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    Guest
    Like the popular snack mix, I'm going to break down these news hits into the flavoured Shreddie (the best part), the Cheerio (you never see it coming), the pretzel (you've got to acknowledge it, like it or not) and that cheese-stick thing (what the hell is it?).
    The Shreddie: Canadian youth side gets some home cooking
    You may not recognize many of the names of the players who'll make up Canada's roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Men's U17 Championship... but you'll surely recognize where they come from.
    Out of the 20 players named, 14 come from the academies of Toronto FC (5), the Vancouver Whitecaps (5) and the Montreal Impact (4).
    Holy shit, when did we turn into an actual soccer nation?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    OK, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. It's all well and good to send the products of our domestic academies out into the world of international competition, but if they're not of sufficient quality to produce results, then it's not that much of a feel-good story anymore.
    But it's definitely an encouraging sign. It's not like these kids will have the pressure of recent success weighing on them (we last qualified for the biennial U17 World Cup in 1995), so a failure to get out of the CONCACAF tournament wouldn't exactly be an indictment of them or their academies.
    Now, why does this matter? Well, when young kids in Canada can join an academy, linked to a professional team, to develop their skills right here at home, it can only increase the chances that they'll have a strong link to the maple leaf, and have no hesitation about representing it on the international scene.
    I dunno if any of the kids on this U17 squad are Canada's next great hope, but don't be surprised if products of local academies feature prominently in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup (we won't need to worry about qualifying in 2026, since we're gonna host it... right?)
    As for these boys, their first game is on Thursday against Barbados. I'm going to guess the CSA will be live-tweeting the game, should you have the time and interest to follow.
    The Cheerio: When in Rome, do what Big Red does
    Let's put aside, for a moment, all of the negative hoopla surrounding the women's national team vis-a-vis their coach, the CSA and the squad's potential boycott. Instead, let's focus on the fact that these are generally fun-loving young women who are forfeiting the prime years of their lives to represent our country on the international soccer stage.
    With that in mind, their recent arrival in Rome to train for the upcoming Cyprus Cup (presuming they actually play in it, fingers crossed) gives me the excuse to show off this video they put together at this time last year:


