Footie Canada Blog » Canadian Men's National Soccer Team

Update to Last Post

Juve — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:50:54 +0000

The response from the CSA regarding the lack of coverage for the Canadian friendlies is that:

”Macedonia does not have tv/internet for us, so we are updating details via our website. Details to follow from polish FA per match on 18th.”

So, if this is true and Macedonia didn’t have any tv cameras at their stadium, we can’t blame the CSA or Sportsnet for this one. The fact that there is no TV available from Macedonia does sound surprising, however.

Now, with Canada losing 3-0, maybe it’s good I didn’t see the match! That said, apparently we didn’t score on two penalties while Macedonia scored on two penalties of their own, which could mean the game was closer than the score-line suggests.

P.S. Since writing this, I’ve read that Canada was outshot 10-0 in the first half and 15-4 overall. So, the score is a good reflection of the match afterall.

If the Canadian Men’s Team Plays a Match, and Nobody in Canada sees it, Does it Make a Sound?

Juve — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:51:38 +0000

If you’re excited about the continued progress of our Canadian Men’s National team under Steven Hart, forget about watching them on television when they play this weekend’s friendly against Macedonia or on November 18 v. Poland.

Pompey Canuck posted on the 24th Minute Blog that Sportsnet has the rights to these matches. Does Sportsnet actually plan to air the matches on one of their four networks- no. Duane Rollins reported on the same blog that GolTV tried unsuccessfully to get the rights to air these matches.

What is wrong with Sportsnet and the CSA? First, the CSA should be doing everything in it’s power to make sure when selling the rights to broadcast Canada’s matches, that they are actually broadcast. I’m not a TV network sportcasting lawyer, but a bit of common sense would indicate that the CSA TV rights contract should state that if Sportsnet will not air a match they have rights to, they must surrender the rights to that particular match to whichever other network or webhost makes the best offer. If no offers, the CSA should have the right to air the webcast on its website.

The CSA goal is to promote the game in Canada. How is this accomplished when our men’s team has NO visibility. There are hundreds of thousands of children playing soccer in Canada. It would be nice for some of them to be able to turn on the TV and find a role model wearing a Canadian soccer jersey. Maybe then they would aspire to playing for our team, as opposed to Bosnia, Holland or England for example. The Bosnian Men’s national team game tomorrow will actually be available for Canadian viewers to watch. Granted it’s a big match, but this is Canada. You would think on Canadian television you would be able to watch Canada before Bosnia.

If you want to complain about this situation and make an effort to get more exposure for the CMNT you can complain here:

Sportsnet:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/contact/

Rogers Sportsnet
One Mount Pleasant Rd.
Toronto, ON
Canada
M4Y 3A1

Phone: 1-888-451-6363

And the CSA:

Richard Scott
rscott@soccercan.ca

Place Soccer Canada

237 rue Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, ON
K2P 1R2
Tel/Tél: (613) 237-7678
Fax/Télé : (613) 237-1516

We’re Number 53!

Juve — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:08:37 +0000

So, we’ve missed the next world cup, and don’t have a permanent head coach, but on a bright note, Canada has been rewarded with its improved play under Steve Hart, despite not playing any matches since the past Gold Cup. We’ve risen 13 spots to No. 53 which is our highest ranking since October 2007 when we were 51. How is it that we’ve gone up in the rankings without playing? FIFA’s ranking system, which takes into account four factors to determine points to be awarded to count to rankings :

Match result
Match status
Opposition strength
Regional strength

Teams’ scores result from points gained over each calendar year. While matches from the previous four years are considered, more weight is given to recent ones. Teams must have played at least 5 matches within the last twelve months to gain ranking points. So, our poor results in WCQ are weighted less, with more weight to the recent Gold Cup matches.

The only problem is nothing meaningful is on the horizon for our little soccer nation. Canada needs to keep on playing though so we will be well seeded no matter what time period is taken into account going into seeding for the NEXT WCQ. I’ve heard rumblings about an upcoming friendly v. Macedonia. And, with the WC10 upcoming, Canada should be able to find opponents seeking to warm up.