Canada Arrives in Vienna – Injury Keeps Stalteri in London

Vienna, Austria – Canada’s Men’s National Team have all arrived in Austria ahead of Wednesday’s friendly in Vienna.



The last two players to arrive were FC Brugge’s Mike Klukowski and Fulham’s Tomasz Radzinski. Both players were busy with their clubs on Sunday – Radzinski playing 75 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Bolton while Brugge and Standard Liege shared the points in a vital top of the table clash in the Belgian First Division.



But one of Canada’s most experienced defender’s, Paul Stalteri, was not on the field when Canada held its first training session this afternoon.



On Friday, February 12, the Canadian defender fractured his thumb in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland at The Stadium of Light.



Canada’s Head Coach, Frank Yallop, had hoped that the injury would have fully healed by the time his squad landed in Austria but it appears as though there is still some concern over the injury.



Therefore, Tottenham manager Martin Jol and Canada boss Frank Yallop have both agreed that it would be in the best interest of both Spurs and Stalteri for the Brampton-native to remain in London during the International Break to ensure the thumb heals properly.



Stalteri’s place in the squad will not be replaced.



Injuries Hit Austrians Too

Injuries have also forced the Austrians to make several changes to their squad. Austrian head coach Josef Hickersberger has had to replace four injured players in his first game in charge of Austria. The former Rapid Vienna manager has lost the services of goalkeeper Jürgen Macho, Markus Schoop, Sanel Kuljic and Markus Katzer. Replacing the four will be goalkeeper Andreas Schranz, striker Roland Kollmann, midfielder Michael Morz and defender Ronald Gercaliu.



Homecoming for Jazic

Halifax-native and Canadian defender/midfielder Ante Jazic will be celebrating a homecoming of sorts when he returns to Vienna for the March 1 friendly between Canada and Austria.



Jazic, who turned 30 years old on Sunday, played three seasons with Rapid Vienna before departing for Russia in 2004.



And with former Rapid boss Josef Hickersberger in charge of the Austrians, there is no wonder that Rapid is also the most represented club, sending five players to the Austrian squad. Former Rapid goalkeeper Jürgen Macho, now at FC Kaiserslautern in Germany, had also been included in the Austrian team but had to withdraw due to a badly broken left arm sustained in Kaiserslautern’s 2-0 win over Mainz on the weekend.



First Ever Meeting

The March 1st friendly between Canada and Austria will mark the first ever meeting between the two countries’ senior teams.



Last Time Out – Canada-USA Ends in a Stalemate

Canada’s Men’s National team drew with their border rivals USA on January 22, 2006 at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego. The Canadians will probably rue several missed chances that would have given the Canucks a long awaited victory over the World Cup bound Americans. In fact to many, that would have been a victory that Canada would have fully deserved.



“All in all, a very good result,” said Canadian Head Coach Frank Yallop.



“We probably should have scored, but whether that would have been enough to win is difficult to say. We played against a very talented team tonight in their country and performed extremely well – a win would have been nice but I am proud of the way we played.



“Its performances like this that indicate to me we are heading in the right direction.”