Another year has gone by in Canadian soccer, filled with highs and lows, but no doubt there was never any shortage of stories to cover, players to profile or matches to report on. It was a busy year that takes us in to 2012 with optimism that soccer in this nation is continuing to grow and make steps towards gaining widespread popularity.
To finish off 2011 here at RedNation Online we called upon our team of writers to come up with their thoughts on the year that was and what they are looking towards in 2012.
In the tradition of celebrating Festivus and the Airing of Grievances, we begin by looking at some of the low points of 2011. Fortunately, while some moments really stand apart, such as the CWNT's flaming out of the World Cup, Toronto FC and Vancouver struggling in MLS, there were plenty of reasons to cheer over the year.
The CMNT U17's return to the World Cup is an encouraging sign of development in Canada that was reinforced by Academy programs and FC Edmonton's policy of a strong domestic core that saw plenty of success on the field.
To end it off we will look at the year ahead and posing the question of what holds the most importance in 2012 either for domestic clubs, national teams or the sport in general coast to coast.
As this will be the last article filed in 2011, we want to thank everyone who has supported the site since it began in 2009 and wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2012.
Biggest disappointments from 2011
Finishing in last place at the Women's World Cup in Germany was pretty bad. The fall from grace down the jagged edge terrain was especially painful given the high hopes placed on the CanWNT for how well they were playing prior to the tournament under then head coach Carolina Morace.
- Melissa Tan
Canada’s 0-0 draw at home against Puerto Rico was just so incredibly painful to watch that it will forever stand out in the memory of this writer as a perfect display of everything that is wrong in Canadian football, everything we as a nation need to improve on and everything that keeps this wonderful country from making the World Cup finals.
Or maybe it was just a really bad game. Either way, man, that was brutal.
- Armen Bedakian
The worst thing was trading away De Rosario from TFC.
- Stephe Perry
The worst moment of 2011 in Canadian Soccer for me is the Canadian Women’s National Team performance in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As far as I can remember this was the first time in the program's existence that the event and the Canadian team specifically was covered in so much depth from major sports media and outside of a solitary Christine Sinclair goal the team fell flat on their face. The subsequent fallout with Coach Carolina Morace, the players and the CSA pointing fingers and playing the blame game didn’t help much either.
- Kamal Hylton
The signing of Mustapha Jarju came with much fanfare, as the Whitecaps faithful drooled at the potential of the speedy Gambian. He became the ‘Caps second highest paid player at over $400,000 a year, and he responded with zilch. Ten games, no goals, no assists and a paltry three shots on goal. Jarju’s poor play was the biggest letdown of 2011.
- Jonathan Szekeres
One of the lowlights for 2011 had to be the way that Vancouver performed
on the pitch after that season opening win over Toronto. As a team that
went into their first MLS campaign with an exciting mix of players and a
much heralded management team, it was disconcerting how their season
degenerated into something akin to Toronto FC's struggles over their first
four seasons in the league.
- Steve Bottjer
The toughest part of 2011 was watching Toronto FC start the season playing arguably the worst football, and delivering the most awful results, in their short existence. But moreso, up until this past week with the trade of Nathan Sturgis, looking at what was originally given up for him and now what TFC received in return - the appalling mismanagement from the first four seasons really reared it's head in 2011 and clearly still lingers with the club. The expression two steps back to go one step forward is a mighty understatement when it comes to Toronto FC and it's still not clear whether a definitive step forward has been made.
- Ian Clarke
Best moments from 2011
The crowds at the men's World Cup qualifying games. It was a good start because, as the team progresses in the qualifying run, the fans will have to be there and will play a role. While the Canadian team was criticized for failing to beat St. Kitts at Warner Park in Basseterre, that small crowd they had there was absolutely tremendous and certainly affected how that game was played. The web stream didn't do it justice, they were brilliant. While Canada still should have won from talent alone, I have no doubt the fans lifted up their team's play. Home crowds make the difference and it was a great start to finally see partisan Canadian (albeit modest in number) crowds in Canada. There's still lots of room on the bandwagon.
- Gavin Day
Eric Hassli’s goal against the Seattle Sounders. You remember it; it was nominated for “Best Play of the Year” at the ESPY’S. In a dismal season for the Whitecaps, Eric Hassli’s dagger against the Sounders was definitely something to smile about.
The emergence of Camilo, a 24-year old who quietly became the Whitecaps most consistent offensive threat. Twelve goals at the seasons end, and also a Team MVP win. At such a young age, Camilo could become the cornerstone of this franchise.
- Jonathan Szekeres
The highlight of 2011 for me was the Whitecaps home opener victory over
Toronto FC back in March. Two Canadian MLS teams playing in front of a
fantastic crowd in Vancouver was another great leap forward for Canadian
soccer. It was also encouraging that at that early point in the year two
of the standpoint players in the match were Canadian players in Russell
Tiebert and Dwayne De Rosario.
