Latest news with #CanadianSoccer
National Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Canada shouldn't be favourite heading into Gold Cup, captain says
VANCOUVER — One of Canada's brightest soccer stars doesn't believe the country should be the favourite heading into the Gold Cup. Article content Canada is a solid squad, striker Jonathan David said, but it has only won the tournament once — and that was 25 years ago. Article content Article content 'I think to be favourites in a tournament, you have to be the one that maybe has won it the most times,' David told reporters on Monday. Article content 'Of course, I know we have a strong team and we can challenge, for sure, to win it. To be favourites isn't something I would say, personally. But I know we can achieve it.' Article content The 30th-ranked Canadians will kick off their Gold Cup quest Tuesday when they host No. 75 Honduras at Vancouver's B.C. Place. Article content The two sides last met during CONCACAF Nations League play in March, where Canada recorded a 4-1 victory. Article content That doesn't mean much, though, said Canada head coach Jesse Marsch. Article content 'We have to make sure that in no way we take anything for granted or assume we are better than anyone. We have to fight for everything on the pitch,' Marsch said. Article content 'That has to be the first thing in our mentality for what this is going to take. And to earn the right to play the football that we think we can play, we have to be up for the challenge, up for the fight, and make sure that we are first when it comes to duels, when it comes to foot races, when it comes to physically being in the match.' Article content Following Tuesday's game, the Canadians will shift to Houston to face No. 90 Curacao on June 21 before wrapping Group B play against No. 81 El Salvador on June 24. Article content Article content Canada is coming off a trophy-winning performance at the inaugural Canadian Shield last week, and is confident heading into the Gold Cup. Article content 'I think we're the best team in the tournament,' said veteran forward Cyle Larin. 'Each game, we have to take it step by step. You never know in football what could happen. The first game against Honduras will be a good test to go out there and win.' Article content The Canadian Shield ended with Canada falling to Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after neither side scored in regulation.
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Globe and Mail
Canadian captain shoots down idea of team being Gold Cup favourites
One of Canada's brightest soccer stars doesn't believe the country should be favourites heading into the Gold Cup. Yes, Canada is a solid squad, striker Jonathan David said, but it has only won the tournament once before — and that was 25 years ago. 'I think to be favourites in a tournament, you have to be the one that maybe has won it the most times,' David told reporters on Monday. 'Of course, I know we have a strong team and we can challenge, for sure, to win it. To be favourites isn't something I would say, personally. But I know we can achieve it.' The 30th-ranked Canadians will kick off their Gold Cup quest on Tuesday when they host No. 75 Honduras at Vancouver's BC Place. The two sides last met during CONCACAF Nations League play in March, where Canada recorded a 4-1 victory. That doesn't mean much, though, said Canada head coach Jesse Marsch. 'We have to make sure that in no way we take anything for granted or assume we are better than anyone. We have to fight for everything on the pitch,' Marsch said. 'That has to be the first thing in our mentality for what this is going to take. And to earn the right to play the football that we think we can play, we have to be up for the challenge, up for the fight, and make sure that we are first when it comes to duels, when it comes to foot races, when it comes to physically being in the match.' Following Tuesday's game, the Canadians will shift to Houston to face No. 90 Curaçao on June 21 before wrapping Group B play against No. 81 El Salvador on June 24. The winner and runner-up from each of the four groups advance to the knockout stage in the 16-team tournament. Canada is coming off a trophy-winning performance at the inaugural Canadian Shield last week, and is confident heading into the Gold Cup. 'I think we're the best team in the tournament,' said veteran forward Cyle Larin. 'Each game, we have to take it step by step. You never know in football what could happen. The first game against Honduras will be a good test to go out there and win.' The Canadian Shield ended with Canada falling to Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after neither side scored in regulation. The team can't be as passive against Honduras if they want to have 'big ambition, big goals,' David said. 'It's just not sitting back, not letting the other team set the tempo for us, that we have to be on the front foot, we have to be the aggressors,' said the striker. Marsch has named David captain for the tournament — a move the 25-year-old didn't initially agree with. 'We got on a call and (Marsch) told me 'I'm thinking of putting you captain.' At first, it was my maybe humble answer that I think there's maybe a couple of guys ahead of me,' David explained. 'But then, we kept talking a little bit more and I was like, 'OK.' This is also a challenge for me to also put myself a little bit more out there and help the team in different ways. So I see it as a challenge. And I'm ready for it.' For David, part of that challenge is finding his voice. 'I'm often more a chill, laid back guy that loves to play, loves to work hard on the pitch so I think people can feed off that,' he said. 'So the challenge for me is to be more vocal about saying more to the team and not be shy to speak my mind, even if it's wrong. And also to be open to have those conversations with teammates and not to be afraid.' This year's Gold Cup is taking place at several of the venues that will host the 2026 World Cup games — including BC Place. While the tournament is an opportunity to work toward next summer's ambitions, the Canadians are keeping their focus locked on what's directly ahead. That focus is what has helped the team achieve success in the past, Marsch said. 'We can talk about grander visions, but right now, we're solely focused on this match against Honduras and making sure that we know what they're going to challenge us with and that we're up for understanding the match,' he said. Canada has faced Honduras 28 times across all competitions, and Honduras holds a 12-9-7 record in those meetings. Heading into Tuesday's game, Marsch said he's expecting to come up against an aggressive opponent who will be defensively stingy and dangerous on set pieces. 'We think that this is the most important game of the tournament,' the coach said. 'Honduras is a very good team, and we know that if we can manage the first game in the right way, that we can set ourselves up for success.'