    No word yet on whether they're planning a follow-up this year... but if they put one together, you can be sure you'll see it here.
    The Pretzel: British footie writer's overactive imagination links Hoilett to England
    So, some of our fellow Voyageurs went into apoplectic rage upon discovering a British story insinuating that Canadian-born David "Junior" Hoilett has an interest in playing for England, down the road, rather than Canada.
    Hoilett's international ambitions have long been a question mark, as the 20-year-old Blackburn Rovers has rebuffed numerous efforts to bring him into the Canadian fold, insisting that he wants to establish himself at the club level before dipping his toes into the national-team waters.
    The biggest worry for Canadian supporters has always been that he might choose Jamaica, for whom he qualifies by virtue of his parents. But England? Well, clearly, he's just going to be a mercenary and choose the Three Lions so fuck him, we don't need him, the consensus appears to be among Canadian supporters who've weighed in.
    My attempts to calm things down with the reasonable assertion that "it's the British footie press, there's a good chance that everything about this article -- including the quotes -- is complete horse shit" fell on mostly deaf ears, even after I likened the author's conversation to the classic exchange between Andy Millman and a British reporter (at 6:28):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N98ATG7J7mc
    If my first appeal to reason doesn't work, lemme try another: If we accept that the reason a player goes on international duty is in the hopes of making the World Cup, how much sense would it make for Hoilett to wait three years for English eligibility and, in the process, forfeit his chances of participating in Brazil 2014? I realize that his odds of being in that tournament aren't great with us (or Jamaica), but hey, a slim chance is better than no chance.
    Look, I know we've all been burned by players lying to us about their international plans in the past few years. I was directly lied to by one of them. (Yeah, dig through your ICF archives, I was a co-host when Teal Bunbury talked about playing for Canada in Dec. '09). But Junior hasn't been one of them. He hasn't committed to Canada. His story is remarkably similar to that of Jonathan de Guzman, but presuming Junior keeps singing the same tune as he has all along, I'll feel much less rage if he eventually decides to represent another country.
    Even so, I really, really want him to play Canada. And I can't wrap my head around the logic of those who feel otherwise. What, our goal-starved national team all of a sudden has the luxury of discarding Premiership strikers, simply because they might harbour the dream of representing another nation? Come on guys.
    (And with that, I think we can put the Junior Hoilett story to bed once and for all. Phew!)
    The Cheese Stick: Can't blame this one on the speech impediment
    Halifax mayor Peter Kelly had the following to say to the Chronicle-Herald's Michael Lightstone, when asked about the 2015 Women's World Cup, and why Halifax would even be considered as a host city, considering it's the only potential site that doesn't have a stadium:
    So, in essence, "yeah, we don't have a stadium, but if we did have a stadium, then we'd be the same as all the other cities that already have a stadium." No explanation is given as to what would happen if, y'know, that hypothetical stadium isn't built in time (I know it's alarming to even fathom a sporting venue running behind its construction schedule, but it could happen!)Look, Halifax, I love y'all, I really do. But you guys gotta get your shit together. It's fun to slide down the hill at Husky Stadium, but that venue ain't hostin' any international events any time soon.
    Oh, and on a related note, remember to sign the Mission Moncton petition, everyone!
    (Note: For the sake of civility, let's all just accept that my ranking of the components of Bits & Bites snack mix may differ from yours. To each their own.)
    Guest
    An anecdote:
    Back before I wrote about the beautiful game, I got my start in journalism by writing about the other football. Always the patriot, I didn't write about the NFL and the American version of the game though. No, it was all three downs and Rouges for me. Actually, I made it even more difficult for myself by focusing on the amateur side of the Canadian game. I was the voice of CIS football.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    I went to Wilfrid Laurier University, which is a university power. Twice I've seen the Golden Hawks win the Vanier Cup, the national championship of Canada. The 2005 championship remains one of the most incredible sporting experiences I've ever had.
    Before then, however, in 2002 I launched the website CollegeColours.com to cover the university game. In retrospect, it was very much a prototype to CSN. The very first article I wrote for my new site was a feature article looking at two separate incidents involving four players with the Hawks. The team's best running back was arrested for dealing cocaine, just days before three offensive linemen were arrested for beating the crap out of an University of Waterloo student.
    So, some charming stuff.
    During an interview with the athletic director at WLU, I asked whether they had thought about folding the program during the fall-out from the incidents. Remember that this was a team and a school that I deeply cared about. However, I knew that I had to ask the difficult questions if I was going to be taken seriously.
    After it was published I was thanked by several people close to the program. They understood that it was necessary to expose all sides of the story. Some even told me that the story allowed them to start some healing.
    Although it's not a direct parallel, I've been thinking about that experience a lot over the past few days. As with Laurier football, I care about the state of Canadian soccer and I am inspired by and support great female athletes. So, when I publish the other side of the story in regards to Carolina Morace I'm not trying to tear down the women. What I'm doing is being a journalist. It would be a hell of a lot easier if I just stood on the sideline and cheered.
    It's fair to challenge the accuracy of my sources (I've adjusted some reporting after I confirmed I'd received faulty information). It's fair to point out the bias of my sources (but when doing so please be aware of your own bias as well). It's fair to challenge my grasp of the English language (my grade school teachers are still laughing at the realization that I write for a living!), but do not question my motivations.
    I do what I do for one reason - to support the growth of Canadian soccer. I'd be richer if I worked at a call centre.
    Providing objective and balanced reporting to the best of my ability is what I will continue to do -- even if that means that I piss off a few athletes that I respect.
    That said, I'm not publishing any more off-record on the Morace situation. I'm still on the hunt for documentation and for people willing to talk on record, but there is no point publishing more off record statements. The two sides have had their chance to express themselves by now.
    Nothing good can come from more whispers.
    Guest
    It shouldn't really come as a surprise that the NASL received its sanctioning.
    The USSF set their standards too high for Division 2 but weren't willing to knock a block out of the development pyramid just to stand on the principle of their goals. And despite the recommendations of their own review committee to deny sanctioning, the board went ahead and gave provisionally approval anyways. But sources from both Canadian clubs, who had been sharing information throughout the process - and for the most part had showed little doubt that they'd receive approval - expressed surprise at the 6-5 vote. Even more surprise that both the MLS commissioner Don Garber and USSF president Suni Gulati abstained from the vote.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Their shock over the division of the vote is well placed. And there is a lot to this, and what went on behind the scenes this past weekend, that strikes me (and them) as strange. In the weeks ahead, Canadian Soccer News will take a look at the motives that drove this decision and what's next for D2 soccer.
    Some here believe what's next for D2 won't involve NASL after this year.
    For now though, read this thorough summary by our friend Brian Quarstad at IMS Soccer News.
    Guest
    Wayne Rooney has been under extreme scrutiny this year, both for his off-field exploits and for his lack of production on the field.
    Well, he may have just silenced every doubter out there in one swift, amazing flick of his foot.
    Today, he scored what may end up being the goal of his career, and easily the best goal you will see this year. That his goal effectively put the final nail in the coffin of Manchester City's title hopes just makes it that much more special.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Guest

