Canada v. Jamaica: World Cup 2010 Qualifying Preview

Canada starts the next stage in its bid to earn a berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with a match against the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica on Wednesday in Toronto.

The Canadian team, announced last week, is perhaps the strongest we've ever managed to assemble:

Goalkeepers: Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo); Greg Sutton (Toronto FC)

Defenders: Paul Stalteri (Tottenham Hotspur); Jim Brennan (Toronto FC); Mike Klukowski (Club Brugge); Kevin McKenna (FC Koln); Richard Hastings (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas)

Midfielders: Daniel Imhof (VfL Bochum); Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna); Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Nordsjlland); Atiba Hutchinson (FC Copenhagen); Patrice Bernier (FC Nordsjlland); Tomasz Radzinski (Skoda Xanthi); Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)

Forwards: Ali Gerba (MK Dons); Rob Friend (Borussia Moenchengladbach); Iain Hume (Barnsley)

Canada looks strongest in midfield, with the likes of De Rosario, De Guzman, Radzinski and Hutchinson. The forwards, particularly Gerba and Friend will also play a big factor in Canada's success. Defence is a weak spot with no true centre backs named in the squad.

For Jamaica:

Goalkeepers: Donovan Ricketts (Bradford City); Shawn Sawyers (Portmore United)

Defenders: Tyrone Marshall (Toronto FC); Ian Goodison (Tranmere Rovers); Keneil Moodie (Seba United); O'Brian Woodbine (Reno); Demar Stewart (Chengdu Blades); Jermaine Taylor (Harbour View); Demar Phillips (Stoke City)

Midfielders: Davion Thorpe (Reno); Evan Taylor (Reno); Rudolph Austin (Stoke City); Jevaughn Watson (Sporting Central); Jermaine Hue (Harbour View); Ricardo Gardner (Bolton Wanderers); Wolry Wolfe (Joe Public)

Forwards: Deon Burton (Sheffield Wednesday); Luton Shelton (Valerenga); Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids); Andy Williams (Real Salt Lake)

The Jamaicans also look strong up front, with Shelton leading the team with five goals in the opening qualifying round. Their defence looks decent, with a couple England-based players and TFC's Tyrone Marshall (who is questionable for the match, having picked up a quadriceps injury). The midfield is mainly composed of domestic-based players and remains somewhat of an enigma for us non-Jamaicans. They will surely benefit from their familiarity with one another, but the star, Gardner, didn't feature for Bolton on the weekend.

Canada leads the series between the two nations with a record of 6 wins, 4 draws and only 2 losses over 12 games. Particularly telling is the Canadians' record at home, with 5 wins and a draw. The confines of BMO Field should only help with this fine home form.

The Jamaicans dominated their second round qualifier against the Bahamas, winning 13-0 on aggregate.

There will be no games in the so-called Group of Death (also including Honduras and Mexico) that Canada can take for granted. They should be looking for three points against Jamaica, but by no means should these points be considered automatic.

Rene Simoes, the Brazilian who had been in talks with the Canadian Soccer Association to take over after the departure of Frank Yallop last year, manages the Jamaicans and will certainly have the Reggae Boyz prepared for the match.

Canadian manager Dale Mitchell would be advised to make the best of his limited training time with the largely European-based side, to ensure the squad is organized and acclimatizing his players to the artificial pitch at BMO.

Canada's next match is in Montreal on Sept. 6, against Honduras.

MK Dons sign Canadian Gerba: report

The Milton Keynes Citizen has confirmed that Canadian International striker Ali Gerba has signed with League 1 side MK Dons.

According to the club's website, the former Montreal Impact and Toronto Lynx player signed a one-year deal with a one-year option following a trial period. Gerba becomes the recently promoted side's fourth signing of the summer.

Gerba's signing should give Canada boss Dale Mitchell a boost ahead of his World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign, knowing now that one of his top strikers is now attached to a club.

Gerba scored two goals in Canada's last match, a 4-1 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines, helping them qualify for the CONCACAF group stages.

Canadian international Ali Gerba to sign for MK Dons?

According to a story published in the Milton Keynes Citizen yesterday, Canadian international striker Ali Gerba claims he has signed a contract with League One side MK Dons.

Gerba, who has made 18 appearances for Canada scoring nine goals, reportedly has turned down a move to the Montreal Impact of the USL in favour of joining the Milton Keynes side. He had been on trial with the club recently.

Gerba spent most of last season with FC Ingolstadt 04 of the German second division.

If the rumour proves to be true, it will provide the unattached player with a club prior to the start of Canada's World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. Gerba scored twice in Canada's last qualifying game against St. Vincent & the Grenadines in a 4-1 victory.

Toronto FC miss out on Huckerby, Ronaldo doing his best to become most hated man in Manchester

Toronto FC target Darren Huckerby has signed for the San Jose Earthquakes. It had been hoped that former Norwich City teammate Carl Robinson and English coach John Carver might be able to sway the 32-year-old forward to sign for the Reds, but according to a story on ESPN Soccernet, Huckerby's agent said he "liked the idea of California."

