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Vancouver Whitecaps FC have put themselves in the driver’s seat in the effort to win the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. With a 2:0 victory over Toronto FC at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver – both goals scored by Ansu Toure – Vancouver jumped into first place in the Nutrilite Standings.
It may be a new rivalry on the Canadian sports landscape, but it hasn’t taken long to come to a boil. Canadian club pride will be on the line Tuesday night when Vancouver Whitecaps FC hosts Toronto FC on match day five of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. The two sides will meet this 2 June at Swangard Stadium in a showdown that could determine the championship.
The 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship will be on the line Tuesday night in Vancouver, as Toronto FC need only a win or draw to clinch the Championship and move on to represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League. Meanwhile, Vancouver are facing a must-win situation and will then need help from the third team in the competition, Impact de Montréal, when Toronto visits Montréal on 18 June in the final match of the 2009 Championship. A full list of detailed tie-breaking criteria and possible scenarios are below.
Canada’s men’s national team completed a successful week in Larnaka, Cyprus, capped by a 1:0 victory on Saturday night against the host. Stephen Hart picked up the victory in his return as head coach while striker Simeon Jackson scored in his first appearance with the national team.
Coach Stephen Hart says the week “was about getting the relationships working right, letting the players understand what needs to be done when you play away from home, and what we needed to do offensively and defensively.”
Canada’s men’s national team had its final day of training today in advance of Saturday’s international friendly match against Cyprus. The 30 May match will be Canada’s first of the 2009 season – a 20.00 local kickoff at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaka, Cyprus.
“They are a very good team (and) they have some very good individual players,” says coach Stephen Hart. “Italy had score very late to win their (recent) game (against Cyprus). Cyprus is still in a shout for FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, so they will take the game very serious.”
The Impact de Montréal and the French Football League announced Thursday that the Champions Trophy (Trophée des Champions), a competition between the French Cup winner and the Ligue 1 season champion, will be held in Montréal at Stade Olympique this 25 July (15.00 kickoff).
It is the first time in the competition’s history that the match will be played outside of France.
With still two games to go, one statistic has already emerged from the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship – goals scored by Canadians. Last year, only one of 12 cup competition goals was scored by a Canadian. Martin Nash turned in the honour on Canada Day – his goal from the penalty spot was the difference in a 1:0 victory over Toronto FC on 1 July.
This year, four of the five goals in the competition have been scored by Canadians. Toronto FC’s Kevin Harmse scored in the opening 1:0 victory over the Impact de Montréal; Vancouver’s Marcus Haber and Charles Gbeke both scored in a 2:0 victory over the Impact in Montréal; Ethan Gage scored the latest goal in a 1:0 victory over the Impact in Vancouver.
Canada’s current camp in Cyprus features several young players, four of whom are still 22 years or younger. Defender Eddy Sidra (20) and forward Tosaint Ricketts (21), both from Edmonton, are taking part in their first national camp. They are the two youngest players on the team. Mississauga forward Simeon Jackson and Pickering midfielder Jaime Peters have been up with the national team before, but they are not much older at 22 years of age.
Sidra, of course, is just 10 weeks removed from playing on Canada’s youth team at the recent 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship in March. He was a late call-in to camp, leaving his club FC Energie Cottbus who is currently in relegation zone in Germany. Sidra will rejoin his club after this week in Cyprus.
Canada’s men’s national team enjoyed another day of training today in Larnaka, Cyprus. The team is three days into its preparations for this coming Saturday’s international friendly match against Cyprus. The match will be Canada’s first of the 2009 season.
“We took the intensity down a little because we have been going pretty hard,” said head coach Stephen Hart. “It was more, for lack of a better word, more tactical. It was positional specific as to what will be required of them.”
