From a Different Point of View – The Home of Caribbean Football Previews the Gold Cup

    My friends at The Home of Caribbean Football posted the second half of their mammoth Gold Cup preview.

    An overview of each participating nation’s outlook entering the tournament and a few words from an insider on their aspirations and expectations; it is well worth the time.

    The Caribbean region and CONCACAF in general is one of the few under-reported realms in this global game - plenty of wild stories and wily characters.

    Check it out – Part One and Part Two

    And be sure to follow them on twitter

What Ever Happened To … Cuba’s Toronto Defectors

    In homage to MLSsoccer.com ‘What Ever Happened To…” series, an update on one of the more intriguing stories Canadian soccer endured in 2012.

    Toronto was captivated when Canada’s World Cup Qualification match against Cuba last October began with the announcement, well not quite that official, that several players – news reports oscillated from seven to four to three - defected prior to kickoff.

    The prematch buzz quietly faded after the initial flurry, but now several months later one of those who chose to start a new life has surfaced on the pitch.

Cuban News Rounds

    In preparation for tomorrow evening’s match between Canada and Cuba, POV-FS fired up the Google machine and the old-reliable translate function to dig a little deeper behind the upcoming opposition.

    Information was scarce, with Cuba already eliminated and the nation’s sporting attentions more internally focused on Baseball, Boxing, and most-interestingly, Chess, but there were a few tidbits of information that may be of interest to the anorak-enthusiasts out there.

Head-to-Head: Canada vs. Cuba – All-time Results

    Canada and Cuba take to the pitch on Friday evening in the first of two matches that will determine whether Canada will move on to the final phase of qualification: The Hex.

    Cuba, with zero points, has already been eliminated, but don’t let that cloud the fact that they have been much tougher opposition than would have been expected.

    National Team coach Stephen Hart has reiterated the importance of not looking beyond this first match to Tuesday’s meeting with Honduras.

    The full Men’s sides of Canada and Cuba have met ten times previously. Here’s a rundown of past results:

Refereeing in CONCACAF

    With Canada in the midst of a World Cup Qualifying campaign it’s only a matter of time before the age-old complaints about the standards of refereeing begin to rear their heads.

First Person View - Cuban News Rounds

    The Canadian National Team is in Cuba to embark on the next round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualification. This is only the first step of many, but an important, if not vital, chance at road points that could prove crucial to progression.

First Person View – Umbro Centennial Kit Launch, CSA Media Conference, & the Impending Qualifiers

    I had the pleasure of attending last week’s Umbro kit launch at BMO Field on Wednesday afternoon. Doubtless by now you will have seen the celebratory kit and read up on what Stephen Hart will have had to say - there are many who report such facts much better than I, so we’ll stick to my impressions of the whole affair.

First Person View – For Country

    It's been a while since I sat down to get opinionated about something, apologies for that, but midseason torpor set in, and I did not rage against it as much as I should have. There have been plenty of causes and ideas, which will be coming forth in due time.

First Person View - Canada – Progression, Perspective, Patience, and Positivity

     Many words have been written on Canada’s World Cup campaign thus far. Some are optimistic, a few more are not; all thought Canada underperformed. Some saw value, others were disappointed in the players, the coach, the support; anything you could point a finger at really.

    Let’s break it down a bit and see how to make sense of all the noise surrounding the six matches played, and how things are shaping up for the next round due next summer and fall.

First Person View – Setting a Base

     When the CSA announced that all three of the upcoming second round World Cup Qualifiers would be taking place in Toronto there was much consternation amongst the diaspora of soccer fans across this vast nation. Petty regionalism aside there is something more important to consider.

Perspective - Luck of the Draw

    Considering all the Jabulani’s* that have been launched Canada’s way in qualifying campaigns there could not have been a better draw for the 2014 qualifying cycle.