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
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
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