Sorry for not posting yesterday, my realish job took precedent, and I was still recovering from an
emotional playoff weekend plus news that Real Fucking Salt Lake, those bastards whose goose TFC
were supposed to have cooked back in October as Rollins expertly pointed out yesterday, will be
playing for the MLS Cup.
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Just when I'm trolling around in search of something to care about, along comes Toronto FC COO and
all around fan favourite Paul Beirne tweeting about how he intends to require TFC Academy entrants
to commit to playing for Canada.
Even Duane Rollins points out the Academy couldn't force a player to play for the national outfit
if it came down to that, so ultimately this is just more fan populism, and it seems they're loving
it.
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There's been an interesting exchange on the Canadian soccer front, with Jason de Vos and Paul James
both writing articles about Canadian players who have chosen to play for other national teams, and
Duane Rollins responding in kind.
While this might get me into all sorts of trouble, my own view is that while I am sympathetic to
those who are angry at players like Begovic and Lensky for switching national allegiances at this
late stage, and for misleading Canada fans over their intended decision, I have trouble accepting
that they should play for Canada "no matter what," as in "no matter if the CSA actively supports
both them and the national program in a meaningful way or not.
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Tom Anselmi defended his decision to extend Mo Johnston's contract by saying, and I quote: "Our
expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would."
Bra. Vo.
Not expecting Toronto FC to qualify for the playoffs? In a league where half the teams move on to
the post season?
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The future of the "second" division of American and Canadian soccer took a dramatic turn today:
Alex Papadakis, chairman of NuRock Soccer Holdings, the new owner of USL, told a Canadian radio
station...
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Many Canadian soccer blogs are ruminating on the mathematical jiggery that must take place for
Toronto FC to inch their way to a playoff spot, but little has been written about what it would
actually mean for Toronto to make it into the post-season. Is stretching the season out a little
bit a victory in and of itself?
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Toronto FC will introduce Canadian national team star Julian DeGuzman as the club's first
Designated Player at a press conference today in Toronto in a multi-million dollar move that should
help TFC make a serious push toward playoff contention.
DeGuzman, 28, joins TFC after a lengthy and successful career in Europe, where he played in
Germany and Spain before agreeing to a deal this week to become the club's most high-profile
signing since being founded in 2007.
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Toronto FC will introduce Canadian national team star Julian DeGuzman as the club's first
Designated Player at a press conference today in Toronto in a multi-million dollar move that should
help TFC make a serious push toward playoff contention.
DeGuzman, 28, joins TFC after a lengthy and successful career in Europe, where he played in
Germany and Spain before agreeing to a deal this week to become the club's most high-profile
signing since being founded in 2007.
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Via Laurie at THE OFFSIDE
http://www.theoffside.com/files/2009...cksmontero.jpg
"Hey! Fredy! C'mon, Dude, I need you to get up and act like I didn't just stomp you on the chest
hand. C'mon, man. Please? I know I used to play for your Portland and you guys hate Portland, but
Prus is talking with the 4th official and they look pissed.
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Ben Rycroft of the Metro News joins us to discuss TFC, and other matters related to Canadian
Soccer including Julian DeGuzman's current predicament without a club side.
We also speak to Brian Quarstad about the sale of USL to NuRock and the breakdown in the
relationship with the USL-1 owners association which we have reported extensively on all week.
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MLS Rumors 22 August @ 10:17 AM EST
Will it be 2011 or 2012 for Montreal's MLS debut? This comes directly from the well respected
Canadian soccer blogger Duane Rollins from the The 24th Minute.
Interesting to note that the 2 following internet domain names were registered on August 11th by
LES FROMAGES SAPUTO S.E.N.C./SAPUTO CHEESE G.
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The Archerites are at it again. This time Aaron Stollar makes some wild generalizations about
Canadian soccer fans based on the 24thminute's commentary on MLS' lacklustre participation in the
CONCACAF Champions League and the plebes go wild (check the comment section).
Read the offending post.
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What has been ongoing for months became public knowledge yesterday, thanks to a Canadian report.
The United Soccer Leagues is for sale. As someone who has been aware of this fact since March, it's
a little disappointing to see a leak occur as the transaction nears completion.
