If we want to get technical about it, Canada’s senior national men’s soccer team has had one major highlight – a gold medal at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. We didn’t let in a goal en route to the gold medal.
But there were only three teams in that tournament and the other two were from the United States. So it’s hard to call it a great victory on the world stage.
Since then, the men’s program hasn’t been so much up and down, as it has been continuously dropped on its head. Here are some of the more memorable blows.
Canada’s Paul James, left, fights for the ball while France’s Jean Tigana keeps him away during the second half of the 1986 Canada vs. France World Cup soccer match.Charles Platiau/Reuters
1986: Not just the highest peak, but the only time in the modern era Canada got to go mountain climbing – it qualified for its first World Cup at Mexico ‘86. People remember the Canadians didn’t score a goal. They forget they lost only 1-0 to an eventual semi-finalist, France.
1989: The long descent began. In the follow-up to their first appearance on the big stage, Canada fell at the first hurdle to Guatemala. Guatemala has never qualified for a World Cup.
July, 1993: Canada was doing okay at the second Gold Cup, until it met Mexico in Mexico City. In front of 100,000 shrieking home fans, Canada got pantsed on the world stage. It was 5-0 at halftime. The Mexicans decelerated in the second half, and it still ended 8-0. The emergency klaxons started going off, but nobody was listening.
August, 1993: Canada faced Australia in a play-in for the 1994 World Cup. The home-and-away tilt ended with penalties. Facing Australia’s third-string goalkeeper, Canada missed two and lost. “The further [the Australians] go, the better it makes us look,” Canadian coach Bob Lenarduzzi said afterward. Australia promptly lost its next game and missed qualification.
1997: Sixteen-year-old Calgarian Owen Hargreaves was cut from a Canadian junior team because the coaches thought he was too small. That snub will later be credited in part for Hargreaves’s decision to choose England over his home country. He went on to play for Bayern Munich and Manchester United. In 2006, he was chosen England’s player of the year.
Owen Hargreaves of Bayern Munich lifts the European Cup after the match against Valencia in the UEFA Champions League final at the San Siro, Milan, Italy in May 2001.ALEX LIVESEY/ALLSPORT
March, 2008: After what seemed like the first hour of a romcom played out over the span of years, Jonathan de Guzman chose to go steady with the Netherlands instead of Canada. Born and raised in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, de Guzman was at that moment the most fancied Canadian player in the world. In the way of these things, de Guzman’s international career never went anywhere.
Canada’s Dwayne De Rosario during a 2008 World Cup CONCACAF qualifying match in Montreal.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
May, 2008: Ahead of the beginning of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, Canada’s two biggest (only?) stars – Dwayne De Rosario and (Jonathan’s brother) Julian de Guzman – called out the national program for its cheapness. “If we don’t get the proper funding we need in order to be successful, hopefully [our talent] be enough,” De Rosario said. In the first knockout round-robin, Canada failed to win a game.
2012: The program’s nadir. Needing only a draw against Honduras to advance to the next round of World Cup qualifying, Canada came completely apart in an 8-1 loss. “I know [the fans] will never forgive me,” manager Stephen Hart said afterward. “But on behalf of my players, forgive them.”
2013: After clipping Hart, Canada couldn’t find a new coach for love nor (a very little bit of) money. Colin Miller was the interim coach to start the year. Tony Fonseca succeeded him in March. Miller was back in May. By September, Canada had finally nailed someone down – former Real Madrid manager Benito Floro.
October, 2012 to May, 2014: Canada went on a 16-game winless streak. That included a 14-month stretch during which Canada scored only one goal. After a couple of draws at the tail end of this dismal run, Floro said, “For us, it isn’t important to be looking at the results right now. That will take time.”
2015: Canada bombed out of the Gold Cup without scoring a goal. Floro was anxious to talk up how well the defence played in goalless draws with Costa Rica and El Salvador. When someone countered that Canada’s offence was DOA, Floro changed tack, heaping praise on the quality of his team’s opponents: “They didn’t score either.”
2016: For the eighth time in a row, Canada failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Canada’s Doneil Henry, left, and El Salvador’s Nelson Bonilla vie for the ball during the first half of a FIFA World Cup qualifying soccer match in Vancouver, B.C., on Sept. 6, 2016.The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
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