A Canadian Journey: Road to the Promise Land


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Canada Misses Chance

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The Canadians players will return home a bit disappointed after managing only a draw against the 10 men El Salvador. They will now have a tougher challenge against Mexico in Calgary.

"It's a mix feeling really" said de Vos, who managed his first competitive senior side game. "We had a man advantage with the lead and we still gave up a goal. I'm happy that we didn't lose the match but we need to take the opportunity."

Canada dominated the game since the 13th minute after Esnal was automatically sent off. But even with all the opportunities, Canada only managed the 2 goals and that wasn't enough.

Cristian Esnal was sent off after a tripping Junior Hoilett from behind. Josue Flores scored the first goal of the game after well timed close range finish. Randy Edwini-Bonsu tied it up for Canada after well timed close range effort. Will Johnson gave Canada the lead by a penalty after Ayala gave it away. Flores managed to the tied the game for El Salvador after a well timed finish from close range.

In the other Group 1 game, Mexico easily defeated Honduras 3-0 thanks to Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, and Raul Jimenez. The standing after the first game are:

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The projected starting lineup against Mexico may look like:

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Canada Almost Pull Upset

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Even though Canada lost the game, they should be happy with the fighting spirit that they displayed. Being down 3-0 after 44 minutes, the Canucks almost crawled back with a draw. But with the loss, Canada is now in danger with 1 point in 3 games.

"I'm happy with the boys in the 2nd half" said de Vos "But I wish we played like that in the entire 90 minutes, instead of 45. We need to focus for our next 2 games in March."

Mexico was very dominate throughout the game, not giving Canada any chances but Canada managed to creep up a bit to give the Mexico a little scare.

Jonathan dos Santos scored early in the game for Mexico after an incisive finish from 15 metres. Hector Moreno double the lead after a towering header. Alan Pulido made it 3 after a towering header from close range. Will Johnson pulled one back for Canada after taking advantage of Andres Guardado's error to score a well timed finish from close range. Scott Arfield made it 3-2 after a well timed finish from close range.

In the other game in Group 1, Honduras beat their rivals El Salvador 3-0 thanks to Jona (2) and Emilio Izaguirre. The standing after 2 games are:

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Canada Remains

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For the month of November, Canada remained in 103rd place. The tie against El Salvador and loss to Mexico was a factor in the ranking.

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The top 10 has a new king where Argentina dethroned Germany for top position. Brazil jumped 5 position to 3rd place.

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The month's best movers was both Malaysia from Asia, went up 22 positions.

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The worst mover of the month was Congo from Africa, who fell down 20 places.

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Canada Add Staffs

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Canada added two former Canadian internationals to their Coaching staff to help Jason de Vos.

Dwayne De Rosario recently retired in 2015 after his final season with Toronto FC, will join Canada as a coach. He will leave his job as ambassador role for Toronto FC and join in 2016. De Rosario appeared in 81 matches and scored 22 goals. He is a 4 times Canadian Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2007, 2011). He vast experience and Iconic fame with Canada be a boost to the nation.

Kevin de Serpa never appeared in the Canadian national side but was in the U20 and U23 squad. The founder of Ginga Soccer Academy in Toronto, he experience with young players will be a great addition to the team. de Serpa had a journeyman career where he played in 13 clubs in 10 years including teams like Esporte Clube Comercial (Brazil), Real Avilés (Spain), and FK Mandalskameratene (Norway).​
 

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Canada Keeps Going Down

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For the month of December, Canada dropped 2 postions to 105th place. Having no games during the month of December was a factor.

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The top 10 remains the same with no changes.

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The month's best movers was both Gambia from Africa, went up 4 positions.

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The worst movers of the month was Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Canada from North America, Faroe Islands from Europe, and Congo, Libya, Ghana from Africa, who all fell down 2 places.

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2015 Canada Review

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The 2015 calendar year is over and the Canadian Soccer Association has begun their new era. Canada hired Jason de Vos to change their soccer culture and while a couple of notable improvements has been noticed, the process will be a long one.


