Sutton, Gervais, Bernier et Occéan partants mercredi
Publié : 07 février 2005 22:25
-------------Sutton
Hutch--Gervais--McKenna--Simpson
--------------Imhof
--------Bernier---Brennan
-------------Serioux
---------DeRo---Occean
Making an impact
(CP) -- Greg Sutton will make his second start for Canada in goal when Frank Yallop's team takes on Northern Ireland in a soccer friendly Wednesday in Belfast.
The Montreal Impact 'keeper gets the nod over Lars Hirschfeld, who has 17 caps and started Canada's last game -- a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Guatemala in November.
Up front, Yallop will go with Dwayne DeRosario and Olivier Occean, who also started in the Guatemala game.
With goalkeeper Pat Onstad out of the international picture, Kevin McKenna will captain the team for the second game in a row and start in central defence alongside Gabe Gervais. Atiba Hutchinson will open at right back with Josh Simpson at left back.
Patrice Bernier plays on the right in midfield with Daniel Imhof and Adrian Serioux in the centre and Jim Brennan on the left.
The substitutes are forward Iain Hume, midfielders Jaime Peters and Mike Klukowski and defender Marco Reda. All will get a run-out with the exception of Hirschfeld, whom Yallop said will probably get a start March 26 against Portugal.
The starting 11 features eight of those who started against Guatemala. The three missing are Hirschfeld, Peters and injured midfielder Sandro Grande.
Yallop's starters have a combined 151 caps with DeRosario, McKenna, Imhof and Brennan accounting for 115 of them.
Sutton was named MVP of the A-League last season, when he was also voted top goalkeeper for the second year in a row. He tied Onstad's league's record of 16 shutouts during the regular season and added four more in the post-season.
The six-foot-six 'keeper, who won his first cap against Barbados in January 2004 in Yallop's first game as manager, spent time in Europe recently looking for a club but returned home to Montreal.
"He's done very well. He's a very competent goalkeeper," Yallop said.
Hume's presence on the bench is somewhat of a surprise. The 21-year-old Tranmere Rovers forward played in four of Canada's six World Cup qualifying games in the CONCACAF semifinal round, missing the first through suspension and the last when Yallop elected to leave many of his overseas pros with their clubs.
Yallop played him out of position on the wing during those games, a move he does not plan to repeat.
"He's a forward, he's more comfortable in that position," Yallop said Monday from the Canadian team hotel in Belfast. "I think I need to look at him as a forward. Olivier and Dwayne did so well in Guatemala, I want to give them another run.
"It's a long process anyway," he added, referring to building his team for the future. "I said `look, you're going to play but at this point, for this game I'm going to play Olivier and Dwayne."'
Yallop said Hume understood.
"He's a good lad. We had a good chat. He knows we're just building for the next (World Cup) go-round. I need all these guys on board. I'm not trying to play mind games with anybody. I'm just trying to look at different players, different combinations and give everybody a chance." .
In keeping with that philosophy, Yallop elected to leave such veterans as Tomasz Radzinski, Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman and Jason deVos with their European clubs.
Northern Ireland coach Lawrie Sanchez has named just one uncapped player 20-year-old Aston Villa midfielder Steve Davis, in his squad.
More familiar names include goalkeepers Maik Taylor (Birmingham) and Roy Carroll (Manchester United), defender Aaron Hughes (Newcastle), midfielder Keith Gillespie (Leicester City) and David Healy (Leeds United).
Healy has a groin strain but told BBC Radio he would be ready for Canada.
Northern Ireland is using the Canada game as a tuneup for World Cup qualifiers against England and Poland.
Northern Ireland is currently fourth in the six-country group with an 0-1-3 record after ties with Austria, Azerbaijan and Wales and a loss to Poland.
Canada is ranked 90th in the world, while Northern Ireland is No. 109.
"They're a good side, they've had some good results," Yallop said.
Notes: Chile beat Uruguay on the weekend to finish fourth in South American under-20 qualifying and become the last team to book its ticket to the World Youth Championship this summer in the Netherlands. ... Telelatino will show the tsunami relief charity game from Barcelona on Feb. 15 at 8:30 p.m. EST. Commentary will be in English.
