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This Wednesday’s Nutrilite Canadian Championship match between host Toronto FC and defending champion Impact de Montréal will be streamed live on torontofc.ca and corussports.com. The match, the second of six in the 2009 competition, can be watched live starting at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT. The webcast will feature the same live video as shown on the in-stadium videoboard at BMO Field, but will also feature play-by-play commentary in either English or French.
Just last week, Toronto FC kicked off the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship with a 1:0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BMO Field. This week’s match is also at BMO Field, marking the Impact’s first return to Toronto since winning the championship last 22 July 2008. In that last meeting, the Impact played to a 1:1 draw with Toronto FC to finish first in the standings.
Canada’s next meeting with reigning Olympic champion USA is coming two months sooner than expected. Canada’s women’s national team announced today that it will face USA in an international friendly match this 25 May at BMO Field in Toronto, ON. Canada was originally scheduled to face Japan, but the AFC opponent has cancelled its May trip to USA and Canada. Japan was scheduled to play USA on 21 and 23 May and Canada on 25 May.
“It will be an honour to play the world’s number-one ranked country,” says women’s national head coach Carolina Morace.
Le Canada va maintenant faire face avec les États-Unis, champions olympiques, deux mois plus tôt que prévu. Aujourd`hui, l`équipe féminine du Canada a annoncé qu`elle rencontrera les États-Unis dans un match amical international qui aura lieu le 25 mai 2009 au BMO Field à Toronto. À l`origine, le Canada était censé disputer un match contre le Japon, mais ce dernier a finalement décidé d`annuler leur voyage prévu pour le mois de mai en Amérique du Nord. Selon l`horaire du départ, le Japon aura dû rencontrer les États-Unis lors de deux matchs prévus pour le 21 et 22 mai. L`équipe de la Fédération de football asiatique était par la suite censée de jouer contre le Canada le 25 mai prochain.
« C`est un honneur de pouvoir jouer contre le meilleur pays au monde, » affirme Carolina Morace, entraineuse-chef de l`équipe nationale féminine.
It has been brought to the Canadian Soccer Association’s attention that its official Referee Badge has been reproduced illegally and is being distributed for profit. These counterfeit badges do not comply with the Association’s 2009 Branding Guidelines and are not permitted to be worn by registered referees.
To determine if your badge is authentic, judge your badge against the correct Canadian Soccer Association logo. If the font is noticeably incorrect, the bottom portion of the ‘ball’ is stitched differently and has a raised texture, then your badge is most likely a counterfeit.
Soccer superstar Brian Budd and 2001 national champions North Delta U-16 Selects have been inducted into the Delta Sports Hall of Fame. Both athlete (represented by his sister Barbara) and team (represented by coach Gary Wilson) were celebrated this week in Delta, BC along with pioneer True Haviland Oliver (Olympic trapshooter), coach Colleen Moffat (softball), builder Frank Tarling (gridiron football), and sponsors Shato Holdings Limited.
Mr. Budd grew up in Delta from the time he was seven and graduated from Delta Secondary School. He then attended the University of British Columbia. He played professional soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps, Ayr United, Colorado Caribou, Toronto Blizzard and Houston Hurricane. He also represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1976 and 1977. He scored two goals in seven games.
Toronto FC was all business as it collected the first three points in the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship opener. The host won 1:0 over visiting Vancouver Whitecaps FC, scoring within three minutes of the opening whistle. Canadian midfielder Kevin Harmse scored the lone goal on a header.
“This was a big game for us,” said Toronto FC coach Chris Cummins. “We are taking (this championship) seriously and you saw that with the team we put out.”
There was little change on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as Canada held the 8th spot on the CONCACAF list. In fact, there wasn’t a single change to the world’s top-39 spots, including CONCACAF’s top three countries USA (15), Mexico (25) and Honduras (39). Canada remains 89th on the world ranking.
The FIFA/Coca-Cola 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.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC celebrated the 35th anniversary of its inaugural match today training in Toronto, doing so in preparation of the second Nutrilite Canadian Championship which kicks off Wednesday at BMO Field. The club arrived two days earlier on the heels of a promising 3:2 victory over the Minnesota Thunder in league play on Saturday night. Newcomer Marlon James scored the hat trick in his Whitecaps’ debut. Wednesday’s match, however, is entirely different as Whitecaps FC and Toronto FC kick off the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship, a three-team Canadian circuit featuring two United Soccer Leagues Division One teams (Whitecaps FC and reigning champion Impact de Montréal) and one Major League Soccer team (Toronto FC). The 2009 winner qualifies for the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League season.
Toronto FC has a chip on its shoulder. Now in its third professional season in Major League Soccer, it is still steaming from finishing second in the inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship last year. The Toronto franchise Рwhich plays a division above opponents Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Impact de Montr̩al from United Soccer Leagues First Division Рwere overwhelming favourites to win the inaugural championship.
By the time the championship wrapped up on 22 July 2008, however, TFC was out as the Impact won the trophy and qualified for the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League. In fact, Toronto FC lost the championship on the final day after a 1:1 draw with the Impact at BMO Field.