The national team participate in many events this year including the Olympics Qualifiers and Panamerican Games. Lets review:


Canada


Canada national team started the year with 7 friendlies games against nations like Wales and Greece. Games against Curacao and Anguilla were simple games that Canada were expected to win, with both games going 3-0. The match against Greece was Canada biggest win as they upset the Greek thanks to the goal by Scott Arfield. Canada suffered their first defeat of the year and in the Jason de Vos' era to Peru in a disappointing 0-3 and drew against New Zealand in a very Canada dominated game were they failed to score more. Canada worst defeat was to Wales, where they lost a humiliating 6-1 loss but bounced back to a close 2-1 match against Senegal.


Canada started their World Cup Qualifying Campaign with 2 games against El Salvador and Mexico. They drew against El Salvador 2-2 in a disappointing match were El Salvador was down a man for 77 minutes. Canada almost had a miracle run against Mexico were they almost came back after being down 3-0 but ended 3-2.

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North American World Cup Qualifiers
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Canada U23

The U23 team played in the North American Olympic qualifier during the month of October. They finish first in their group with 7 points, tied with USA. They met Costa Rica in the Semifinals where they end up losing 3-2 and in the process failed to make the 2016 Summer Olympic. They finished in 4th place after losing the 3rd place match against USA 2-1 on extra time.

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North American Olympic Qualifiers
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Canada U22

THe U22 team played during the 2015 Panamerican Games in Toronto. They were eliminated for the competition after failing to finish first in the group stage. The positive about this was that the team finished undefeated.

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2015 Panamerican Games
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Canada U20

The U20 team played on friendlies during the year, facing nations like Colombia and Costa Rica. They played 12 games and ended the year with 11 wins and 1 draw, which was against Venezuela.

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Canada Announces Friendlies

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The Canadian Soccer Association has announced at the nation's capital in Ottawa that Canada will play four friendlies games after their Fourth Round World Cup Qualifiers. In October, they will host the 19th ranked Russia before they go to the United States to face the Americans. Then in the month of November, they will go to Pakistan then host Austria.

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"These are very good opponents for use to face against" said de Vos "Since we were not fortunate enough to play in the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the Rio 2016, we need to keep up with our fitness and preparations."

Before Canada plays their friendlies, they will play their final four games of the Qualifiers, starting in March.​
 
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Down Again

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For the month of January, Canada dropped 1 postion to 106th place. Having no games during the month of January was a factor.

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The top 10 remains the same with no changes.

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The month's best movers was Australia, Singapore, North Korea, and India from Asia, Barbados from North America, and Madagascar and Gambia from Africa, all went up 3 positions.

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The worst mover of the month was Guatemula from North America who fell down 9 places.

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Canadian Qualifier Callup

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Jason de Vos has announced the Canadian roster of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier as the games against Honduras and Mexico.

Getting his first call up for Canada, Calum Ferguson, who plays for Inverness CT. He is replacing Lucas Cavallini, who is out with an injury. Calum impressed de Vos with his performance with the U20 side.

A big surprise was Doneil Henry that was not called up to the national team. Henry was injured a couple of weeks before the call ups, recovered but was not match fit enough to get the call.

Quillan Roberts got the callup after Kyriakos Stamatopoulos and Lars Hirschfeld were both out with an injury and Marco Carducci was called up by the U20 squad.

Both games will be at Honduras and Mexico.

The game against Honduras will be played at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

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The 2nd game against Mexico will be played at the Estadio Azteca at Mexico City, Mexico.

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The rosters selected are:

Goalkeepers: Quillan Roberts (Free Agent), Simon Thomas (FK Bodø/Glimt), and Milan Borjan (PFC Ludogorets Razgrad);

Defenders: Michael Smith (Peterborough United F.C.), Andre Hainault (1. FC Magdeburg), Karl Ouimette (Toronto FC), Steven Vitoria (FC Steaua Bucuresti), Kofi Opare (D.C United), David Edgar (Sheffield United F.C.), and Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City);

Midfielders: Will Johnson (Toronto FC), Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas J.K.), Julian De Guzman (Ottawa Fury FC), Nikolas Ledgerwood (FC Edmonton), Gershon Koffie (New England Revolution), Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Scott Arfield (Burnley F.C.), Junior Hoilett (Queens Park Rangers F.C.), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), and Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas);

Strikers: Jordan Hamilton (Toronto FC), Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC), and Calum Ferguson (Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.).

The potential line-up for the game against Honduras:

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