Time to speak up about state of Canadian soccer
I have received numerous requests recently to wade into the murky waters of the ongoing power struggle at the Alberta Soccer Association (ASA). For those of you who are unaware of what has been going on in Alberta, there are two rival Boards vying for control of the ASA.

As the matter is now before a Court of Queen’s Bench justice, pending a decision in mid-August, it is not something on which I can comment. What I can comment on, though, is a letter that was forwarded to me by a member of the ASA in early June.

The letter is dated May 26, 2010, and it is from the Vice-President of the ASA, Mario Charpentier, to all members of the ASA.

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Man U youngsters stun MLS All-Stars
A sellout crowd of more than 70,000 and seven goals provided MLS with the atmosphere and excitement it wanted for the All-Star Game, won by Manchester United, 5-2, Wednesday at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Here’s what we liked and didn’t like about the 2010 MLS All-Star Game …

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Toronto edges Motagua, 1-0, in CCL start
TORONTO — Chad Barrett’s first half goal stood up to lead Toronto FC over CD Motagua 1-0 Tuesday, moving the Canadian champion closer to its first appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage.

Toronto now takes a 1-0 advantage in the two-leg Preliminary Round aggregate goal series down to the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa for the second leg Aug. 3.

“It’s a great result, it’s a positive thing to take a win out of here. It’s better than last year when we lost to Puerto Rico,” said Barrett. “In Honduras, it’s going to be tough and we’re going to have to be just as good if not better on their own field as they have the thick grass, they got their fans. It’s going to be tough.”

The winner will advance to the group stage and join MLS champion Real Salt Lake, Arabe Unido of Panama and the winner of the series between Mexico’s Cruz Azul and San Francisco FC of Panama.

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Summer Tours: Less than Meets the Eye
The temptation to stick it to the Eurosnobs — again — is bubbling within me. I shall resist it. Or I shall try, though I might as well point out that I have just finished watching the Kansas City Wizards beat Manchester United. The Wizards playing all the second half with 10 men, also needs mentioning.

While I’m about it I might as well tell you that earlier this afternoon (Sunday, that is) I ventured into deepest New Jersey — oddly, that’s where you have to go should you want to see the MLS’s New York team — and saw the Red Bulls beat Manchester City 2-1.

All of which sounds great for MLS — but which is actually not as great as it sounds. Because these games are not what they profess to be, certainly not what they’re advertised as. It’s hardly a secret that both Manchester teams are on tour without their best players.

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Hot on the heels of a thrilling 2-1 victory over FC Hamilton Croatia last Friday, which put them all alone in 2nd place in the Canadian Soccer League standing, Milltown FC prepared to face North York Astros, a team they had defeated by a score of 4-2 back on June 27. MFC and North York came into the game going in opposite directions, with Milltown riding an eight game undefeated streak while Astros had lost four in a row after a very good start to the season.

Milltown FC`s Head Coach and Director of Soccer Operations, Rafael Carbajal, had to tweak his lineup for this match due to the absence of Agustin DeMedina, Erick Olazabal and Eros Olazabal. On the plus side, Coach Carbajal was able to reintroduce Jason Morgan to the roster as he had recovered from injury.

From the outset, Milltown controlled the game, creating several early chances and got their first goal of the evening at the 15th minute mark when newly signed forward, Lesly St. Fleur, split two defenders to latch onto a pass from Martijn Kuijpers before calmly depositing the ball into the back of the net past Astros goalkeeper Ryan Zamora. This was the first goal of the season for the Bahaminan National Team member.

MFC continued to dominate both possession and chances in the first half and, in the 41st minute, they extended their lead to two goals when a perfectly executed set play from a corner kick got the ball to Thierry Mangwa-Batomen inside the 18 yard box, which he hammered into the far left corner of the net. It was the defender’s 2nd goal of the season.

Milltown’s did not sit back after halftime and, in the 61st minute, St. Fleur was again in the middle of the action as he deftly controlled an over the top pass to break in on goal. As he prepared to unleash a left footed shot, he was taken down by the onrushing Astros keeper inside the 18 yard box, resulting in yellow card to Zamora and a penalty shot being called for MFC. Martijn Kuijpers stepped up to the spot and made no mistake, extending the lead to 3-0.

With game in hand, Coach Carbajal was able to give some young players their 1st opportunity to get a run out for the first team. Romeo Parada, Peter Niles and hometown boy Thomas Santibanez all got into the game.

MFC Captain Scott Cliff had his quietest night of the year, facing very few shots on goal to record his 4th shutout of the season.

