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The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Julian de Guzman is the male selection for the 2008 adidas Canadian Players of the Year award. De Guzman was honoured in a vote shared by Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).
De Guzman of Scarborough, ON wins the award for the first time. His co-winner Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, BC – announced yesterday – is a four-time winner of the prize.
The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Christine Sinclair is the female selection for the 2008 adidas Canadian Players of the Year award. Sinclair was honoured in a vote shared by Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).
Sinclair is a member of Canada’s national team whose title sponsor is Winners and whose presenting sponsor is Teck. Her 2008 co-winner – the selection from the men’s national team – will be announced on Friday.
The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Nana Attakora-Gyan and Jonelle Filigno have been named Canadian U-20 Players of the Year for the 2008 soccer season. The two stars were honoured in a vote shared by national-team coaches (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).
Attakora-Gyan is a member of the Canadian U-20 team that has begun preparations for next year’s CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship. He took part in all three U-20 camps, the first of which featured the anniversary rematch against Argentina at BMO Field in Toronto (a 1:1 draw on 11 May).
Canadian teenagers Russell Teibert and Monica Lam-Feist have been named Canadian U-17 Players of the Year for the 2008 soccer season. The two stars were honoured in a vote shared by national-team coaches (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).
Teibert is a member of the BMO Financial Group – Canadian men’s U-17 team. He took part in the Canadian team’s first camp in November as the team began preparations for the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship. He started the 2008 season as a member of the Canadian Soccer Association’s National Training Centre in Ontario, but also played briefly for TFC Academy’s U-16 side. In August, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program; in December, he traveled with the Whitecaps FC Residency squad to Japan.
Fans can email their Fans’ Choices to rscott@soccercan.ca.
No rhyme or reason is required – fans are simply asked to vote for their favourite players. Fans have up until 9 January to make their vote for their favourite male and female soccer players from the 2008 season. Fans can email their Fans’ Choices to rscott@soccercan.ca.
After 9 January, CanadaSoccer.com will announce the two Fans’ Choices for the 2008 season. The two winners will not only have their headshots captured in the next edition of the adidas Boot Room, but they will also help reward two lucky fans with a Canada jersey and autographed postcard.
The Canadian Soccer Association is proud to announce that 13 officials have been named to the 2009 FIFA List of Referees and Assistant Referees. The list features seven referees (four male and three female) and six assistant referees (four male and two female). All seven Canadian referees were in fact retained from the 2008 FIFA List. Those seven referees are Steve Depiero, Mauricio Navarro, Silivu Petrescu, Paul Ward, Carol-Ann Chénard, Darci Kruse and Michelle Pye. Of note in 2008, Ms. Chénard took part in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008 while Ms. Pye took part in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008.
Melissa Tancredi produced the moment of the year when she scored the winning goal in Canada’s first-ever qualification for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. The Canadian striker took advantage after Mexican defender Rubi Sandoval slipped with the ball at her feet.
Tancredi made no mistake as she scored the lone goal in a 1:0 victory over Mexico – in Mexico. It was Tancredi’s third of four goals at the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in Juarez, Mexico. The victory erased four years of Olympic frustration dating back to the last qualification tournament in Costa Rica – back to Canada’s 1:2 elimination loss to Mexico on 3 March 2004.
Mélissa Tancredi a créé l’évènement de l’année en marquant le but de la victoire lors du match éliminatoire du Tournoi Olympique de football féminin, assurant la toute première qualification du Canada à ce tournoi. La buteuse canadienne a saisi l’occasion lorsque la défenseure mexicaine Rubi Sandoval a glissé le ballon aux pieds.
Tancredi n’a commis aucune erreur lorsqu’elle a marqué l’unique but de la victoire canadienne 1 à 0 contre le Mexique – au Mexique. C’était le troisième des quatre buts de Tancredi au cours de l’édition 2008 du Tournoi qualificatif olympique féminin de la CONCACAF qui avait lieu à Juarez, au Mexique. La victoire a effacé quatre ans de frustration, qui remontait au dernier tournoi de qualification olympique au Costa Rica et à l’élimination du Canada sur le score de 1 à 2 face au Mexique, le 3 mars 2004.
Canada’s men’s national team scored 17 goals in 2008, the fourth-most in program history. Those goals that Canada didn’t score, however, will haunt the highlights of the 2008 season. Just watch that crossbar in the 87th minute of the Canada-Jamaica match on 20 August or the right post in the 45th minute of the Canada-Honduras match on 6 September.
Canada failed to advance beyond CONCACAF Stage III of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ Qualifiers this past year. Canada posted three wins, three draws and six losses in 2008, but no wins, two draws and four losses in CONCACAF Stage III from 20 August to 19 November. Canada wasn’t lucky enough to score when it counted most in the so-called CONCACAF Group of Death against opponents Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico.