The Reds will now pin their hopes on signing former Manchester City striker Paul Dickov.

Ronaldo thumbs his nose at Manchester

Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be doing his best to annoy everyone in the red half of Manchester these days. Not only has the Portugal winger essentially said his dream is to play for Real Madrid, he is now agreeing with the foggy commentary that spews from FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.

According to a story in The Guardian, on the topic of players and their public wishes to move from club to club, Blatter said there was "too much modern slavery" in football.

This was followed by Ronaldo agreeing with Blatter:

"It's true. I agree with what the president of FIFA said. I know what I want and what I would like. We have to see what happens. I do not know where I will begin next season."

Clearly, much like Gareth Barry of Aston Villa, a statement like this is crudely designed to force a club's hand. It is unfortunate for the fans of Manchester United, who generally recieve a reasonable amount of loyalty from their players, that someone of Ronaldo's stature needs to continue with his childish ways off the pitch, instead of restricting his tantrums to the field of play.

Other Transfer News

Manchester United have bid £20 million for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov, according to a report in The Daily Mail. Spurs apparently will insist on £30 million. The article goes on to state Alex Ferguson is not looking to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, but "the manager is interested only in strengthening his side." Really...

The Times reports Tottenham Hotspur are looking to sign top Espanyol striker Luis Garcia (not to be confused with former Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia, now of Athletico Madrid). The article suggests Spurs are looking to rid themselves of two of Robbie Keane (Liverpool?), Darren Bent (Wigan, possibly) or Berbatov. Garcia would apparently cost the north London club around £8 million.

Newcastle have signed Liverpool's Danny Guthrie for an undisclosed fee according to several sources. The 21-year-old midfielder impressed while on loan last season with Bolton enough that several clubs were interested in acquiring his services.

Things are getting strange at Blackburn. New manager Paul Ince apparently has no ambition of moving his side up the table, if his transfer dealings are any indication. It has been widely reported that former Cardiff City and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler has joined Rovers and a report in The Daily Mail has Ince lining up current Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant as a replacement for David Bentley, whom the former MK Dons manager has resigned himself to losing. Good luck with the new job, Gov.

What if ... Euro 2008 had 24 teams?

Spain had barely been crowned champions of Europe when the UEFA brain trust decided to crassly announce they had every intention of capitalizing on the success of Austria-Switzerland by bumping up the number of entrants to the final tournament in 2016 to 24 from the current 16.

I'd like to think that most everyone feels this is simply a boneheaded idea spawned from the mind of someone who routinely says boneheaded things, Michel Platini. Yes, it appears this will indeed become reality, thereby ruining the unique format of the Euro tournament: the top 16 teams from the deepest confederation in the world.

But let me play devil's advocate for a moment and paint a picture of what Euro 2008 might have looked like had 24 teams been part of the competition. We know who the top teams are, since they were in the actual field. The remaining teams would consist of the third place finishers in the seven qualifying groups, plus the top fourth place finisher:

Serbia, Scotland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Finland (24 pts.), who edge out Israel (23 pts.).

Initially, this looks like a fairly forlorn group, right? But Serbia and Finland (tied on 24 points) played well in Group A, only trailing Poland and Portugal by four and three points respectively. Remember the Portuguese were favourites at one point, right? Well, they only managed four points out of four games against these two sides.

Scotland of course caused France and Italy no end of trouble in qualifying, while Northern Ireland beat both Spain and Sweden at home and only lost 1-0 to the European champions in Las Palmas. Bulgaria meanwhile suffered its only loss away to the Dutch, 2-0.

Norway and Finland are both plucky teams in the Scandinavian mold. The Republic of Ireland were the only side to finish third in their group with fewer than 20 points (they had 17) but even they would have been a match for the hapless hosts Austria.

And finally England. While they did seem to miss out in the most spectacular fashion, essentially sealing their own fate with a rare home loss to a very impressive Croatia, England rarely fail to compete at tournaments. They may make things hard on themselves, but aside from Euro 2000, they have made the knockout stage of each tournament since 1996. They would have been at least as good as the Czechs, who I think were the best team not to advance in this year's tournament.

The biggest fault I see with the 24 team format is that the number of games would make the proceedings drag on. Sixteen teams makes for a short, intense spectacle, which is what I think we all enjoy about the Euro.

Transfer News & Rumors

The Guardian reports Zenit St. Petersburg have rejected a £11.8 million bid from Barcelona for Andrei Arshavin. With Chelsea also in the hunt, Arshavin has been given two weeks off by the Russian club, in the midst of their season, to decide his future.

Chelsea are ready to break the world transfer fee record to secure the services of AC Milan's Kaka, according to The Times. This would mean an amount in excess of the £46 million paid by Real Madrid for Zinedine Zidane. Milan would prefer to not sell their Brazilian star, but the club is suffering financially after failing to qualify for the Champions League.

A report in The Mirror has Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon claiming the Spanish champions will back off on a bid for Cristiano Ronaldo until the Manchester United winger proves his fitness, but said his club is still interested:

"If they say sometime that they would like to sell we will be there and will ask."

