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Canada’s women’s national team remains the 11th ranked team on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking. Canada dropped four points, but held its position on the most recent 26 June 2009 ranking. It marks the third-consecutive ranking (since December 2008) that Canada has held the 10th position.
The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings looks at each country’s international results from the last four years. The ranking takes into account the result, the importance of the match, the strength of the opponent, the regional strength, the time period, and the number of matches per year.
L’équipe canadienne féminine demeure au onzième rang selon le classement mondial féminin de la FIFA/Coca-Cola. Le Canada a perdu quatre points, mais l’équipe a pu garder la onzième position lors du classement le 26 juin passé. C’est la troisième fois de suite depuis le mois de décembre 2008 que le Canada est resté au onzième rang.
Le classement mondial féminin de la FIFA /Coca-Cola prend en considération les résultats internationaux de chaque pays depuis les quatre deniers années. Le classement prend en considération le résultat, l’importance du match en question, le niveau des adversaires, la force régionale, la période de l’année et le nombre de matchs joués par année.
Toronto FC showed off its first piece of hardware to its fans on Wednesday night at BMO Field. The team had Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers walk the 2009 Voyageurs Cup onto the pitch before the 24 June Major League Soccer match between Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls. The RCMP handed the trophy to a Toronto fan who in turn handed it to TFC members Jim Brennan and Dwayne De Rosario.
Toronto FC clinched the 2009 Voyageurs Cup on Thursday 18 June after passing Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship standings. Toronto FC finished first with nine points and a +5 goal differential in the six-match tournament.
Toronto FC’s Dwayne De Rosario has been awarded the George Gross Memorial Trophy after being selected most valuable player of the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. De Rosario won the award after leading Toronto FC to the 2009 Voyageurs Cup, helping the Toronto FC overtake Vancouver Whitecaps FC on the final day of the competition.
De Rosario sparked Toronto FC’s unbelievable victory on 18 June to claim the championship. He scored three goals – the first hat trick in the competition – en route to a 6:1 victory over the Impact de Montréal at Stade Saputo. He finished with three goals and one assist in four games.
Unbelievable, but true: up against improbable odds to stave off elimination, Toronto FC pulled off the greatest victory in franchise history to win the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. In need of a victory by four or more goals to skip past leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the Toronto team drummed up an away 6:1 win over the Impact de Montréal on the final night of the competition.
Dwayne De Rosario scored the first hat trick in competition history while Amado Guevara score two goals and Chad Barrett scored the competition winner. De Rosario earned Toronto’s Man of the Match honours and also picked up the championship’s most valuable player prize – the George Gross Memorial Trophy.
Should Chad Barrett get a breakaway on Thursday night, he can’t afford to be stopped. Sam Cronin can’t afford to hit the far post nor can Dwayne De Rosario just a few minutes later.
Those were just three of the opportunities that Toronto FC missed on 13 May when it last faced the Impact de Montréal. This 18 June, Toronto FC will need to bury all of its chances as it will lose the championship with anything less than a victory by four or more goals.
The Impact will not win the 2009 Voyageurs Cup, a first for the Montréal franchise that has won the trophy every year since it was first awarded in 2002. Montréal fans will, however, witness the trophy’s presentation to a new champion on 18 June at Stade Saputo, be it to the Nutrilite Canadian Championship-leading Vancouver Whitecaps or the visiting Toronto FC.
Toronto FC needs to win its final game on Thursday night in Montréal by four or more goals. Toronto FC faces none other than the Impact in the final match of the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. Anything less and Toronto will concede the trophy to the Whitecaps.
John Limniatis was a formidable player in his time, making 44 appearances for Canada’s national team between 1987 and 1997. For what he says he lacked in physical prowess, he made up in technique and understanding.
More than anything, it was his character that ensured him a long career at both club and national levels.
Nkem Ezurike has won the IKON Female Team Athlete of the Year award at this year’s IKON Sport Awards presented by Sport Nova Scotia. Ezurike was one of three soccer award winners at this year’s event, joined by Official of the Year Shauna Poirier and Team of the Year Halifax City Salty’s women’s soccer.
This past year, Ezurike won a bronze medal at the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship and a gold medal at the 2008 BMO National Championships. She won the bronze with Canada in July and the gold with Halifax City Salty’s in October. She then represented Canada at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008 in November, leading the team with two goals and helping the team reach the quarter-final stage.