    Another one to watch

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Fraser Aird, a Scarborough teen, and someone who has featured in the Canadian Youth national team set up, has made the jump overseas, signing a professional contract with the Glasgow Rangers.
    He still start with the Rangers U-17 set up but club officials say they expect him to rise through the ranks quickly, finding a place on the U-19s shortly.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    You can read a great feature on Aird here, by the Toronto Star's Daniel Girard and you can find his national team stats here.
    We don't get to report these kinds of success stories very often. But over the past few years I've witnessed an upswing of solid links between Europe and Canada - through FIFA agents (Aird's is Sanford Carabin), families and youth clubs. North America is widely considered the last frontier for football in the world and European clubs are starting to stake their claim.
    Today, Aird's story in Canada is an exception and not the rule. In the next ten years, I'd suspect his will just be another story in the steady stream.
    Guest

    Hamilton Avalanche joins USL

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    A long rumoured addition to the USL, the Hamilton Avalanche will be making it official next week.
    The current owners of the Avalanche W-League franchise have called a press conference for Feb. 17 to announce a re-branding and the addition a USL men's squad.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The announcement comes at an interesting time for the Hamilton area. Hamilton Croatia, along with Milltown, left the Canadian Soccer League last week to participate in a, as yet unsanctioned, breakaway D3 league. Until that league is official, the Avalanche and the American owned league, become the highest level of soccer available for the Hamilton area.
    CSN will be attending the presser and will have someone from the Hamilton group on It's Called Football next week to speak about their plans.
    You can read the release here.
    Guest

    Sources

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    A statement was issued last evening by the CSA stating that 'no Canadian Soccer Association officials, other than General Secretary Peter Montopoli or Women's National Head Coach Carolina Morace, have made or will make any direct comment to the media' in relation to the Women's National team story.'
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The CSA defines an 'official' as General Secretary Peter Montopoli or Communication Director Richard Scott.
    Last week, Canadian Soccer News Managing Editor Duane Rollins published articles on Morace and the Women's National Team and quoted unnamed sources in those stories. CSN can confirm that neither Montopoli nor Scott were the sources quoted from the CSA in those articles
    CSN stands behind Rollins reporting and will use the term 'high-ranking CSA member' when quoting that source from now on.
    Here is the full release
    ___
    Canada's Women’s National Program
    In regards to the Canadian Women's National Program, no Canadian Soccer Association officials, other than General Secretary Peter Montopoli or Women's National Head Coach Carolina Morace, have made or will make any direct comment to the media.