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Canada wins Canadian Shield Tournament despite penalty shootout loss to Ivory Coast
Canada's Cyle Larin, left, is knocked off the ball by Cote d'Ivoire's Franck Yannick Kessie during first half Canadian Shield Tournament action, in Toronto, on Tuesday June 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young TORONTO — It was a draw, a loss and a win — all in one. But when the dust settled, Canada emerged victorious at the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament. Despite losing to African champion Ivory Coast 5-4 in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw in regulation time Tuesday, the 30th-ranked Canadian men finished with four points, one ahead of No. 86 New Zealand and No. 25 Ukraine, and two ahead of No. 41 Ivory Coast. That meant champion T-shirts, the PA system at BMO Field blaring Queen's 'We are The Champions,' pyrotechnics (which went off a little late) and a trophy to hoist. Mission accomplished for Canada coach Jesse Marsch. 'I know from where we were 10 days ago to where we are right now, we're a much more prepared team for what next summer will require,' Marsch said, referencing the World Cup. 'And that's been the goal of creating these friendlies, to try and get the best opponents possible, the level of opponent that we think we're going to see next summer. 'And Ivory Coast challenged us in a lot of ways. We bent at moments but we didn't break. So that part was great.' Victory was assured for Canada just by getting to the shootout, given it would finish the night with at least four points — with two points for a shootout win and one for a shootout loss — while no one else had more than three. A regulation win was worth three points at the tournament. Jonathan David, Mathieu Choiniere, Derek Cornelius and Ismael Kone scored for Canada in the shootout. Badra Ali Sangaré stopped Tani Oluwaseyi and Luc de Fougerolles. Clement Akpa, Jereme Boga, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Franck Kessie and Mohamed Diomande scored for Ivory Coast in the shootout, beating Dayne St. Clair. Mory Gbane missed the target. Ukraine defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the early game Tuesday, leaving both teams at 1-1-0 with three points. That result meant Ivory Coast had to win by two goals to take the trophy. The Canadians defeated Ukraine 4-2 in the tournament opener Saturday while Ivory Coast lost 1-0 to New Zealand. Ivory Coast is currently ranked fifth in Africa by FIFA — behind No. 12 Morocco, No. 19 Senegal, No. 32 Egypt and No. 36 Algeria. But the Elephants are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and have been ranked as high as No. 12 in the world. Ivory Coast looked dangerous, comfortably moving the ball around as drums resonated in its supporters' section at BMO Field. The Ivorian 'keeper had little to do in the first half other than watch his team from afar. Both teams managed just one shot on target before the break with Canada never really finding its rhythm. The second half was choppy and chippy with plenty of stops and starts before an announced crowd of 18,489. As promised, Marsch fielded almost an entirely different lineup with only centre back Cornelius retaining his spot from the Ukraine starting 11. Veteran forward Cyle Larin served as captain for the first time. Daniel Jebbison, a 21-year-old forward with England's Bournemouth, won his third cap in his first start. Vancouver Whitecaps winger Jayden Nelson also made his first start, earning his seventh cap. It was a more experienced group of starters, with a combined cap count of 369 going into the game compared to 241 for the starting 11 against Ukraine. Larin, Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea accounted for 226 of Tuesday's total. Osorio's 85th cap moved him into third place on the Canadian men's all-time list behind Julian de Guzman (89) and Atiba Hutchinson (105). Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio was honoured before the game for earning his 50th cap against Ukraine. David and Tajon Buchanan, who accounted for three goals against Ukraine, came off the bench in the 76th minute as Canada looked for a goal. Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe had to be helped off the field in the 83rd minute, favouring his leg after going down. Marsch said the Whitecaps defender would have a scan done on his calf. Canada had never faced Ivory Coast before. The last time it faced an African side was at the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022 when it lost 2-1 to Morocco in its final group-stage game. The Ivory Coast squad draws on players from clubs in Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Canada heads to the CONCACAF Gold Cup next, opening against No. 95 Honduras on June 17 in Vancouver before completing Group B play in Houston against No. 90 Curaçao and No. 81 El Salvador on June 21 and 24, respectively. Marsch had the players runs sprints after Tuesday's match, ahead of a day off, with the team scheduled to gather in Vancouver on Thursday. Canada went into Tuesday's match with a 7-4-5 record under Marsch, with one of those ties turning into a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay and another into a shootout win over Venezuela. His previous three games in Canada — against Ukraine, Suriname and Panama — were all victories. Ivory Coast returns to World Cup qualifying play in September. It currently leads Group F in African qualifying with a 5-0-1 record, one point ahead of No. 79 Gabon in the six-country group that also includes No. 140 Burundi, No. 111 Kenya, No. 126 Gambia and the 203rd-ranked Seychelles. