FIFA Under 20's?

[Hal Johnson]

Hey, my new work is offering a bunch of tickets for the Fifa under 20's (Toronto only), including playoffs, but not the championship. Tickets are reasonably priced too. I dont know how hard these are to come by, but the email I got makes it seem as though they are. Anyway, just thought Id throw that out there if any of you are interested PM and Ill try to give you more info.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Every time I look at the schedule for Ottawa i get Van Halen's "Panama" stuck in my head.

Sad to be missing the first game tomorrow but am eternally grateful to Douglas for looking after Holly during the late game...

what a treat to be able to check out a couple of young Liverpool players live and in person, should be a great string of games.

I really really hope the home crowd gets behind the Canucks

[M.O.B.E]

Im going to the quarter-final match in Toronto. Its 2 weeks away but Im stoked for this.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

damn that argies-czech game was enjoyable- loads of quality from the s. americans even if they couldn't put anything away

[ollie]

Watched the match on tape. Frank Clair Stadium in High Def was a sight for these eyes! Crowd looked good. The pitch not so much.

Now the important question -- were they selling beer on the south side? How were line-ups?

[Booche]

The lineups were awful. I wont be standing in line for any beer but feel free to bring me back a couple. It should only take 45 minutes or so.

Yesterday showed us an ELECTRIFIED crowd cheering on Argentina. Anyone that thinks Canadian fans are passionate about their hockey needs to see this shit. They are leagues ahead of us. It was such a good time and I am sure a couple of you idiots are wondering, "How can two 0-0 games be entertaining?"

Panama - NK:

Between game dancing:

Argentina - Czech:

Argentina fans behind us:

[Davey Boy 2.0]

stoked for tonight

hopefully we'll see some goals!

[AD]

yo, where you sitting? me and northernwish are going tonight as well, i think it was section B row 6 or 16, something with a 6 in it.

[Booche]

South Side

Section LL

Row 10, seat 30

PM Sean.

[Booche]

Alrighty, quick word before I head out.

The Panama keeper had better bring his A game like he did against North Korea or this score is going to be 6 nothing. He was outstanding on Sunday and was the player of the day.

Keep an eye out on the Argentinian front players. # 17 will blow your mind with his pass attempts, # 10 has awesome feet and a great first touch and # 9 is going to move around like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

The back 4 looked solid as well but they didnt have to put up much of a fight. I suspect much of the same tonight but Panama should create on or two decent chances on break-outs. Skilled and fast but not technically proficient.

[Guest Low Roller]

Poland beats Brazil?!

Jeszcze Polska nie zgniela poki my zyjemy!!

[Guest Low Roller]

Some of my friends that went to the Brazil/Poland game were lucky enough to meet the Brazilian fans:

[Booche]

Jesus Enthusiastically Offers Much Kindness!!

[Booche]

Awesome night of Footie!

Great games, fantastic skill, terrible finishing (for the most part) and lots of drumz. Jesus, I loved the samba beats of the Brazillian fans compared to the boom boom of the Argentinians. Mix that beat with the Argentine football squad, along with their fervent fans, and we have achieved sports perfection.

Who knew that beer and soccer worked so well?

Double exclamation point

Edit to add:

I forgot my fucking camera and I still cant believe #12 for the US scored both their goals.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

yup great fun. i'm so going t miss this tournmaent when it's over. Here's the Argies' goal last night

Edited July 7, 2007 by Guest
picturino

[ollie]

That was more fun than Bluesfest. I could seriously get into going to the grounds every Saturday.

Who knew that doobies and soccer worked so well?

[Davey Boy 2.0]

me

[ollie]

Who knew that beer and soccer worked so well?

Indeed!

[Jaimoe]

I'm not thrilled that Dale Mitchell is moving on to coach the men's national team.

[Booche]

Jaimoe, I thought the same thing for a minute until I realized that we didnt have a very talented squad representing us at this tournament. From the limited viewing I gave this team, I walked away knowing that their execution in the final third of the field was less than becoming. That says it all.

Plain and simple.

In all honesty, I am thrilled that we are bringing in a Canadian coach who understands the vulnerability of being on our national team. He's been there and done that. If it doesnt work out then by all means try and get someone outside of the country but its a well played gamble hiring someone of his pedigree.

[ollie]

Does this mean that Thursday's game in Ottawa is Zambia vs. Nigeria?

[M.O.B.E]

Does this mean that Thursday's game in Ottawa is Zambia vs. Nigeria?

Ive been enjoying watching the African teams play. They all play with some pace. Nigeria just killed Scotland. Congo could have turned it on and put Canada out to die anytime they wanted to as well. The kid who took over as keeper for the Canadians did well. He made a few nice stops for being thrown into goal.

I was just looking at the match schedule and the standings. Looks like Brazil is out and Costa Rica, Congo, Portugal and Uruguay would be in?? If you follow the allotments for the 3rd place teams Brazil loses out on match 41 to Portugal on goal diff. and Costa Rica on match44 because no spot for group D.