    L’équipe nationale féminine de l’Association canadienne de soccer
    Quant à l'équipe nationale féminine du Canada, il importe avant tout de savoir qu'aucun officiel de l'Association canadienne de soccer, outre le secrétaire général Peter Montopoli et l'entraîneur-chef de l'équipe nationale féminine Carolina Morace, n'a donné lieu à aucun commentaire ni observation à ce jour et ne le fera sous aucune considération à l’avenir en s’adressant directement aux médias.
    Guest

    No comment from Alberta

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    I have just been officially informed that "no further information will be coming from Alberta" on the reasons why rookie directors Scott Chen and Ray Calvin defied their membership and voted "No" to the first two CSA governance reform packages.
    No comment, in other words, from two gentlemen whose lasting impact on Canadian soccer now vastly outstrips both their experience, and importance.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It now falls to the Alberta membership to deal with the final members of -- and fallout from -- the Mario Charpentier regime.
    I'll keep you posted when they do.
    Onward!
    Guest
    The Whitecaps got some bad news today, as their bid to secure former Everton reservist Cody Arnoux's MLS' rights was finally scrapped with Real Salt Lake <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/MLS_Insider/status/36166505536159744">winning a weighted lottery to claim him</a>. Of course, there was always some speculation that this might happen even when they signed Arnoux to a Division II contract last season, but it seemed possible that the Whitecaps might be able to work out some accommodation with MLS to be able to keep him. However, the league basically decided in November that all clubs who wanted Arnoux <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/business/rejects+Whitecaps+Cody+Arnoux+contract/3779858/story.html">should get a chance at him</a>, and that's a reasonably fair principle, even if MLS hasn't applied it consistently (many of the high-profile players entering the league have done so basically only if they would be allowed to sign with a certain team). [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Arnoux's situation is a little different than some of those players, though. Basically, <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2011/02/wednesday_kickaround_71.html">the league tried to sign him when he left college</a> two years ago to head to England. If they'd done so then, a team would have been able to pick him up in the draft or a specific weighted lottery. The MLS decision to conduct a weighted lottery for him allowed each interested team to have a crack at him, and prevented Vancouver from bringing him forward thanks to their D2 contract with him. It's a bit of a blow for the Whitecaps, but there would have undoubtedly have been plenty of complaints around the league if he'd wound up on Vancouver's roster solely thanks to what's widely seen as a loophole.
    How will Arnoux's departure hurt Vancouver? Well, it's not likely to be a huge factor in the short term. Arnoux was reasonably impressive in 10 games at the Division II level last season, but hardly set the league afire and only wound up notching one goal. He showed a promising ability to hold the ball up as a target man, and did many of the jobs required of a striker in Teitur Thordarson's often defence-focused game plan, but he didn't convincingly prove that he can do well at a higher level in MLS. He still needs time to develop, and while he has potential, it's certainly not a sure thing that he'll fulfill it. The Whitecaps' roster is <a href="http://www.whitecapsfc.com/roster">a little low on strikers at the moment</a>, with draft pick Omar Salgado the only player listed solely as a forward, but they'll undoubtedly be bringing in a few more guys in the coming weeks, and Arnoux didn't seem too likely to start even if he'd stayed with the club.
    The long-term ramifications of Arnoux's departure could be more damaging. As mentioned above, he isn't exactly a proven talent at the moment, but he's shown plenty of promising flashes. If he's able to further develop his game, particularly his shooting abilities, he could turn into an excellent MLS striker. If that happens, Vancouver fans may remember him as the one that got away. For now, though, this is probably more of a minor setback for the club than anything else.
    Guest
    Today, we're joined by CBC's John Molinaro to speak about the Women's National team boycott, Carolina Morace's motives and where things go from here.
    We're also joined by Vancouver Whitecaps staff coach and ambassador Carl Valentine to talk about how the pre-season has progressed for the Caps, his days in the old NASL and its collapse, his thoughts on Omar Salgado and the need for D3 soccer in Canada
    We'll also talk a little CSL and give out the second question in our CMNT kit giveaway.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    If you want to find out how to win, you can find all the details for the contest here
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:%27http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/21860/feb11.2011final.mp3%27,initialScale:%27scale%27,controlBarBackgroundColor:%270x778899%27,autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
    Guest
    Defender Richard Hastings, a stalwart of the men's national team for over a decade, has announced his retirement as a player. The announcement isn't overly surprising, as the 33-year-old has been without a club since the end of the 2009-10 season. He had 59 appearances for Canada -- tied with Carlo Corazzin for ninth on the all-time caps list -- the last of which was last spring's friendly against Venezuela.
    In more than 10 years representing the national team, he scored just one goal. But it was one of the most memorable, and important, goals in the history of the men's national team.