And so the saga continues...

The Daily Mail is reporting that Liverpool has given striker Peter Crouch permission to speak with Portsmouth. The Merseyside club has accepted an offer for the England player, bringing one of Liverpool's transfer sideshows to an end.

Alan Shearer is getting ready to take over as manager of Championship side Southampton, according to The Daily Star. The former Newcastle striker turned down an offer from Toon boss Kevin Keegan to be the No. 2 at St. James Park earlier this year. Now, can he bring the fragile Saints back to the Premier League?

Finally, Joan Laporta was given somewhat of a reprieve yesterday when only 60.6 per cent of Barcelona club members gave him the thumbs down. The vote was six per cent short of the two-thirds required to oust the top man at the Nou Camp. Some 37,294 members turned up to vote, easily surpassing the 10 per cent of all members (15,184) needed to legitimize the vote. Laporta, according to a story on the ESPN Soccernet website, vowed to continue despite the apparent lack of support:

"It may seem contradictory, but in a few months time we will see that Barca is the real winner," he said. "It's a democratic exercise which could not possibly cause any social division. The Board should read into the results and analyse them profoundly as this is a really good result for us."

Good luck, Joan.

MLSE looks to buy English club

My coffee maker broke the other day, so I took a walk over to a local convenience store to get my morning fix. I stopped in front of the news rack and one of the headlines caught my eye:

"Leafs owner eyes U.K. soccer"

(Toronto Star, 04/24/2008, A1)

For those who aren't from Canada, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is a sports/real estate conglomerate based in Toronto, Ont. They are the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League), Toronto Raptors (National Basketball Association), Toronto FC (Major League Soccer) and the two facilities where these teams play, the Air Canada Centre and BMO Field. The estimate value of these clubs and MLSE's other holdings is $1.75 billion (Cnd.)

The thought of MLSE buying a English club is intriguing, but I believe U.K. supporters of some clubs should be wary. I say some clubs because MLSE is not an organization with a winning tradition. No MLSE sports franchise has won a single bit of silverware since the Leafs won the NHL championship in 1967.

Even Tom Hicks, the reviled part-owner of Liverpool, can claim his Dallas Stars of the NHL won a Stanley Cup in 1999.

So the article goes through a series of teams MLSE supposedly has interested in acquiring. MLSE President Richard Peddie said he recently visited Tottenham, Reading and Southampton. Peddie also went to Stamford Bridge to see the Chelsea operation, but I'll discount that as a purely informational session.

The article also suggests MLSE could be interested in Everton and Newcastle.

Of these clubs mentioned, I think it's safe to rule out two at the outset. I'm sure Everton has learned a lot from the plight of their rivals across Stanley Park and the owners would be very hesitant to sell to anyone even remotely related to an American (or Canadian for that matter).

The other would be Reading. Reading have a relatively new stadium built in 1998, but it's small if Premier League terms, with a capacity of just over 24,000. I understand it is a very nice facility, but not the sort of revenue maximizing vehicle MLSE will seek.

I'm sure Tottenham is the club that will most interest the MLSE folks, with its history, Premier League bona fides (as it were), decent stadium and relatively consistent European presence. I'm not sure how this would proceed, since Spurs are a publicly traded company, but I'm sure it could be done.

The purchase I would make if I was MLSE would be to snatch up Southampton. The Saints would be a bargain owing to their bottom-half Championship performance, but they are well supported and have a fantastic stadium in the St. Mary's. Southampton also has suffered from some financial instability since they dropped from the Premier League, so a fresh infusion of cash could be just what the doctor ordered.

Of course the perfect match for MLSE would be Newcastle, even though they seem unlikely to be sold by Mike Ashley any time soon (or...?). Newcastle has a huge stadium that is constantly filled by deluded fans who haven't seen a trophy in decades ... sounds just like the Maple Leafs to me. This would be such a perfect match, you could hardly come up with a better scenario. Back to reality...

At any rate, the American Invasion seems set to continue. I must admit that the chance for Toronto FC to have a ownership partnership/relationship with a top-class English club would be of unfathomable value to both North American football and Toronto FC. With TFC's summer schedule, it would be conceivable to see some top youth talent spend a few summer months playing on this side of the pond.

Watch this spot for this sure-to-be-ongoing saga...

Millwall FC may play in Ottawa

Football fans, American and the rest of us, had reason to be hopeful in Ottawa today.

As I reported today on the National Post website, one member of the group conditionally slated to run Ottawa's third (yes third, the two previous incarnations went bust) Canadian Football League team is also a significant shareholder of Millwall FC.

Bill Shenkman suggested during the press conference that Millwall, a League 1 side, could be brought over to train in the summer, possibly bringing other clubs in for friendlies.

He didn't go into much detail, but the possibility remains high. With the mayor, some members of council and the CFL behind the bid, a refurbished Frank Clair Stadium may see some real football much sooner than we'd anticipated after last summer's FIFA U-20.