When the final whistle was blown, the PA Announcer let everyone know that this victory put Milltown FC in first place in the CSL standings, resulting in a rousing standing ovation for their hometown squad. The MFC players acknowledged the appreciation of the fan by returning the applause as a way of saying “thank you” for all their support over the past six weeks. A large gathering of young players from Milton Youth Soccer Club gathered near the stadium exit, showering the players with cheers and high-fives as they headed back to the locker room.

“We would never have predicted that we would be in first place after 13 games in our first CSL but this team has worked hard and has shown a lot of discipline and commitment,” said Coach Carbajal. “However, there is still a lot of soccer to be played and we have very tough opponents over the next three weeks. We must continue to do the work if we expect to continue getting positive results and to stay at or near the top of the table.”

The victory gives Milltown FC 25 points from 13 games and extends their undefeated streak to 9 games. They now have a record of 7 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses.

Milltown will now play four straight games away from the friendly confines of Bishop Reding Field. Their next match takes place on Saturday, July 31st at 7pm, when they will face Toronto FC Academy for the first time. The match will be played at St. Joan of Arc Secondary School in Maple, Ontario. Game time is 7pm.

MFC’s next home game is August 28 when the club hosts Milton Youth Soccer Day. That event will be a double header, with the MFC Reserve Team taking the field at 1:15pm, followed by Milltown FC vs. Montreal Impact Academy at 4pm.

Scoring Summary
15th minute – Milltown FC goal scored by #9 Lesly St. Fleur
41st minute – Milltown FC goal scored by #2 Thierry Mangwa-Batomen
62nd minute – Milltown FC goal scored by #10 Martijn Kuijpers (Penalty Shot)

Milltown FC Starting Lineup
Scott Cliff (c), Eric Batchanou, Thierry Mangwa-Batomen, Ben Ragan, Tristan Scott, Chris Suta, Brian Alcantara, Jason Morgan, Martijn Kuijpers, Lesley St. Fleur, Cordell Benjamin

Substitutes
Alessandro Famele, Chad Fernandez, Jesse Mahal, Romeo Parada, Thomas Santibanez, Gersi Xhuti, Peter Niles

Substitution Summary
52nd Minute – Benjamin Out, Xhuti In
69th Minute – St. Fleur Out, Niles In
73rd Minute – Alcantara Out, Santibanez In
73rd Minute – Kuijpers Out, Parada In
80th Minute – Scott Out, Fernandez In

Disciplinary Summary
Chris Suta (Yellow Card)

North York Astros Starting Lineup
Ryan Zamora, Anthony Valentine, Jongwon Jung, Nicholas Rom Colthoff, Erik Grigore, Camilo Moreno, Mauricio Chamale, Kurt Ramsey, Jevon Vanderreydon, Mahyar Kohbad, Andrew Mbala

Substitutes
Luis Gonzalez, Victor Gallo, Roozbeh Houdaji, Diego Bonilla

Substitution Summary
45th Minute – Mbala Out, Gallo In
63rd Minute – Valentine Out, Gallo In
68th Minute – Chamale Out, Bonilla in

Disciplinary Summary
Jevon Vanderreydon (Yellow)
Camilo Moreno (2 Yellow Cards, Ejection in 60th minute)
Mauricio Chamale (Yellow Card)
Ryan Zamora (Yellow Card)

CSL Weekend Scores
York Region 1 Toronto Croatia 1
Serbian White Eagles 5 North York 0
Brampton 1 Montreal Impact Academy 0
Portugal FC 7 London City 3
Serbian White Eagles 1 Hamilton Croatia 0
Montreal Impact Academy 2 St Catharines Wolves 0

Something had to give with both sides sporting streaks. However, the result extended Toronto’s unbeaten run at home to nine games while extending Dallas’ record of undefeated games on the road to seven.

Maicon Santos gave Toronto the lead in the 61st minute before Milton Rodriguez tied the game in the 77th minute.

With the draw, Toronto improved to 23 points, but more importantly they moved out of the precarious eighth playoff seed and into a tie for sixth with Colorado and San Jose.

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More MLS Results
Seattle 2 Colorado 1
Salt lake 1 Chivas 1
Columbus 3 Houston 0
Los Angele 2 San Jose 2

Late goals continue to hurt TFC
Toronto FC made a liar out of Preki on Saturday.

The Reds’ coach assured us that his players learned their lesson after conceding an injury-time goal in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the expansion Philadelphia Union last week.

“They understand [that game] was maybe a good warning for us at this part of the year [and] that we can’t things for granted,” Preki told reporters ahead of Toronto’s crucial home contest against FC Dallas.

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The CSL Youth Development System will kickoff an indoor schedule mid-November to start an all-year round academy-style program structured to provide competition, high calibre skills training and professional development for promising players wanting to accelerate their progress in the sport. A CSL policy introduced for the first time this season requires new CSL clubs to be connected to youth soccer in the professional team’s community, and the CSL will work with community based clubs to deliver this new exciting and progressive program while adhering to the CSA’s Wellness to World Cup, Long Term Player Development framework.