    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    That extra-time strike sent Les Rouges past Mexico (and their inconsolably glum goalkeeper) into the semi-finals of the 2000 Gold Cup, a tournament that Canada would eventually win.
    "Richard has served Canada well over his international career and his leadership will be missed by all involved," national head coach Stephen Hart said in a press release.
    "Richard still has some valuable experience to pass on as a professional, especially at the club level, but he has made a decision on what is best for him and his family. On behalf of the Canadian program, I would like to say thank you for his service to the country and wish him every success in the future."
    The B.C. native will immediately move into a role as an instructor with The Other Foot Soccer School in Nanaimo, an offshoot of the original Other Foot Soccer School based in Inverness, Scotland (which, wouldn't you know it, is where Hastings played for the majority of his club career). The academy is based on a pretty neat concept -- teaching kids to improve with their weaker foot.
    While Hastings' time as a player is done, this move is part of a very encouraging trend of former national team members taking up coaching and leadership roles to help young Canadian players blossom -- besides Hastings, Jason de Vos, Nick Dasovic and Jason Bent immediately come to mind, though I'm sure I'm missing plenty.
    Though I'm in no way authorized to do so, I'm going to do it anyway -- On behalf of the Voyageurs, thank you Richard, for your past and ongoing service to Canadian soccer. Here's hoping that some day, one of your trainees will score a massive goal for Canada... perhaps with their "other" foot.
    Guest