I have been privy to many off the record discussions, on this issue since March and they will
remain for now, off the record.
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The Offside 18 August @ 08:00 AM EST
If that's too many acronyms in one headline then allow me to elaborate. MLS is Major League Soccer,
the top tier of football in the USA/Canada., as recognized by FIFA (and David Beckham). USL is
United Soccer Leagues, consisting of USL 1 and USL 2, the de facto second and third tier of
US/Canadian soccer.
Click to continue reading...
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By DUANE ROLLINS
Discerning Canadian soccer fans can be forgiven for being a tad bit ambivalent about the
Canadian national team's success during the preliminary round of the Gold Cup.
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We've seen the movie before after all. A plucky Canuck team surprises the critics (and terrifies
the bookies) by playing attractive, winning football at the CONCACAF championships.
Click to continue reading...
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By DUANE ROLLINS
Discerning Canadian soccer fans can be forgiven for being a tad bit ambivalent about the
Canadian national team's success during the preliminary round of the Gold Cup.
Â
We've seen the movie before after all. A plucky Canuck team surprises the critics (and terrifies
the bookies) by playing attractive, winning football at the CONCACAF championships.
Click to continue reading...
A roundup of some stories today of interest to Canadian soccer fans.
- Some Canadian Guys Writing About Soccer have uncovered speculation that Simeone Jackson will be
leaving Gillingham for the Championship and signing with Leicester City for a tidy sum of
cash.
- Duane at the 24th Minute is reporting that Tomasz Radzinski is doing his best Energizer bunny
impersonation and staying at FC Lierse in Belgium 2nd Division for at least 2 more years.
Click to continue reading...
The Footie 12 July @ 02:18 PM EST
It was a proud moment for Canadian soccer fans when they took the Group A lead after a 2:2 tie
with Costa Rica July 10th, 2009. The CONCACAF Gold Cup match bests the soccer skills of North and
Central American Countries (basically N.America).
The Canadian national team will not head to Philidelphia where they will play in the Gold Cup
quarter-finals that will take place next week.
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WVHooligan 08 July @ 01:21 PM EST
Yeah, another anti-SuperLiga post coming up right here. While I won't complain about the clubs
involved this time around or the lack of playing any of these games in Mexico, I will harp a little
on how the first round went this year.
Thanks for Daune Rollins for posting this one on his super-Canadian soccer blog the 24th Minute,
Rollins listed out the attendance for all the first round games.
Click to continue reading...
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                                               Â
      Photo by ISIphotos.com
Toronto FC want Julian DeGuzman badly and is prepared to break the bank (of Montreal) to make it
happen.
SBI correspondent and Canadian soccer expert Duane Rollins reported on his website, The 24th
Minute, that TFC has made a seven-figure offer for the soon-to-be-former Deportivo La Coruna
star.
Click to continue reading...
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                                               Â
      Photo by ISIphotos.com
Toronto FC want Julian DeGuzman badly and is prepared to break the bank (of Montreal) to make it
happen.
SBI correspondent and Canadian soccer expert Duane Rollins reported on his website, The 24th
Minute, that TFC has made a seven-figure offer for the soon-to-be-former Deportivo La Coruna
star.
Click to continue reading...
I have such a love/hate relationship with Sportsnet when it comes to their coverage of Canadian
soccer. I mean, they do some good things. I like Craig Forrest and they did bring the EPL to
regular cable. For that I am happy and grateful. But today my relationship is much more on the hate
side.
Just in case you haven't heard (and despite the glowing headline from the CSA site declaring
Sportsnet to Broadcast Canada Gold Cup Matches), Sportsnet will not be showing Canada' s Gold Cup
matches on the main Sportsnet channel.
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There will be five MLS teams competing in this year's CONCACAF Champions League after Toronto FC
pulled off the improbable, beating Montreal, 6-1, on Thursday night in the final match of the
NutriLite Canadian Championship to take the tournament and clinch its first Champions League
berth.
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There will be five MLS teams competing in this year's CONCACAF Champions League after Toronto FC
pulled off the improbable, beating Montreal, 6-1, on Thursday night in the final match of the
NutriLite Canadian Championship to take the tournament and clinch its first Champions League
berth.