Hutch--Gervais--McKenna--Simpson
--------------Imhof
--------Bernier---Brennan
-------------Serioux
---------DeRo---Occean
Making an impact
(CP) -- Greg Sutton will make his second start for Canada in goal when Frank Yallop's team takes on Northern Ireland in a soccer friendly Wednesday in Belfast.
The Montreal Impact 'keeper gets the nod over Lars Hirschfeld, who has 17 caps and started Canada's last game -- a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Guatemala in November.
Up front, Yallop will go with Dwayne DeRosario and Olivier Occean, who also started in the Guatemala game.
With goalkeeper Pat Onstad out of the international picture, Kevin McKenna will captain the team for the second game in a row and start in central defence alongside Gabe Gervais. Atiba Hutchinson will open at right back with Josh Simpson at left back.
Patrice Bernier plays on the right in midfield with Daniel Imhof and Adrian Serioux in the centre and Jim Brennan on the left.
The substitutes are forward Iain Hume, midfielders Jaime Peters and Mike Klukowski and defender Marco Reda. All will get a run-out with the exception of Hirschfeld, whom Yallop said will probably get a start March 26 against Portugal.
The starting 11 features eight of those who started against Guatemala. The three missing are Hirschfeld, Peters and injured midfielder Sandro Grande.
Yallop's starters have a combined 151 caps with DeRosario, McKenna, Imhof and Brennan accounting for 115 of them.
Sutton was named MVP of the A-League last season, when he was also voted top goalkeeper for the second year in a row. He tied Onstad's league's record of 16 shutouts during the regular season and added four more in the post-season.
The six-foot-six 'keeper, who won his first cap against Barbados in January 2004 in Yallop's first game as manager, spent time in Europe recently looking for a club but returned home to Montreal.
"He's done very well. He's a very competent goalkeeper," Yallop said.
Hume's presence on the bench is somewhat of a surprise. The 21-year-old Tranmere Rovers forward played in four of Canada's six World Cup qualifying games in the CONCACAF semifinal round, missing the first through suspension and the last when Yallop elected to leave many of his overseas pros with their clubs.
Yallop played him out of position on the wing during those games, a move he does not plan to repeat.
"He's a forward, he's more comfortable in that position," Yallop said Monday from the Canadian team hotel in Belfast. "I think I need to look at him as a forward. Olivier and Dwayne did so well in Guatemala, I want to give them another run.
"It's a long process anyway," he added, referring to building his team for the future. "I said `look, you're going to play but at this point, for this game I'm going to play Olivier and Dwayne."'
Yallop said Hume understood.
"He's a good lad. We had a good chat. He knows we're just building for the next (World Cup) go-round. I need all these guys on board. I'm not trying to play mind games with anybody. I'm just trying to look at different players, different combinations and give everybody a chance." .
In keeping with that philosophy, Yallop elected to leave such veterans as Tomasz Radzinski, Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman and Jason deVos with their European clubs.
Northern Ireland coach Lawrie Sanchez has named just one uncapped player 20-year-old Aston Villa midfielder Steve Davis, in his squad.
More familiar names include goalkeepers Maik Taylor (Birmingham) and Roy Carroll (Manchester United), defender Aaron Hughes (Newcastle), midfielder Keith Gillespie (Leicester City) and David Healy (Leeds United).
Healy has a groin strain but told BBC Radio he would be ready for Canada.
Northern Ireland is using the Canada game as a tuneup for World Cup qualifiers against England and Poland.
Northern Ireland is currently fourth in the six-country group with an 0-1-3 record after ties with Austria, Azerbaijan and Wales and a loss to Poland.
Canada is ranked 90th in the world, while Northern Ireland is No. 109.
"They're a good side, they've had some good results," Yallop said.
Notes: Chile beat Uruguay on the weekend to finish fourth in South American under-20 qualifying and become the last team to book its ticket to the World Youth Championship this summer in the Netherlands. ... Telelatino will show the tsunami relief charity game from Barcelona on Feb. 15 at 8:30 p.m. EST. Commentary will be in English.