    Morace, Milltown and more

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    It was a week of strangers' voices on the telephone, and long, dark, wandering drives in the snow. Places I wasn’t at, for meetings I didn’t attend, to speak of things it’s yet too soon to speak of.
    Stay tuned to this spot, people. It’s way too late to turn back now.
    Here’s what I know:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1) Reform:
    From multiple eyewitness accounts, Alberta Soccer Association representatives Scott Chen and Ray Calvin arrived at the CSA meeting in Ottawa last Friday night telling any and everyone they were voting in favour of the main reform package – as instructed by their membership, and as understood by their executive director, Richard Adams.
    The next morning, they voted “no,” killing both the main plan and the first compromise.
    They then told their baffled membership – in an e-mail CC’d to CSA director-at-large Mike Traficante – that they did it for the good of the country. Whoever put that idea in their naïve, unelected heads, it wasn’t any of the provincial presidents.
    So, yes, we got a one-year-delayed version of reform. We also got played.
    2) The women’s team:
    More opinion here than fact, but aren’t the women essentially launching a reform fight of their own?
    This thing has been painted as a contract dispute, but head coach Carolina Morace doesn’t actually seem to be asking for anything more than what she agreed to when she signed on.
    The biggest problem seems to be the good old-fashioned Canadian Soccer Association shell game with money. There isn’t much of it, of course, and what little cash there is has been known to slide from budget item to budget item from time to time, making it look like everything’s covered when, in fact, it’s not.
    Not corruption, but not exactly professional – which is exactly what the reform movement’s been complaining about for years now.
    Morace called shenanigans, but did it in a blunt, brutal way that obscured more issues than it clarified.
    It’s been suggested to me of late that if the players knew how much money they’d get before taking the field, and if money promised for program X actually materialized at time Y, we would essentially have problem Z (for Zero).
    I don’t have any reason to doubt this – and thanks to everybody who chimed in.
    3) The Canadian Soccer League:
    A year ago, the CSL was flying. Visionary commissioner and three hugely successful, forward-looking expansion teams.
    One of those teams, Milltown FC, which counts leading Canadian soccer rebel Dino Rossi in its braintrust, had a great start to the regular season, actually claiming first place a couple of months in. The other two, Hamilton Croatia and the Brantford Galaxy, won their ways through to the league championship game.
    Well, the commissioner’s gone. Bit too forward-thinking for the backroom boys, mayhap. And now both Hamilton and Milltown have washed their hands and decamped, to try to start their own Ontario-Quebec semi-pro Division 3 league.
    Another crunching shock to the old guard. Another exciting chance to begin something new.
    ---
    Summing up, there is an aching tiredness on multiple fronts that simply will not accept that the ways things are is the way things have to be.
    Morace and Milltown are not rebelling against the same people. But the weary old ways of doing business are simply not good enough for ambitious newcomers who don’t want to see their road blocked by people with less vision who have no tangible right to be standing in their way.
    Chen and Calvin will be gone. Soon. Whether their voting legacy can be erased is a trickier issue – one upon which a deep silence appears, for now at least, to be settling.
    I’m done sending open letters to Alberta. I think it’s pretty clear to everyone what happened there.
    The reform fight is everywhere now. It is no longer acceptable, in Canadian soccer, to say we’re going to do anything because it’s the way we always did it before.
    Much, much more to follow.
    Onward!
    Guest
    L'Impact de Montréal a entamé sa première semaine du camp d'entraînement en vue de la saison 2011 dans la [Insérez nom de la ligue ici].
    Peu importe la ligue dans laquelle l'équipe évoluera, on pourrait dire que l'équipe actuelle semble plus forte que l'édition 2010.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    La mise sous contrat de deux milieux de terrain et d'un défenseur ne semblent être que le début d'une pré-saison qui promet.

    Àgé de 26 ans, Hassoun Camara a été sans contredit le joueur le plus impressionnant du camp d'essai il y a 2 semaines. En provenance de Bastia (Ligue 2, France), Camara est en mesure d'amener une certaine maturité sur le terrain et pourra renforcer le jeu physique en évoluant comme milieu défensif. Sans vouloir être trop optimiste, Camara pourrait l'être un des éléments clés de l'équipe cette saison.

