Canada Bows Out With 3-0 Loss To Jamaica

Canada lost its sixth and final match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers. By a score of 0:3 against Jamaica, neither Canada nor Jamaica could climb the rankings within CONCACAF Group 2, otherwise dubbed as the Group of Death. Both teams were eliminated from the qualification phase.

“We are disappointed,” said coach Dale Mitchell. “We started off with the two home games. You start with the first two games at home and you have some pressure. Jamaica came to Canada and got a point from us. We were clearly under some pressure to win the second game and maybe we didn’t handle it as well as we should have, although we had the lead. I believe our team was competitive with all three teams in the group, we played them close, but haven’t had enough to get the wins. That has been the story of our campaign.”

With the Honduras 1:0 win over Mexico in San Pedro Sula, meanwhile, both Honduras and Mexico advanced to the CONCACAF final stage. Honduras finished first with 12 points (4-0-2) while Mexico finished second with 10 points (3-1-2).

Luton Shelton, Marlon King (penalty) and Omar Cummings scored for Jamaica while Ricardo Osorio scored for Honduras.

In CONCACAF Group 1, it will be USA and Trinidad & Tobago advancing to the final stage. In Commerce, TX, Kenny Cooper and Freddy Adu scored for USA en route to a 2:0 victory. In Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke and Keon Daniel led the home side to a 3:0 victory over Guatemala.

In CONCACAF Group 3, it will be Costa Rica and El Salvador advancing to the final stage. In Paramaribo, host Suriname played to a 1:1 draw with Haiti. In San Salvador, Costa Rica won 3:1 over host El Salvador.

The six advancing teams from CONCACAF will play a 10-match home-and-away round robin series in 2009. The top-three teams in the final group will automatically advance to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. The fourth-place team, meanwhile, will advance to a final playoff series against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL (South America).

Starters
Lars Hirschfeld, Adrian Cann , André Hainault, Chris Pozniak, Nikolas Ledgerwood, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Kevin Harmse, Will Johnson, Paul Stalteri, Marcel de Jong, Charles Gbeke

Subs
Andrzej Ornoch (Paul Stalteri) 65
Chris Williams (Issey Nakajima-Farran) 68

Scorers
JAM … Luton Shelton 28′
JAM … Marlon King (PK) 57′
JAM … Omar Cummings 85′

Canada Off To Jamaica To Play Final Qualifier

Canada’s men’s national team has announced its roster for next week’s FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match in Kingston, Jamaica . Coach Dale Mitchell has called 18 players for match-day six of CONCACAF Stage III in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers. The Canada-Jamaica match will be played at the National Stadium on Wednesday 19 November.

Canada is facing Jamaica in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the sixth time. In five matches (including a recent 1:1 draw on 20 August 2008), Canada has one win, three draws and one loss. Canada’s all-time record against Jamaica is six wins, five draws and two losses.

Both Canada and Jamaica are on the outside looking in from the Group of Death in CONCACAF Stage III. Jamaica still has a chance to sneak into the top-two positions, although it will be watching the Mexico-Honduras closely (played simultaneously on the same night). Canada , on the other hand, was officially eliminated last month in Honduras .

Canada’s 19 November roster will feature some new faces, although the most experienced player remains captain Paul Stalteri. Stalteri has made 73 appearances for the national team, third most in Association history. At the other end of the Canadian list, Simeon Jackson is making his debut with the national team and hopes to make his first appearance. Former Canadian U-20 Players of the Year David Edgar and Asmir Begovic are also hoping to make their first appearances, although both have had previous experience with the Canadian team.

All three Canadian teams are represented at the same time for the first time since 30 January 2008. Toronto FC’s Kevin Harmse and Vancouver Whitecaps’ Charles Gbeke have both been called back, but added for the first time in 2008 is Impact de Montréal’s Sandro Grande. Grande has had a terrific season in Montréal, helping the Impact win the Nutrilite Canadian Championship and advance in CONCACAF Champions League competition. Grande played in Canada ’s last FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign in 2004, but has not played for Canada since 2006.

So far, Canada has scored in every match of this FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign, a first in Association history. Canada’s current goal-scoring string extends back nine games, one off the Association record set in 1980 (started by coach Eckhard Krautzun in 1976 and continued by coach Barrie Clarke in 1980) and matched in 1985 (by coach Tony Waiters).

Canada arrives in Jamaica this Sunday and begins training on Monday 17 November. The Wednesday night match kicks off at 20.00 ET (17.00 PT).

Of note, Will Johnson’s participation depends on the success of his club’s 15 November semi-final match in the Major League Soccer playoffs. Johnson and Real Salt Lake kick off at 21.30 ET on Saturday night against New York Red Bulls in Salt Lake . Should Real Salt Lake win, Johnson will miss the Canadian match and travel to Carson , CA for next weekend’s 2008 MLS Cup (to face either the Chicago Fire or Columbus Crew).

Also, Iain Hume had been selected to the squad before suffering a skull fracture in a Barnsley-Sheffield derby last Saturday in England . Coach Mitchell and the team have been in contact with Hume and his family and wish him a speedy recovery. Patrice Bernier, Julian de Guzman and Adrian Serioux were all unavailable due to injuries while Michael Klukowski and Tomasz Radzinski were unavailable due to suspensions.

ROSTER
Goalkeeper
Asmir Begovic … Edmonton, AB … Portsmouth – ENG
Lars Hirschfeld … Edmonton, AB … CFR Cluj – ROM

Defender
Adrian Cann … Thornhill, ON … Esbjerg fB – DEN
David Edgar … Kitchener, ON … Newcastle United – ENG
André Hainault … Hudson, QC … Siad Most – CZE
Kevin Harmse … Vancouver, BC … Toronto FC – CAN
Dejan Jakovic … Etobicoke, ON … Red Star Belgrade – CRO

Defender/Midfielder
Marcel de Jong … Newmarket, ON … Roda JC – NED
Chris Pozniak … Aurora, ON … Dundee FC – SCO
Paul Stalteri … Brampton, ON … Tottenham Hotspur – ENG

Midfielder
Sandro Grande … Montréal, QC … Impact de Montréal – CAN
Simeon Jackson … Mississauga, ON … Gillingham FC – ENG
Nik Ledgerwood … Lethbridge, AB … TSV 1860 München – GER
Issey Nakajima-Farran … Calgary, AB … FC Nordsjælland – DEN
Chris Williams … Toronto, ON … Charleston Battery – USA

Midfielder/Forward
Will Johnson … Toronto, ON … Real Salt Lake – USA
Andrzej Ornoch … Scarborough, ON … Esbjerg fB – DEN

Forward
Charles Gbeke … Montréal, QC … Vancouver Whitecaps FC – CAN

STAFF
Head of delegation … Vince Ursini

Head Coach … Dale Mitchell
Assistant Coach … Stephen Hart
Assistant Coach … Nick Dasovic
Goalkeeper coach … Paul Dolan

Manager … Morgan Quarry
Equipment manager … Mike Moretto

Physiotherapist … Ted Tilbury
Massage Therapist … Garret Kusch
Doctor … Dr Michael Campbell