Canada and USA Continue Their 80-year Rivalry

Seattle, WA, USA – It always seems that when a Canadian and an American team play each other, regardless of the gender, sport, or age, the atmosphere is a tad more electric.



That should be the feeling this afternoon in Seattle’s Qwest Field when Canada and the USA meet in the second match of their 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign.



The meeting will be the twenty-eighth time (more than any other opponent – Mexico is second with 23) these cross-border rivals have met with the Americans holding the slight edge in the series. Canada’s all-time record vs. the USA is 9 wins, 7 draws, and 11 losses.

Seattle, WA, USA – It always seems that when a Canadian and an American team play each other, regardless of the gender, sport, or age, the atmosphere is a tad more electric.



That should be the feeling this afternoon in Seattle’s Qwest Field when Canada and the USA meet in the second match of their 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign.



The meeting will be the twenty-eighth time (more than any other opponent – Mexico is second with 23) these cross-border rivals have met with the Americans holding the slight edge in the series. Canada’s all-time record vs. the USA is 9 wins, 7 draws, and 11 losses.



GAME-DAY INFORMATION

Teams – Canada vs. USA

Competition – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™

Venue – Qwest Field, Seattle, USA

Kickoff – 130pm PT/230pm MT/330pm CT/430pm ET

TV (Canada)

•Rogers Sportsnet ALL REGIONS – (LIVE)

TV (en Español)

•TeleFutura – (LIVE)



Probable Starting Line-up – 1 – SUTTON Greg; 2 – BRAZ Adam; 5 – GERVAIS Gabriel; 6 – BERNIER Patrice; 8 – SERIOUX Adrian; 11 – BRENNAN Jim; 12 – GRANDE Sandro; 13 – HUTCHINSON Atiba; 14 – DE ROSARIO Dwayne; 15 – SIMPSON Josh; 16 – LEDUC Patrick

Injuries – HUME (quadriceps – questionable); GERVAIS (groin – probable)

Suspensions – MCKENNA (sent off 7/7//05 vs. CRC)



LAST MEETING…

January 18, 2003 – International Friendly

Lockhart Stadium – Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Canada 0 (0)

USA 4 (3)

Goals: USA- Carlos Bocanegra (7), Clint Mathis (31), Chris Klein (32), Steve Ralston (61)

Canada: 1-Lars Hirschfeld; 3-Carl Fletcher, 4-Tony Menezes; 5-Richard Hastings, 6-Chris Pozniak, 7-Atiba Hutchinson, 8-Daniel Imhof, 2-Tam Nsaliwa, 9-Sita-Taty Matondo (15-Chris Williams, 68); 10-David Xausa (16-Rob Friend, 62), 11-Maycoll Canizalez. Head coach: Holger Osieck

Subs not used: 22-Pat Onstad, 12-Kevin Harmse, 13-Marco Reda, 14-Winston Marshall

USA – 18-Tim Howard (24-Nick Rimando, 46); 15-Bobby Convey (15-Pete Vagenas, 68), 4-Carlos Bocanegra, 2-Dan Califf, 12-Sasha Victorine (3-Nick Garcia, 77); 25-Pablo Mastroeni (8-Richard Mulrooney, 36), 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 17-Chris Klein (13-Steve Ralston, 46), 21-Landon Donovan; 9-Clint Mathis (Capt.) (11-Taylor Twellman, 68), 20-Jeff Cunningham (14-Ben Olsen, 46). Head coach: Bruce Arena



FIRST MEETING(S)…

Canada and the USA can lay claim to the first ever ‘International Friendly’ to be played outside the British Isles when they played each other in the summer of 1885 in Newark, NJ. Canada won that contest 1-0. The two teams then played again a year later with the United States winning by a score of 3-2.



The first official meeting between the two nations under the FIFA banner was in 80 years ago in Montreal, QC. Canada won that match 1-0.



HOW THINGS STAND IN GROUP B…

Canada sits in a precarious position after it’s Group B opener but with two games to right the ship, Frank Yallop’s team will look to bounce back against the USA.



The Americans on the other hand sit atop the Group B standings after a dominating performance against Cuba. Despite thoroughly outplaying the Cubans though, the Americans might be a tad concerned that it took them 87 minutes to find the eventual winner off a Landon Donovan freekick.



ttGPtWtTtLtGFtGAt+/-tPTS

USAtt1t1t0t0t4t1t+3t3

Costa Ricat1t1t0t0t1t0t+1t3

Canadat1t0t0t1t0t1t-1t0

Cubatt1t0t0t1t1t4t-3t0



07-07-05tCanada 0, Costa Rica 1

ttUSA 4, Cuba 1

09-07-05tCuba vs. Costa Rica

ttUSA vs. Canada

12-07-05tCosta Rica vs. USA

ttCanada vs. Cuba



CONNECTIONS…

•tIn 1999, Greg Sutton and Josh Wolff were teammates in Chicago…both are on their respective nations roster for the 2005 Gold Cup.

•tKevin McKenna’s recent move back to Energie Cottbus in Germany will now see him play alongside American defender Gregg Berhalter.

•tFormer University of Portland standout, Josh Simpson, will take the field today against some famous Portland alumnus – Conor Casey and Kasey Keller.

•tDwayne de Rosario is in the middle of his 5th season with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) where he has won two MLS Cups with the ‘Quakes…along with US striker Landon Donovan.

•tCanadian Head Coach Frank Yallop also enjoyed success in MLS winning two MLS Cups in his three year stint with the Californian club…prior to taking over the reigns in San Jose, Yallop was the Assistant Coach at DC United and Tampa Bay for a season. He has coached 3 players currently on the US Gold Cup squad – Landon Donovan, Ben Olsen, and Eddie Pope.



ABOUT THE GOLD CUP™

The eighth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ will take place in a record seven stadia in six cities across the USA from 6-24 July. The 2005 event features more games in more cities than ever before will once again crown the region’s top national team.



Group A will be based in Miami’s Orange Bowl, and will feature Central American Qualifiers Honduras and Panama, Trinidad & Tobago from the Caribbean and one of two guest teams, Colombia.



Group B will be playing its games in Seattle’s Qwest Field before moving to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro near Boston. The group features Central American champions Costa Rica, both Canada and the USA from North America and Cuba from the Caribbean.



The final group, Group C, will see games between the other guest team, South Africa, Central American qualifier, Guatemala, recently-crowned Caribbean champions, Jamaica and the reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup™ champions Mexico. Group C games take place in two venues in the Los Angeles Area, Carson’s Home Depot Center and the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, before moving to Reliant Stadium in Houston for the last day of first round play.



The quarterfinal matches, taking place on Saturday, 16 July (two games in Foxboro), and Sunday, 17 July (two games in Houston) will comprise of the first and second-placed team from each of the three groups along with the two best-finishing third-place teams.



The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ semifinals and final are scheduled for Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday, 21 July and Sunday, 24 July, respectively.