Click to continue reading...
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By DUANE ROLLINS
It was a perfect storm of anger and frustration. Starting with a nasty 3-0 loss to Houston,
shockingly continuing through a 2-0 loss in the Nutrilite Voyageurs' Cup to USL-1 champion
Vancouver and finally ending with a 2-1 spanking to the LA Galaxy, it was not the best week to be a
Toronto FC fan.
Click to continue reading...
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By DUANE ROLLINS
It was a perfect storm of anger and frustration. Starting with a nasty 3-0 loss to Houston,
shockingly continuing through a 2-0 loss in the Nutrilite Voyageurs' Cup to USL-1 champion
Vancouver and finally ending with a 2-1 spanking to the LA Galaxy, it was not the best week to be a
Toronto FC fan.
Click to continue reading...
Du Nord 10 June @ 04:24 PM EST
STARTERSThe cheap seats for the July 22 visit to Toronto FC & BMO Field by Real Madrid are $140. Yes, you
read that right.
dN
The Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg, South Africa reports that security for stadiums, training
grounds, hotels and VIPs during the Confederations Cup was not even hired until Friday May 29 and
that the company contracted only had 1 day to hire and train employees.
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MLS Rumors 04 June @ 11:03 PM EST
According to the latest information coming directly from the Canadian soccer blog "It's Called
Football!", it now appears that the owner of the NHL Ottawa Senators Eugene Melnyk is still intent
on owning an MLS franchise. This information was released by Ben Rycroft, the news reporter in
charge of the site.
Click to continue reading...
Duane Rollins whose work I respect a great deal has stated that Toronto FC's failures hurt the
growth of football in Canada. The other night Vancouver took a giant step towards becoming the
second consecutive USL-1 side to represent Canada in the two year old CONCACAF champions
League.
You'd be hard pressed to find an expert on soccer in Canada with Duane's background.
Click to continue reading...
Now that the European scene has died down substantially, and we can look forward to reading
about the Cristiano Ronaldo saga in the paper for the next three months, it is time for me to shift
my focus on to the Canadian game and the MLS.
I'd like to jump start with a series of photos taken by Les Jones, he is chairman of the
Canadian Soccer Hall of fame.
Click to continue reading...
 Â
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By DUANE ROLLINS
When it comes to the Nutrilite Canadian Championships, you really have to live here to get it.
Outsiders look at it and wonder why anyone would care about an event that only involves three
teams.
Where it is true that the tournament (which will only be referred to as the Voyageurs' Cup from
here on out – more on that in a bit) is small, it is far from insignificant to Canadian soccer
fans.
Click to continue reading...
 Â
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By DUANE ROLLINS
When it comes to the Nutrilite Canadian Championships, you really have to live here to get it.
Outsiders look at it and wonder why anyone would care about an event that only involves three
teams.
Where it is true that the tournament (which will only be referred to as the Voyageurs' Cup from
here on out – more on that in a bit) is small, it is far from insignificant to Canadian soccer
fans.
Click to continue reading...
See what happens when Chad Barrett isn't our centre forward? We score three goals! ...Okay, maybe
that's a little harsh. For what it's worth, I thought Barrett did pretty well for us yesterday. As
a team, I'm not sure that we played any better yesterday than we played in our other wins. We just
scored more, and it was awesome.
Click to continue reading...
(In the spirit of continuing to bring SBI readers a diverse range of soccer news, we will
now be offering The Canadian Soccer Corner, a weekly column on matters pertaining
to Canadian soccer. Former SBI correspondent Duane Rollins, he of the excellent
site The 24th Minute, is back in the SBI fold and will be providing us with a weekly look at the
world of Canadian Soccer.
Click to continue reading...
(In the spirit of continuing to bring SBI readers a diverse range of soccer news, we will
now be offering The Canadian Soccer Corner, a weekly column on matters pertaining
to Canadian soccer. Former SBI correspondent Duane Rollins, he of the excellent
site The 24th Minute, is back in the SBI fold and will be providing us with a weekly look at the
world of Canadian Soccer.
Click to continue reading...
