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Vancouver Whitecaps FC has officially eliminated the Impact de Montréal in the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. With a 1:0 victory on Wednesday night, Vancouver picked up another three points to keep pace with the championship leaders, Toronto FC. Vancouver’s teenage midfielder Ethan Gage scored the lone goal in the victory.
The Whitecaps win sets up what could be a title match next Tuesday 2 June at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver. Toronto FC needs a win or a draw to eliminate the Whitecaps and win the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship; Vancouver needs a win over Toronto FC as well as help from the Impact on 18 June.
Canada’s men’s national team has started a one-week in camp in Larnaka, Cyprus in preparation for this Saturday’s international friendly match against Cyprus. The 18-player roster has gathered under the direction of interim head coach Stephen Hart and his staff.
Coach Hart says the first two sessions in camp went well as the coaching staff worked on “getting the relationships working” amongst the new players and the veterans. Of note, Dominic Imhof, Tosaint Ricketts and Eddy Sidra are all first-time call ups to the national squad.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC host the Impact de Montréal at Swangard Stadium on Wednesday night in a key Nutrilite Canadian Championship match up. Second-place Vancouver (1-0-1, 3 points), will be looking to build on its 2:0 victory last week over Montréal, the first every victory for the club at Montréal’s Stade Saputo. Montréal meanwhile will be eager to rebound from the loss to Vancouver, a match in which they missed a number of scoring chances, including three chances that hit the crossbar.
With a victory Vancouver would set up a massive clash with first-place Toronto FC (2-0-0, 6 points), next Tuesday, 2 June at Swangard. Last-place Montréal (0-0-2, 0 points), the 2008 champions, desperately need all three points Wednesday night in Vancouver to maintain their hopes of repeating in 2009.
Toronto, ON under head coach Carolina Morace. The 21 players were all in uniform last night at BMO Field for the international friendly match against USA. The Canadian team fell 0:4 to the world’s number-one ranked and defending-Olympic champion USA.
“I’d rather lose 4-0 against a team of this calibre than to win 3-0 against an easy opponent,” said Morace after the match. “I don’t think there was a four-goal difference [between the teams].Â… I don’t think the score was indicative of the play.”
Les joueuses de l’équipe nationale sont maintenant revenues à leurs clubs respectifs suite après avoir passer une semaine d’entraînement à Toronto sous la direction de Carolina Morace, l’entraîneuse-chef de l’équipe. Les 21 joueuses de l’équipe étaient toutes à l’appel hier soir lors du match amical international contre les États-Unis qui a lieu au BMO Field. L’équipe canadienne a perdu avec un score de 0-4 contre les États-Unis, dont la meilleure équipe du monde et championnes olympiques en titre.
« Je préfère perdre 4-0 contre une équipe de calibre plutôt que de gagner 3-0 contre une adversaire facile, » disait Morace à la fin du match. « Je ne crois pas qu’il avait réellement une différence de quatre buts [entre les équipes].Â… Je ne crois pas que le résultat final représentait le niveau de jeu des joueuses. »
Canada’s men’s national team has added two players to its roster for the upcoming 30 May international friendly match against Cyprus. Coach Stephen Hart has added Dominic Imhof (SUI / FC Tuggen) and Eddy Sidra (GER / FC Energie Cottbus). Midfielder Marcel de Jong (NED / Roda JC), meanwhile, is unavailable because of his ongoing season in club competition.
Canada’s roster now features 18 players for the international friendly to be played in Larnaca, Cyprus. All but one of the 18 players invited to this particular camp play professionally in Europe. As the match does not fall on a FIFA calendar date, some players were unavailable because of club commitments. Should Stalteri or de Jong not be available, further players will be announced.
Canadian international player Nkem Ezurike has been presented the inaugural Dr. Irene Szuler Award. Ms. Ezurike accepted the award at the Soccer Nova Scotia Annual General Meeting in Halifax, NS.
The Dr. Irene Szuler Award was established to recognize and encourage a female player in Nova Scotia demonstrating outstanding qualities of personal leadership, showing commitment to the game of soccer, and providing encouragement to grass-roots players to strive for excellence.
Will lightning – rather goal scoring’s magical milestone – strike twice on Monday night at BMO Field? For the first time in women’s international football history, two players will kickoff in the same game stuck on 99 goals – Canada’s Christine Sinclair and USA’s Abby Wambach. The two stars have the opportunity to reach 100 goals on Monday 25 May when Canada faces USA at BMO Field in Toronto.
Tickets to the match, which is presented by Winners, are available via Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.ca / 416.872.5000). Ticket prices range between $15-35. For those fans outside the Toronto area, the match will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet (19.00 ET / 16.00 PT).
Canada’s women’s national head coach Carolina Morace will make her Canadian debut this Monday night as Canada hosts USA at BMO Field in Toronto. She has a pretty tough competitor as Canada goes up against the world’s number-one ranked country and defending Olympic champions. Still, Canada is ready for the task as the team plays in front of its home fans.
“They want to win – they are the champions of the Olympic Games and they want to confirm their power,” says Morace.
