Le Canada sans HUME...et autres nouvelles

[Corbin]

Canada misses out on star striker for Olympic soccer qualifying
event
By Neil Davidson
TORONTO (CP) -- Canada will be without star striker Iain Hume and
midfielder Mike Klukowski at the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying
soccer tournament next week in Mexico.
Under new FIFA rules, club sides do not have to release players
for Olympic national team duty.
England's Tranmere Rovers elected to hang on to Hume. The Second
Division side is through to the fifth round of the FA Cup and due to
play Swansea City on the weekend of Feb. 14-15. Plus the team fears
losing the 20-year-old from Brampton, Ont., to injury after striker
Simon Haworth suffered a broken leg earlier this month.
Belgium's La Louviere elected to keep to both Klukowski, a
22-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., and defender Oguchi Onyewu, who was
wanted by the U.S. team.
There is also a question mark over the availability of
Vancouver's TerryDunfield, a midfielder with English Third Division
Bury. Dunfield's release is doubtful.
While Canadian team officials would dearly like to have Hume, one
of Canada's stars at the World Youth Championship in November in the
United Arab Emirates, they also realise they may be calling on
Tranmere in the near future to release him for Canada's World Cup
team.
Canada is one of eight teams after two berths in the Athens Games
for CONCACAF, the region that covers North and Central America and
the Caribbean. The qualifying event runs Feb. 2-12 in Guadalajara.
The deadline for declaring 20-man rosters for the tournament is
Saturday. Most of the Canadian squad will travel to Mexico on
Wednesday but the Canadian lineup probably won't be officially
released until Friday, so officials can continue to work the phones.
The good news for coach Bruce Twamley is that midfield star Atiba
Hutchinson will be on hand to help the qualifying campaign. That's
despite the fact that the 20-year-old from Toronto, named to the
FIFA all-star team at the World Youth Championship, is in the
process of leaving one Swedish club for another.
Agent Barry MacLean said Hutchinson is in the final steps of
moving from Osters to Helsingborg, a bigger club that finished sixth
in Sweden's top flight last season.
Hutchinson, who like Hume is expected to playa part in Canada's
World Cup side this summer, recently had trials with Udinese in
Italy and Russia's Spartak Moscow and Saturn Moscow.
Canadian team officials are still working on securing the release
of midfielders Julian de Guzman of Toronto and Tam Nsaliwa of
Edmonton, who are both with German teams.
De Guzman may be more of a problem. He plays in German's elite
league for Hanover 96 and the Bundesliga team has a high-profile
game Feb. 8 against Bayern Munich that falls in the middle of the
qualifying tournament.
Canadian team officials had expected headaches in trying to free
up their players for Olympic qualifying.
While Hume and Klukowski will be missed, in reality it could be
worse.
Mexico is favoured to grab one of the Athens berths. Canada will
be vying with the U.S. in trying to win Group A, so as to avoid a
likely semifinal confrontation with the Mexicans.
The other teams in Canada's group are Honduras and Panama. Mexico
is joined in Group B by Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Trinidad and
Tobago.
The top two on each group advance to cross-over semifinals. The
two finalists earn tickets to Athens.
The Canadians open Feb. 3 against Honduras.
Canada has not qualified for the Game since 1984, when the team
lost to Brazil in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.
The Americans have had fewer problems assembling their squad,
although in addition to Onyewu, the U.S. will also miss out on
striker Conor Casey. His German side, Karlsruher, didn't release
him.
Of the 22 currently on the U.S. roster, all but one play at home
in the MLS. The exception is defender Zak Whitbread, who is part of
Liverpool's youth system in England.
------
Strengthening Ties: Canada and Germany have signed an agreement
that involves women's games and exchange of players.
The two countries will meet four times in 2005: Sept. 1 in
Vancouver and Sept. 4 in Edmonton, with two matches in Germany still
to be set.
Following the Athens Olympics, Canadian players may be invited to
play in the German women's Bundesliga, while German players could be
sent to W-League clubs.
There will also be tours involving the two countries' youth
teams.
------
Notes: Major League Soccer will kick off the 2004 regular
season on April 3 and wrap up on Oct. 16. Canadian goalkeeper Pat
Onstad and the San Jose Earthquakes will get the first look at star
rookie Freddy Adu as the Quakes travel to DC United on opening day
... The MLS all-star game is tentatively set for July 24 -- the venue
has yet to be announced -- with the MLS Cup scheduled for Nov. 14.
... The United Soccer Leagues, which governs the A-League, is
falling into step with FIFA on international transfer windows.
Starting with the 2004 season, moves involving Canadian teams will
have to take place from Feb. 1 to April 30 or June 1 to July 31.
These dates differ from those overseas because of the difference in
timing of seasons. The transfer window may not affect certain
players out of contract ... Former U.S. international defender Alexi
Lalas has been named president of the San Jose Earthquakes. He
becomes the first former MLS player to serve as president of a MLS
club.
------
CONCACAF Scene: Canada is one of 31 CONCACAF countries to apply
to take part in regional under-20 qualifying for the 2005 World
Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Canada is also one of 32
countries in the region looking to qualify for the world under-17
championship in Peru in 2005.

[Y]

While Canadian team officials would dearly like to have Hume, one
of Canada's stars at the World Youth Championship in November in the
United Arab Emirates, they also realise they may be calling on
Tranmere in the near future to release him for Canada's World Cup
team.

Quoi? La CSA a de la vision, depuis quand...?


Former U.S. international defender Alexi Lalas has been named president of the San Jose Earthquakes. He becomes the first former MLS player to serve as president of a MLS club.


Wow! 'Ok guys, let's get out the office, get the guitars, call the band and let's have a bash...'

[Y]

BTW, j'ai toujours aimé le grand défenseur d'origine grecque, qui est tout un personnage. J'ai vu Lalas pour la première fois à Tampa en 1991 lors du final 4 de la NCAA div.1. Quelle vedette et quel joueur il était! Il jouait pour Rutgers (région de NY) et la finale était contre UCLA (Brad Friedel, Chris Henderson, Cobi Jones, Joe-Max Moore, Mike Lapper et qqs autres bien connus). Du côté de Rutgers, mis à part Lalas, le plus connu est nul autre que notre ami des Rhinos, Billy Andracki...