- Steve Bottjer
My best moment of 2011 was the Canadian Men’s National Team qualifying matches in Toronto, though the finishing was far from clinical and the 0-0 draw against Puerto Rico was worse than watching paint dry the support that The Voyagers showed and the fantastic turnout for all three matches can’t be taken lightly. It was especially impressive to be apart of a sizable crowd for the final match against St. Kitts and Nevis in what was otherwise a “meaningless” match having already qualified, to cap it off with a 4-0 was a great way to end Round 2 of qualifying and look ahead to Round 3. Also to see the likes of Toronto’s own Ashtone Morgan step onto his home pitch in the Red & White of Canada was something special, a moment that will never be forgotten by any supporter of the Canadian National Soccer Program.
- Kamal Hylton
The best moments from 2011 were ones that at the end of a match there was genuine joy, excitement and I left the park or pub with a smile on my face. They were few and far between but several moments stand out. Specifically Toronto FC's victory over FC Dallas in the Champion's League was the first time where they delivered over and above expectations and did it with a style that has rarely, if ever, been seen. The other was Canada's final match against St.Kitts where after a drab 0-0 draw at home against Puerto Rico, and then 0-0 draw away to St. Kitts, came home and got the crowd on their feet with four goals. Seeing Olivier Occean and Tosaint Ricketts bring their recent success at the club level to the national team was great to witness. Added, it was the perfect result to keep criticism at bay, but also show there is still plenty of work to do heading into the next round.
- Ian Clarke
Winning gold at the XVI Pan American Games was the highlight of 2011. Not only was it the first gold in Women's Football at the Pan Ams for the country, it also marked the rebuilding of the CanWNT led by newly appointed coach John Herdman.
- Melissa Tan
What is most important for you in 2012?
If Toronto FC can manage to find suitable, long-term replacements to Danny Koevermans and Torsten Frings (effectively giving Toronto FC’s project some longevity), then 2012 will be fairly successful on the field.
- Armen Bedakian
For the longest time in Canada, the women's team, with their high world ranking, was the prized child of the Canadian soccer family. That reputation took a massive hit with the poor play this summer at the World Cup. While it started to rebound with the gold medal at the Pan Am Games, they need to have a good Olympics in order to keep that rebuild going. For the women, a strong Olympics is needed to show they're on the right track towards the 2015 World Cup, which Canada is hosting, by the way.
On the men's side, at this time next year we could either be planning our participation in the hex or we could easily be already looking at 2018--as scary as that sounds. There's been a lot of talk about this being the most talented Canadian group ever (even better if you pen in the names Jo. de Guzman and Hoilett--but let's not jump the gun just yet) and this next year is the time to prove it. Talent means nothing if Canada cannot break the jynx of failing to get past the semi-final round of qualifying for the first time since trying to get to the 1998 World Cup. This is the ultimate test for Canada's veteran leaders and the coaching of Stephen Hart. It will be hard to argue that there's been progress if the team fails to get further than previous teams.
- Gavin Day
While the season was a write-off for the most part, some intriguing storylines did emerge. For instance, Long Tan has shown glimpses of brilliance, and he may actually start the season in Eric Hassli’s spot in the starting 11.
A healthy duo of Jay Demerit and Alain Rochat will undoubtly give the Whitecaps the defensive stability they struggled to find all season long. The pressure is definitely on these two.
Lastly, everyone in Vancouver is itching to see Young-Pyo Lee, the veteran South Korean midfielder. After achieving a lot of international success with South Korea, Lee has high expectations to perform well with the Caps’. Everyone in the Whitecaps front office must be holding their breath, hoping that Young-Pyo Lee doesn’t become another Mustapha Jarju.
- Jonathan Szekeres
My most important moment in 2012 is pretty simple: for our Canadian U23 Men’s National Team to qualify for London 2012. Although the last time a Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team qualified for the Olympic was 1984, and I wasn’t even born yet, it’s safe to say that this is by far the deepest and best squad our country has ever put since that time. What will make this even more special for me is that I plan on being at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in March and cover it for RedNation Online. For someone who takes youth development in this country very seriously this means a lot and while qualifying for a FIFA World Cup is the ultimate dream this should be just as important due to its direct impact on the future of soccer in this country.
- Kamal Hylton
The most important development for Canadian soccer in 2012 will be how the Canadian Men's National Team fares in their second round of World Cup
Qualifying and whether or not they make it to the Hex. Nothing would do
more the sport in Canada than having the Men's National Team qualify for
the World Cup again. If Canada can do that, it could very well take the
sport to a whole new level in our country.
- Steve Bottjer
Qualifying and subsequently doing well at the 2012 London Olympic Games would be a fantastic moment for 2012 and beyond. CanWNT stakeholders could leverage the resulting excitement to promote the 2014 U-20 Women's World Cup and 2015 Women's World Cup hosted by Canada.
- Melissa Tan
The goal for 2012 is that TFC field a team worthy of singing for.
- Stephe Perry
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