By Warren de Lima
warren@canucks-abroad.com

Canada Roster Announced for Gold Cup

Canadian National Team manager Stephen Hart has announced his 23 man Canada roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, which will run from July 3rd to July 26th in the United States.

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com

Eddy Sidra - Debutant: Source: CSAThe encouraging 1:0 win in Cyprus came as a pleasant surprise to many after a couple of years in the Mitchell-"inspired" doldrums. Many were resigned to "another Estonia". Bottom line is that expectations were low, especially after the disastrous WCQ campaign.

The reinstatement of Stephen Hart, who had a year in charge under the same interim tag prior to Mitchell taking over, has given the team, players and fans fresh hope that the national team can finally start to find some way to fulfill it's obvious potential. Gone is the 4-5-1, at least as the only option, after Hart fielded a 4-4-2 in Larnaca.

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by Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com

With the withdrawl of Marcel de Jong due to club commitments, Canada has called up Dominic Imhoff (not Daniel) and former U23 player Eddy Sidra of Cottbus Reserves. Both call ups are a surprise, but the inclusion of Sidra is both a surprise and a welcome development. It's good to see this squad is giving a chance to youngsters rather than trotting out ageing players who are past their usefulness to the MNT. That's not to say their contributions in the past have not been appreciated - they have - but the fact is soccer will always be about passing the torch and bringing through the next generation. Of the 18 players in the final roster, all are "Canucks Abroad" with only Hemming playing in North America, with USL1 Charleston.

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com

Match Report taken from www.canadasoccer.com plus some additional commentary and quotes.

Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com
2007 U20 Squad - #2 NAG and #5 Haber Return: Source: CSA
A young and inexperienced group of U20's will face off against Argentina this Mother's Day in a match to commemorate last year's opening of BMO Field as the new National Stadium.

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com

Chivas has offically announced at the pre-season's 11th hour, the trade of 2nd year striker John Cunliffe to San Jose in exchange for Canadian internaitonal defender/midfielder Chris Pozniak.

http://chivas.usa.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080328&content_id=...

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com

After playing out a 0:0 tie in a game devoid of highlights it seemed, Kyle Hall stepped up to seal 3rd Place in the Qualifying Tournamant as Canada ran out 5-4 winners on spot kicks.

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com
Dale Mitchell: Source: CSA

A little lost in the ferver of the Olympic qualifying efforts was a note on the squad announced to face European minnows Estonia on Wednesday, 26 March.

By Al Clark
al@canucks-abroad.com
Will Johnson: Photo: Dale MacMillan
For once the predictions were right; the US looked superior than their Northern counterparts, and ran out comfortable winners. The Olympic flame, or at least Canada's Olympic dream, has been extinguished.