Jason De Vos
writes and broadcasts at CBC Sports
Mixed results for Canada’s national teams
This weekend was a busy one for Canada’s various national team programs. Training camps and international friendlies took place around the world, and while the results were mixed, the experience gained was invaluable.
The men’s U-17 team took part in a tournament in Martinique, coming away with a morale-boosting, first-place finish. A 2-1 victory over the host country followed a 1-0 victory over Guadeloupe and a 3-1 victory over Martinique’s U-16 team. Canadian captain Bryce Alderson of Kitchener, Ont., was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
The men’s U-20 team took part in the 2010 Internationale Cor Groenewegen Toernooi in Groenewegen, Netherlands, where they finished 11th out of 12 teams. The tournament featured a mix of international and club teams, where each team played five matches in the group phase before taking part in a classification match on Monday afternoon.
Canada finished the group phase having lost all five matches, scoring one goal and conceding eight. Although the results were not what one would have hoped for, this type of international experience is exactly what our young players need in order to develop.
The women’s national team, meanwhile, held a 10-day training camp in Maryland, which they capped by playing the Washington Freedom of the Women’s Professional Soccer league. Despite going behind 3-1, the women battled back to tie the game 3-3 with goals from Christina Julien, Christine Sinclair and Jodi-Ann Robinson.
The women are preparing for a friendly with former World Cup winners Norway on June 3, as well as the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, which serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup being held in Germany in 2011.
Finally, the men’s national team travelled to Buenos Aires to take on powerhouse Argentina.
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