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Canada Turfed From Cup Tilt but Still Upbeat
By jeff paterson
Publish Date: 21-Oct-2004
To the casual observer, it probably looks like a whole lot more of the same from our men's national soccer program: few goals, no wins, and no hope in hell of ever making our mark in the world's most popular sport. But ask the guys who know best and they claim Canada is making significant strides as a soccer-playing nation. It's just hard to see right now.
And, obviously, it's going to require a lot more time to prove to the world that progress is being made here. After a 3-1 loss to Costa Rica on October 13 at Swangard Stadium, Canada can forget about punching its ticket to World Cup 2006 and, instead, can start looking down the road to the 2010 tournament. That second-round loss left Canada with two ties and three losses in the first five games of this six-game regional qualifying round with Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. It also means it'll be at least 24 years since Canada last played a World Cup game.
The tough part for former national team member Frank Yallop, who knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he accepted the Team Canada head coaching job 10 months ago, is convincing people that, despite the poor results, he is seeing reasons to believe.
"I think you've seen us beginning to grow as a team and competing in every game we've been in," Yallop says. "You can't just all of a sudden have a magic wand and everything will get better. I think we're starting to play well, we're starting to play complete games--not quite complete enough--but I'm happy enough with the performances, just not with the results.
"Realistically, we're in the toughest [qualifying] group. We're ranked 95th in the world; we're the worst team in this group--supposedly--so I don't think anyone's surprised where we're at," the coach continues. "But I know we're better than we're showing. Given a little more time, I think we could be really forceful, but this is a six-game series and we don't have more time. If we had 30 games, I feel this team would be good, but we don't. We've got to make sure we peak at the right times and I don't think we've had enough time to really get to the point where we feel confident and assured that we can get results. I've got to get to know these guys inside and out, and I'm not there yet."
Yallop faces all the same challenges of all the guys who've gone before him: lack of funding, lack of preparation time, and to some degree a lack of skill to compete at the highest level of the sport. But one thing the new coach seems to have gained already is the respect of the players.
"He's a tremendous coach but most importantly he's an honest individual," veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad says. "Guys know their roles on this team, and it's not a question of trying to figure out what's happening. He makes it an enjoyable atmosphere to be involved in. We have a lot of fun; you can see a lot of laughs even though we're at the bottom of the group. Frank tries to keep things very positive and I think that helps, especially with the young guys in the group."
One problem Canada has always faced and--judging by these recent games--continues to face is an absolutely staggering inability to score. Our guys have just three goals in the five games of this round of qualifying, which concludes with one now meaningless game for Canada in Guatemala next month. Aside from a pair of 4-0 wins over Belize in June during the first round of World Cup qualifying, Canada has scored more than one goal in international competition just one other time the last 16 occasions the team has taken the pitch.
Some would point to our inability to generate offence, but, again, those in the know would disagree. It's not so much the lack of opportunities created for Canadian soccer; it's far more about finish. Our guys just don't convert the chances they get.
"I think we dominate games now, where I look back in the summer the way we played Wales [a 1-0 exhibition loss] and we were just beginning to play as a team," striker Tomasz Radzinski says. "Now we do dominate games if we want. We can take control of games, and Frank makes it easy to progress. We have a great coaching team, and hopefully we can continue with that team until the next World Cup or beyond that. If we can build on that, then that will be the answer to the future."
As hard as it may be for some to believe, Canada seems to be grooming the type of talent that one day may surface in the ability to score some goals. Olivier Occean, Iain Hume, Atiba Hutchinson, and Josh Simpson are all under 23 and just coming into their own. They are the guys Yallop is excited about moving forward with.
"I've got a good group of young men who want to do well and who want to get to the World Cup," Yallop says. "Are we talented enough? Maybe. But we need to make sure that we're fully prepared and know what it takes to get there. We're learning as we go and we're trying to build the program so that if it doesn't happen this time, we'll be ready the next time."
The key is to progress enough so that in four years everyone involved with our men's national soccer program doesn't have to say the same things. And at least there seems to be evidence that the program is moving in the right direction.
From Straight.com
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