    Idriss Ech-Chergui a également signé avec l'Impact cette semaine et a rejoint l'équipe hier matin. Techniquement, je n'ai pas grand chose à dire à son sujet. Il aime avoir le ballon et n'a certainement des 1-contre-1. Il n'a peut-être pas la grandeur de Sebrango (pour les ballons aériens), mais Chergui cadrerait parfaitement dans un rôle de support offensif, derrière l'attaquant.
    Comme Chergui, Kevin Hatchi s'est joint à l'équipe hier. Le défenseur de 29 ans a du vécu si l'on se fie à son parcours. Il a évolué en France, en Belgique, en Roumanie, en Corée du Sud et plus récemment dans la ligue chypriote. On l'a vu plutôt vu jouer dans un rôle de défenseur central (durant le camp d'essai), mais il pourrait facilement jouer sur les flancs. Comme Billy occupe le flanc droit, on pourrait peut-être voir Hatchi sur celui de gauche.
    Le camp d'entraînement doublera en intensité à partir d'aujourd'hui, notamment avec deux pratiques suivi d'un match intra-équipe demain.
    L'équipe poursuivra son camp à Brossard la semaine prochaine avant un départ fort attendu vers le Grande Sports Complex, en Arizona.
    Guest
    Since fellow Some Canadian Guys writer Squizz has reminded Canada supporters to look on the bright side of life, it’s only fair shake to remind them of the dark side too.
    Stephen Hart has said 2010 was about testing as many players as possible in a Canada shirt so that by 2011 he would have a clearer vision of his first choice team.
    Well, Canada’s first match of 2011 is in the books, and against Greece Hart used a makeshift defence, a makeshift midfield, a semi-makeshift forward line and a previously unknown goalkeeper that the CSA may or may not have found using Google.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Selection headaches are part and parcel for national teams the world over. The British media mocked Fabio Capello for recently having to scout Championship players. But at least Capello has 14 to 15 go-to guys in his mind he can count on to show up when England plays a friendly.
    I started throwing a spreadsheet together at the end of 2009 - an arbitrary date chosen as the start of Hart’s reign and Canada's march to the 2014 World Cup - tracking minutes played by those in Canada's talent pool. Hart has called 49 players to the nine friendlies since. This is not unheard of. I believe the Americans dusted through over 50 players in their last World Cup qualifying cycle.
    But the alarming thing for Canada is its inability to get a regular core of its best players together for an extended run of matches. Injuries, clubs chosen over country, and having European- and North American-based players on opposite schedules all wreak havoc with selection.
    Canada has used six keepers in nine matches. Mike Klukowski, widely agreed to be the country’s best leftback, hasn’t played for Canada since May. Dwayne de Rosario has played for Canada three times in the past year and a half, and who knows when he’ll be available next? Remember Julian de Guzman? He’s played in four of the nine friendlies. The only players Canada can count as regulars - at least amongst those who will figure in World Cup qualifying - are Josh Simpson and Atiba Hutchinson. The other nine slots seem to just go to whoever Hart can convince to show up on the day and don a red shirt.
    Encouraging near-results achieved with a rotating cast of players are just that, encouraging. But Canada will need at least rudimentary continuity to get anywhere in World Cup qualifying.
    If we want to really splash on the cynicism here are some other fun bits from the spreadsheet:

    Canada's number two keeper in terms of minutes is currently taking classes (?) at a university in Iowa and quoting Anchorman on his Facebook wall. So he does have good taste in film.
    The two defenders with the most minutes logged are both unlikely to play major roles in World Cup qualifying. One because he's too old and one because he's too young.
    Canada's 12 forwards have scored two goals in 1,443 total minutes, and one of those was a mis-hit cross.

    Look. Wearing futility as a badge of honour has worked quite well for supporters of various teams in various sports over the years. And hey, you didn't get into this Canada supporting thing to feel good about yourself right? Although I bet that secretly, that's exactly the reason you got into it. That because someday when success finally comes, it will feel better than almost anything you've felt before.
    Is it possible to put a timeline on such whimsical hope? Erm, probably not. My best guess would be that by the 2018 World Cup qualifying cycle Canada will have a core of decent players drawn from the country's three MLS clubs that it can integrate with a handful of quality European-based players, kind of like what Honduras has now. But I'd say any happiness you find supporting Canada in the meantime will be pure bonus.
    Guest

    Exodus from the CSL

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Canadian Soccer News has learned that two prominent teams are leaving the Canadian Soccer League effective immediately over failure to come to terms with the league.
    Hamilton Croatia informed the league of their intention today and CSN is aware of another club who has done the same. The second team requested time to inform its players before being named.
    The pair are a part of a breakaway group who have applied to the OSA for sanctioning as a Division 3 league that would span across Ontario and Quebec.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    For the 2011 season, the club-run league expects to operate with a minimum of 10 clubs with plans for further expansion. In addition to the founding group, established community clubs with strong infrastructure and resources have been approached about incorporating a senior professional team into the youth competitive pathway. All member clubs are required to have formal affiliation with community youth programs.
    The OSA is said to be dragging its heals on approving the league so sanctioning is not guaranteed for 2011. But whether it's this year or the next, it’s certain that the Canadian professional soccer landscape is about to change once again.
    You can read all the details of the application here.
    UPDATE
    The second team, Milltown, has informed its players of its intention to depart the CSL.
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