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: World Cup, here we come! ... well, maybe.
A win over a non-FIFA-sanctioned French protectorate, and Canada's into the knockout round! Whoo! Well, it's not that simple for Canada's U20 men's team. Though they've qualified for the quarterfinals at the CONCACAF U20 championships, they'll still need a win against Costa Rica on Friday night if they hope to avoid Mexico in the next round.
A win against the Jr. Ticos would set up a date with either Cuba or Trinidad & Tobago, with a berth in this summer's U20 World Cup on the line. Anything less and they'll need to get through the Mexicans to qualify.*
Canada v. Costa Rica is being streamed at CONCACAF.com Friday night, and we'll also be hosting a live chat here at Canadian Soccer News. Kickoff is 8 p.m. ET.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The Cheerio: Movement in Morace morass
It's often said that no news is good news; but in this case, vague, minimal news could be good news for the women's national team. The Canadian Press reported earlier this week that the CSA has sent a formal proposal to disgruntled head coach Carolina Morace, in an effort to have her renege on her vow to leave the team following this summer's World Cup.
The details of the deal aren't yet public, but CSA president Dominique Maestracci told CP that the proposal includes some clarity on monetary compensation for the players, which has been a key sticking point throughout the months-long controversy surrounding the team.
It serves no real purposes to point fingers or assign blame at this particular juncture (there will be plenty of time for that in a few months). For now, the prospect of a resolution surely bodes well for Big Red, who need as few distractions as possible heading into their highly-anticipated appearance in Germany 2011.
The Pretzel: We don't like that Boon-boo-ree
Get ready, Vancouver. Teal Bunbury is coming to town.
Long-time Whitecaps fans likely don't need much of a primer on who he is. But if you're a newer fan who reveled in the chance to hate on Toronto in the Caps' season-opener, then you're in luck, as you'll get a similar opportunity for rage expulsion on Saturday.
The Sporting KC striker is, of course, the son of Alex Bunbury, a legendary member of the Canadian men's national team. Teal was born in this grand old country of ours, though he did spend a large amount of his upbringing south of the border. Nevertheless, he made appearances for Canadian youth teams, and told several members of the Canadian soccer media that he felt Canadian, when questions of his national allegiances came up late in 2009.
Then, last year, he answered the call from the American men's national team. And that, as they say, was that.
To be clear, Teal isn't Owen Hargreaves, or Jonathan de Guzman, or that Bosnian goalkeeper. He's his own man, in his own circumstances. And I'm not deluded enough to think that anything he did was meant to intentionally spite Canada or its long-suffering soccer supporters.
But this is one of the few times that those long-suffering supporters will get the chance, live and in person, to make themselves heard to a player that turned his back on Canada.
So if you'll be out at Empire Field on Saturday, there will be plenty of people from coast-to-coast living vicariously through you once Bunbury steps out on the pitch.
As I said, get ready.
The Cheese Stick: Do you have election fever?
"No one’s ever run for office on the basis of Canadian success in international soccer."
That odd throwaway line shows up in a Globe & Mail article by Jim Stanford about the government's performance during the recent recession.
He's right, of course. I don't imagine that Stephen Hart's choice of formation will be much of a talking point during the upcoming leadership debates. But I'm not sure how I feel about the line. On the one hand, any publicity is good publicity, right? (I mean, even if it's as a punchline in an article about the economy, it's still a CanMNT reference in the Globe.)
On the other hand, Stanford's obligatory reference to "our glorious domination of world hockey" irks me in ways I can't articulate in a single sentence. So I'll just let it stew for now.
But what do you think?
*The U20 scenarios are based on the assumption that Mexico will beat Trinidad later on Friday night. If the Soca Warriors somehow pull off the upset, everything's thrown for a loop.
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