Friend 1/23/1981 Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 14 (1) v Costa Rica, September 12, 2007
Jesse Madore 10/07/1991 Canada North York Astros 13 (5) v North York Astros, October 12, 2007
Iain Hume 10/30/1983 England Leicester City F.C. 20 (2) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Will Johnson 1/21/1987 Netherlands De Graafschap (on loan from SC Heerenveen) 3 (0) v Austria March 1, 2006
Olivier Occean 10/23/1981 Norway Lillestrøm S.K. 15 (2) v South Africa, November 20, 2007
Tomasz Radzinski 12/14/1973 Greece Skoda Xanthi 35 (9) v South Africa, November 20, 2007

Supporter's Group

Competitive Record

CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup
Total: 2 Titles
Year Round GP W D* L GS GA
El Salvador 1963 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Guatemala 1965 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Honduras 1967 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Costa Rica 1969 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Trinidad and Tobago 1971 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Haiti 1973 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
Mexico 1977 Fourth place 5 2 1 2 7 8
Honduras 1981 Fourth place 5 1 3 1 6 6
1985 Champions 4 2 2 0 4 2
1989 Did Not Qualify - - - - - -
United States 1991 Round 1 3 1 0 2 6 9
United StatesMexico 1993 Round 1 3 0 2 1 3 11
United States 1996 Round 1 2 1 0 1 4 5
United States 1998 Withdrew - - - - - -
United States 2000 Champions 5 3 2 0 7 3
United States 2002 Third place 5 2 2 1 5 4
United StatesMexico 2003 Round 1 2 1 0 1 1 2
United States 2005 Round 1 3 1 0 2 2 4
United States 2007 Semi-Finals 5 3 0 2 9 5
Total 2 Titles 42 17 12 13 54 59

Pan American Games record

NAFC Championship record

Managers

Noted players

1920s players with five or more caps

1957 players with three or more caps

1968, 1970s players with seven or more caps

1980s players with nine or more caps

1990s players with ten or more caps

2000s players with ten or more caps

Note: * denotes player with ten or more total caps but not in any one subsection listed here

Most capped Canadian players

As of December 12, 2007, the players with the most caps for Canada are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Randy Samuel 1983 - 1997 82 0
2 Mark Watson 1994 - 2004 77 3
3 Lyndon Hooper 1986 - 1997 66 3
4 Alex Bunbury 1986 - 1999 65 16
5 Nick Dasovic 1994 - 2004 61 3
5 Paul Stalteri 1997 - present 61 7
5 Colin Miller 1983 - 1997 61 5
5 Mike Sweeney 1980 - 1991 61 1
9 Carlo Corazzin 1994 - 2004 59 11
10 Bruce Wilson 1980 - 1989 57 2

Top Canadian goalscorers

As of December 12, 2007, the players with the most goals for Canada are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Dale Mitchell 1980 - 1990 55 19
1 John Catliff 1984 - 1994 43 19
3 Alex Bunbury 1986 - 1999 65 16
4 Dwayne de Rosario 1998 - present 45 11
4 Igor Vrablic 1984 - 1986 35 11
4 Carlo Corazzin 1994 - 2004 59 11
7 Paul Peschisolido 1994 - 2004 53 9
7 Kevin McKenna 2000 - present 36 9
7 Tomasz Radzinski 1995 - present 35 9
10 Buzz Parsons 1970 - 1980 24 7

All-time record against other nations

As of Nov 25, 2007

Team W D L Pts
 United States 13 9 14 48
 Haiti 7 2 1 23
 Guatemala 7 2 2 23
 Bermuda 6 4 0 22
 Trinidad and Tobago 6 2 2 20
 El Salvador 6 2 4 20
 Jamaica 5 5 3 20
 Honduras 5 4 6 19
 Mexico 4 7 15 19
 Costa Rica 4 6 7 18
 Cuba 4 3 2 15
 New Zealand 4 2 1 14
 Australia 3 1 4 10
 Panama 2 2 0 8
 Northern Ireland 2 1 0 7
 South Korea 2 1 1 7
 Belize 2 0 0 6
 Luxembourg 2 0 0 6
 Singapore 2 0 0 6
 Martinique 1 1 0 4
 Chile 1 1 2 4
 Austria 1 0 0 3
 Barbados 1 0 0 3
 Ghana 1 0 0 3
 Hong Kong 1 0 0 3
 Indonesia 1 0 0 3
 Libya 1 0 0 3
 North Macedonia 1 0 0 3
 Malaysia 1 0 0 3
 Suriname 1 0 0 3
  Switzerland 1 0 0 3
 China 1 0 1 3
 Colombia 1 0 1 3
 Faroe Islands 1 0 1 3
 Greece 1 0 2 3
 Iran 1 0 2 3
 Wales 1 0 2 3
 Brazil 0 2 1 2
 Cyprus 0 1 0 1
 Iceland 0 1 0 1
 Paraguay 0 1 0 1
 Venezuela 0 1 0 1
 Uruguay 0 1 0 1
 Morocco 0 1 1 1
 North Korea 0 1 1 1
 Portugal 0 1 1 1
 Hungary 0 1 4 1
 Algeria 0 0 1 0
 Argentina 0 0 1 0
 Belgium 0 0 1 0
 Cameroon 0 0 1 0
 Czech Republic 0 0 1 0
 England 0 0 1 0
 Estonia 0 0 1 0
 Finland 0 0 1 0
 France 0 0 1 0
 Guadeloupe 0 0 1 0
 Iraq 0 0 1 0
 Italy 0 0 1 0
 Japan 0 0 1 0
 Malta 0 0 1 0
 Netherlands 0 0 1 0
 Republic of Ireland 0 0 1 0
 Saudi Arabia 0 0 1 0
 Soviet Union 0 0 1 0
 South Africa 0 0 1 0
 Tunisia 0 0 1 0
 Denmark 0 0 2 0
 Egypt 0 0 2 0
 Germany 0 0 2 0
 Spain 0 0 2 0
 Turkey 0 0 2 0
 East Germany 0 0 3 0
 Ecuador 0 0 3 0
 Poland 0 0 5 0
 Scotland 0 0 6 0

Honours

See also

References

External links

Preceded by North American Champions
1985 (First title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by North American Champions
2000 (Second title)
Succeeded by

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