“We are happy to play in front of our fans in Canada,” said national coach Carolina Morace. “We hope our support continues to grow as we work towards our qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

The Women’s International Friendly match against China PR will be an integral part of Canada’s preparations for the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier. The eight-team CONCACAF championship runs 28 October to 8 November. That championship will qualify the top two teams for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. The third-place team will advance to a playoff against the fifth-place team from Europe for an additional spot at Germany 2011.

Also part of Canada’s upcoming schedule is an away Women’s International Friendly match against Germany on 15 September in Dresden, Germany. China PR is a former silver-medalist at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (USA 1999) while Germany is a two-time champion at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (USA 2003 and China 2007).

Canada has an all-time home record of 26 wins, five draws and 17 losses at home. It has a international record of seven wins, three draws and two losses in Toronto.

Canada faced China PR earlier this year on 24 April in Yongchuan, China PR. Canada lost 0:2 in that match. The previous matchup was a 1:1 draw in the group phase at the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Tianjin, China PR. In Canada, the two sides last met 19 and 22 August 2006 in St. John’s, NL – a 0:0 draw and a 1:1 draw.

As for Canada’s preparations in advance of the 30 September match, Canada is currently in Roma, Italy from 25 August to 12 September. It then moves to Dresden, Germany until 16 September before returning to Canada for a short break. Coach Morace’s Canadian camp will run from 21 September to 1 October. The team will train in Alliston, ON before arriving in Toronto on 28 September.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 runs 26 June to 17 July 2011. It will be the sixth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Canada has qualified for each of the last four editions: Sweden 1995, USA 1999, USA 2003 and China 2007.

Coach Carolina Morace has called 24 players into this camp. The team will train up to two times a day, with one session in the morning and one session in the afternoon. The national team will also face Italian league clubs Roma and Lazio on 1 September and 8 September.

Canada faces Germany on 15 September in Dresden, Germany. A few national players still in league play in Women’s Professional Soccer will join the national team in Germany before the Women’s International Friendly match. Some other players were not available for this camp because of university commitments.

Coach Morace says that without the full group, she will use this trip to try a different system of play while also trying some players in new positions. The team is currently building towards next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011, with the qualification phase to take place later this year beginning on 28 October.

Three players have been called into the national team for the first time – goalkeepers Justine Bernier and Gurveen Clair as well as centre back Bahar Sansar. Clair (18 years old) and Sansar (20) have participated in youth camps this year with coach Morace while Bernier (21) is making her first appearance in a Morace camp.

Midfielder Kaylyn Kyle, 21, is also taking part in her first national camp of the 2010 season. She has made 10 appearances with the national team before this year. Already in 2010, Kyle has won a provincial championship with British Columbia’s Surrey United (she scored three goals in the final) and reached the W-League final with Vancouver Whitecaps FC (a 1:3 loss to the Buffalo Flash).

Canada’s national team is preparing for the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2010 in Cancún, Mexico. That eight-team qualification tournament runs 28 October to 8 November. The top-two teams automatically qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011; the third-place team faces the fifth-place team from Europe for an extra qualification spot.

HART ANNOUNCES ROSTER FOR PERU AND HONDURAS MATCHES
Men’s Canadian National Team Head Coach Stephen Hart unveiled the roster for Canada’s upcoming friendlies in Canada against Peru and Honduras via a media conference call today.

Canada’s national roster features a mix of veterans and young players that are progressively making their way into the national program. Paul Stalteri is the most experienced player on the roster, having made 81 appearances for his country – one less than the national record held by Randy Samuel. Stalteri is also the oldest player on the roster, although he is only 32 years old. Centre back Adam Straith is the youngest player on the squad at just 19 years of age. Straith is one of several new young players that joined the national team this season. Also new to the national squad this season are centre back Nana Attakora (21 years), goalkeeper Haidar Al-Shaïbani (26) and midfielder Gianluca Zavarise (24).

“We are playing at home, which is always exciting and is something that the football public has been asking for. We’re looking forward to these two games and hopefully we will put on a good performance,” said Coach Hart.

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Tickets to both matches are currently on sale to the public. Tickets to the Canada-Peru match at BMO Field are available via Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.ca / 416.872.5000) while tickets to the Canada-Honduras match at Stade Saputo are available via Admission (ADMISSION.com / 514.790.1245 and 1.800.361.4595).

Canada’s national roster features a mix of veterans and young players that are progressively making their way into the national program. Paul Stalteri is the most experienced player on the roster, having made 81 appearances for his country – one less than the national record held by Randy Samuel. Staleri is also the oldest player on the roster, although he is only 32 years old.

Centre back Adam Straith is the youngest player on the squad at just 19 years of age. Straith is one of several new young players that joined the national team this season. Also new to the national squad this season are centre back Nana Attakora (21 years), goalkeeper Haidar Al-Shaïbani (26) and midfielder Gianluca Zavarise (24).