[Guest Low Roller]

Mike Komisarek supports Polska!

[ollie]

I've got my pick for Thursday.

According to the UN report, which is a staple of police forces around the world, 16.8 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 smoked pot or ingested one of its derivatives last year.

That's well above the world average of 3.8 per cent for the same demographic and ahead of almost every other country in the world save for Ghana (21.5 per cent of the population), Zambia (17.7 per cent) and the tiny island-states of Papua New Guinea and Micronesia (29 per cent each).

Who's using, who's supplying, the world's illicit drug culture at a glance

[Booche]

OTTAWA - You cannot blame the players for not trying. They ran their legs off. And you cannot blame coach Dale Mitchell for attempting every trick available to him as he kept juggling his lineup in the hunt for goals - any goals.

No, the agonizing struggles Canada went through in a humiliating trio of games at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup run far deeper than that.

Let's get the facts out of the way first. Three games played, three lost, not a single goal. That's the first time in the history of this event the host nation has been left with such an atrocious record. Even Malaysia scored one goal when they hosted the tournament in 1997.

There is little point rehashing all the bad stuff - like Andrea Lombardo missing at least three great chances against Congo and possibly besmirching his reputation permanently; or the passes that went astray at every corner of the pitch during the three losses.

What needs to be examined is why Canada's highly optimistic team looked so wildly out of place in this elite company. It could not have been more abundantly clear that Canada is struggling to keep up with anyone at the tournament apart from, perhaps, New Zealand.

As soon as the final whistle blew Canadian fans went from embarrassed, to sad, to angry, to what's wrong, all in a matter of minutes.

Out came the knives and it wasn't only carping media who were wielding them. Some players were taking a stab or two.

They claimed to whomever would listen that Canada was not aggressive-minded enough, a barely veiled criticism of coach Mitchell's possession-first tactics.

"We have a lot of attacking players. We could have played a lot more aggressive," Tosaint Ricketts said.

Or wingback Jaime Peters' take: "When you lose your first two games, you have to have an attacking mentality. If we'd had that from the start, I think it would have been different."

Hey boys, do you really think you know more than a long-time coach who was a pretty sharp international shooter in his playing days?

The facts were plain to see. Canada lacks the fundamental skills to compete at this level. If this country is to be competitive, it must understand why this has happened and how to fix it.

Richard Bate, for years a well-respected English Football Association technical expert, spent a bunch of months in that job with the Canadian Soccer Association before quitting in frustration in February last year.

He travelled the country looking for answers. He found that the grassroots end of the sport has taken a powerful hold on this country and is firmly entrenched. It's strong enough to claim Canada is "soccer country."

With that sort of progress, Canada should be establishing a steady flow of potential talent. But it's not happening.

Dick Howard offers a clear picture of what's needed to change things and he has authoritative credentials. The former national team goalkeeper and national youth coach is regarded as one of FIFA's most experienced coaches all around the world.

"We have to establish an infrastructure that will allow our best young players to develop and not be forced to go overseas," he says. "This is the big challenge for our national association."

Something like 75 per cent of Canada's booming soccer-playing family - 850,000 and climbing - are under 14 and doing fine, says Howard. It's after that they start to get left behind.

"You cannot rely only on a three-or-four-month summer season," he says. "You have to get the players into a 10-month-a-year training program and put them on the right path to develop their technical skills, their tactical awareness, understand the importance of fitness and the need for appropriate psychological preparation when they go into high-level tournaments. That was lacking here."

Howard also wants us to understand how tough is it to compete against a country like Chile, where its three top players are on major teams in Europe and its other 18 play for domestic professional teams.

The Austrians have established a development league in recent years and its team is a product of that program.

Even Congo, the fourth team in Canada's first-round group, came better prepared. This war-ravaged country has 13 or 14 players on a special academy team sponsored by the country's football federation and its top four players are playing with Auxerre in France.

By contrast, Canada had two goalkeepers unattached - that means they have no club - three players are with university teams and eight or nine play in third- or fourth-level pro teams across Europe. Peters is the most experienced with some 34 games under his belt with the second-tier English Championship team Ipswich Town last season.

Given this unlevel playing field, what right do fans have to expect them to be winners?

And there are other problems for CSA president Colin Linford and his men to sort out.

Like the parochial attitude of some provinces who are convinced the province or the clubs inside that province are more important than playing for your country. Like the need to generate sponsorship and government backing to provide the financial support needed to fund change. Like a stronger coaching system. Like higher standards for young players to aspire to without necessarily leaving the country.

Both Linford and Howard are optimistic the arrival of Toronto FC as a Major League Soccer team will help. The club is starting a youth academy next year for developing players. In addition, the Vancouver Whitecaps have just announced a residency program for elite youth players.

The present may be filled with gloom. But maybe, just maybe, gaps in the clouds are beginning to appear.