“The CSL Youth Development System is intended to be more than just somewhere to play,” said Domenic Di Gironimo, commissioner of the CSL, who for some time now has emphasized a need for Canadian soccer to bridge the gap and provide that missing next step for promising young players who find themselves with nowhere to go. ‘The Gap’ – a long-standing impediment to producing players for higher levels, including Canada’s national teams, has been identified as a reason Canada has fallen behind in world soccer. “Canadian soccer should be producing many more good young players from the ever-increasing number of registrations across the country,” says Di Gironimo.

Recent discussions with CSA National Teams’ scouting staff centered on improving the role of CSL coaches in identifying athletes, and creating a formalized link between the two organizations. The CSL intends to work with the OSA and other provinces to establish a similar relationship to assist with the development of players for Provincial Teams.

CSL league administrator Pino Jazbec, who will oversee the CSL’s year-round program, will have the new league operating both indoor and outdoor competitions, boys and girls, young men and young women. The year-round program is intended to address the longstanding criticism from high level coaches that compared to most other countries, the Canadian outdoor season is too short.

The league is announcing an indoor program that will have teams in four divisions from U12 (9 vs. 9) and U14 years through U18 (11 vs. 11) playing one game each week from November through April, followed by a break before the outdoor season takes over.

All players, non-playing staff and the competition will be under CSA/OSA rules of governance, while league rules will be in accordance with the CSL Rules and Regulations.

The CSL, with teams in Ontario and Quebec and which at the beginning of this year came directly under CSA governance, presently has 13 teams in its First Division and 10 in the Reserve Division and is planning expansion to other parts of Canada.

Bob Iarusci, a former Canadian national team player who gained prominence with Toronto Metros-Croatia and New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League, who has maintained high interest in Canada’s progress as a soccer-developing nation over the years and who has followed CSL games closely this season, was pleased when advised of the CSL’s plans for professional youth development.

“I am very impressed with the CSL standard of play and the quality of the player base. The emphasis on developing young Canadian talent through the CSL clubs is so important. Special mention should go to the new clubs like Milton, Brantford and Hamilton Croatia . It will be exciting to follow the results over the next few months. I believe we are in for some great games towards the end of the season,” he said.

Also in August, Canada’s Para Soccer team as well as Canada’s men’s national team will be in camp, with the latter assembling at the end of the month before what will be a busy September for Canada’s two national “A” teams.

Already in 2010, Canada has held national camps for five different youth age teams – men’s U-20, men’s U-17, women’s U-20, women’s U-18, and women’s U-17. The addition of two U-15 teams – girls in early August and boys later this year – marks seven different national youth teams in 2010.

Add in the activity for the men’s full national, men’s U-23/Olympic, women’s full national and Para-Soccer teams, that makes 11 different national soccer teams in play this 2010 season.

Following this week’s BMO National Championships Nutrilite All Stars, Canada’s men’s U-17 team will assemble in Sherbrooke under head coach Sean Fleming. The players will be selected directly from the competition and remain in Sherbrooke from 25 July to 1 August. This team is in its early preparations for the 2011 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship.

Also following the weekend, Canada’s women’s U-17 team will hold its next camp in Santiago, Chile under head coach Bryan Rosenfeld. The camp runs 25 July to 3 August. This team has already won the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship (March in Costa Rica) and is currently preparing for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago 2010 (September 2010).

At the end of July, Canada’s women’s U-15 team will group in Sunrise, FL, USA under coach David Benning. This camp will run 30 July to 9 August. Finally, Canada’s men’s U-20 team will meet in Spain for a camp and competition from 9-21 August. The men’s U-20 team is coached by Valerio Gazzola.

Men’s International Friendlies
In September, Canada’s men’s national team will host two Men’s International Friendly matches – 4 September against Peru in Toronto and 7 September against Honduras in Montréal. Tickets to both matches are available now (Toronto via Ticketmaster / 416.872.5000 / ticketmaster.ca; Montréal via Admission / 1.800.361.4595 / Admission.com). Canada’s women’s national team, meanwhile, will face reigning FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Germany on 15 September in Germany.

Turning around Canadian Soccer
It was good to hear Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson being interviewed on TSN’s Off The Record. When asked about Canadian soccer and our lack of success, he commented about the geographic disadvantages we face and the lack of motivation our players have once they reach 16. True enough, although rather simplistic for the 21st century.

Not to be too critical of Sir Alex, after all, he was not asking the questions and what would he know of the ingrained soccer problems we face in our country. He has never lived the experience.

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