So far this season, coach Stephen Hart has seen 43 different players in his national camps. Four players are taking part in their first camp of the 2010 season: Patrice Bernier, Iain Hume, Atiba Hutchinson and Kevin McKenna. Three of those players were part of Canada’s 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup team, with only Hume missing the biennial continental championship for injury reasons. Hart’s roster for the pair of home Men’s International Friendly matches features 12 players from last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Finally, several players have joined new clubs since coach Hart last saw them. Marcel de Jong now plays for FC Augsburg in Germany, Rob Friend now plays for Hertha BSC in Germany, Lars Hirschfeld now plays for Vålerenga Fotball in Norway, Hutchinson now plays for PSV Eindhoven in Netherlands, Simeon Jackson now plays for Norwich City FC in England, and Zavarise now plays for Iraklis FC in Greece.

Canada’s professional players will group in Alliston, ON next week in advance of the two Men’s International Friendly matches. Fifteen players are arriving from Europe while five players are arriving from Major League Soccer, including three from Canada’s Toronto FC (Attakora, Julian de Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario).

Both matches will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet (all regions), with the 4 September match kicking off at 17.30 ET / 14.30 PT and the 7 September match kicking off at 19.30 ET / 16.30 PT.

Toronto FC falters in Champions League
Toronto FC’s road woes continue.

Virtually unbeatable at home, TFC stumbled to a shocking 1-0 loss to Panamanian champions Arabe Unido Tuesday night in the CONCACAF Champions league.

With the win, Arabe Unido moves into a three-way tie with Toronto and Real Salt Lake for first place in Group A with three points each. Real Salt Lake, with a game in hand, visit winless Mexican outfit Cruz Azul on Wednesday.

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De Guzman not living up to status as designated player
In a sports era in which star status has replaced the class system of yesteryear, it is becoming more and more difficult to hack through the spin of soccer clubs, agents, players and even some kowtowing fans.

And all in the name of creating an unrealistic Utopia where criticism, directness, and honesty are all too often avoided to protect poor decisions, poor play, or just plain mistakes.

And why?

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Words of wisdom for Canadian soccer
I am a big fan of autobiographies.

I have always believed that there is a great deal to be learned from the lives of others. Everyone makes mistakes, yet the most successful individuals are the ones who can turn those mistakes into learning experiences.

When it comes to success in sport, there are few who can rival the legendary basketball coach, John Wooden.

His 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 years at UCLA is a record that will remain intact for all time. While it took 16 years for Wooden to win his first championship, over the next 12 years he was virtually flawless.

When someone as successful as Wooden speaks, it is a good idea to listen to what he has to say.

One of my favourite Wooden quotes: “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

Supporters of Canadian soccer would be wise to heed those words of wisdom.

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If the MLS ever wants to establish itself as a top professional League in this part of the world
(meaning CONCACAF) it will have to come up with some convincing scores in the round-robin group play of the Champions League.

MLS has four teams in the group stage, Columbus, Seattle, Real Salt Lake and Toronto and must get at least one of them into the final next spring in order to prove a point. It cannot be that Mexico keeps putting four teams into the semi finals, as it did last year, and make the Champions League final stages an all-Mexican affair.

There are four groups of four teams each in our Champions League and conceivably MLS can get all its four teams into quarter-finals, but so can Mexico!

In Group A, there are two MLS teams, Toronto FC and Real Salt Lake but both could advance as the top two teams in each group go to the knock out stage.

Three of the four MLS teams opened their campaign with victories as only Seattle Sounders suffered a 2-1 defeat at Marathon of Honduras, that club not necessarily being a household name.

With the second round of games coming up this week (Toronto is at Arabe Unido of Panama) we
will see how MLS teams do away from home. The three home games ended in MLS wins but playing away may tell a different story, as it did in the Seattle case.

With the MLS having improved its product, albeit slowly, in recent years it must now take the next step
and assert itself in CONCACAF play. In fact if its teams get stranded again one cannot help wondering why its image is still rather poor overseas.

Mexican team Guadelajara, finalist in this year’s Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, is not even in this tournament as it failed to qualify in the highly competitive Mexican environment. Mexican teams often compete in the Copa Libertadores as guest teams. At the end of this week we will see what the real MLS chamces are. Particularly Toronto has its work cut out at the Panama match tomorrow (Aug 24).

TFC trampled by Red Bulls
When New York Red Bulls Joel Lindpere cut open the Toronto FC defence within minutes of Saturdays Eastern Division tilt, you had the feeling it was going to be one of those off days for TFC.

In spite of some half chances which Toronto created off set play opportunities, it most certainly was – an awful day as they fell by a 4-1 scoreline.

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While the hometown Reds seemed determined on stopping highly touted French international Thierry Henry, a clinical finish by New York’s other designated player and some cruel misfortune helped the visitors gain a 2-0 halftime lead.

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More MLS Results
DC United 2 Philadelphia 0
Houston 4 Chicago 3
Kansas City 4 New England 1
Dallas 1 Chivas USA 0
Columbus 3 Colorado 1
San Jose 1 Los Angeles 0
Chicago 2 New England 1