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025. Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, CRTC dispute between OneSoccer and Rogers drags on
As the one-year countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, a fight to open the door to a wider TV audience for Canadian soccer drags on. On one side is OneSoccer, the subscription streaming service that carries Canadian national team games as well as the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Championship. On the other is telecom giant Rogers Communications Canada Inc., which has refused to carry OneSoccer. In March 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) ruled in favour of OneSoccer, saying that Rogers, by refusing to carry OneSoccer, "has given an undue preference to itself and to other services comparable to OneSoccer, and has subjected OneSoccer to a disadvantage." The CRTC directed the two parties to submit "by no later than 11 April 2023, proposed remedies for resolving the finding of undue preference and disadvantage." Two years later, nothing has changed other than the case's paper trail has grown exponentially. "Delays such as these are devastating for new independent programming services, such as ours," OneSoccer said in a February submission to the CRTC. "OneSoccer is spending millions of dollars this year to produce our channel, and we have very little revenue coming in." OneSoccer remains available as a streaming service and as one of the channels provided by Fubo, also a subscription service. Telus cable subscribers in the West can also access it. Scott Mitchell, owner of OneSoccer's parent company Timeless Inc., as well as chairman of both the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Soccer Business, is "perplexed" at the delay, saying the ruling was "very clear." "Clearly Rogers has being doing what they can to delay that … It's been with the CRTC for several years now and clearly it's taken far too long," he said in an interview. "We have a home World Cup on the horizon and we clearly have a growing soccer audience and ecosystem. And this issue should be dealt with quickly." Rogers declined to make a spokesperson available, issuing a brief statement while referring a reporter to past company filings. "We offer our customers a wide variety of popular and premium sports programming from multiple leading content providers," the statement said. "For those who want even more soccer content, they have the option to subscribe to OneSoccer as a stand-alone streaming service.' As a result, Sunday's high-profile CONCACAF Champions Cup final between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul is available only to OneSoccer and Fubo subscribers in Canada. "It's disappointing that not as many Canadians are going to be able to watch the match as there should be," said Mitchell. "Because clearly there is an audience for it." Mitchell reports OneSoccer subscriptions are up 40 per cent this year. But a larger audience is out there. Rogers, in the wake of its merger with Shaw, controls about half the linear TV audience in Canada, Mitchell points out. Rogers says there are "valid commercial reasons" for refusing to distribute OneSoccer, saying the channel has "limited appeal to Canadian consumers." OneSoccer's audience is small other than for Canadian national team games, it argues. Rogers also notes that other major cable providers — including Bell, Cogeco, Videotron, Eastlink, and Sasktel — do not currently carry OneSoccer's linear television channel. Rogers has offered to show some of OneSoccer's programming on Rogers On Demand and on the OneSoccer app on Ignite TV. The two have partnered in the past. In 2021, Rogers Sportsnet carried OneSoccer's broadcasts of Canadian men's World Cup qualifying games, agreeing to split advertising revenue with the proviso there be no OneSoccer branding on the programming. In its submissions, Rogers has also argued that Timeless was "under the control of a non-Canadian entity" when it filed its CRTC complaint, referencing foreign-owned Mediapro. It argues "Canadian ownership and control" is a "foundational tenet of the Canadian broadcasting system." Mediapro was OneSoccer's production partner until the two parted in a legal dispute, since resolved. OneSoccer argues that while Mediapro "ran day-to-day operations and provided other services for OneSoccer, this was done on behalf of and under the direction of Timeless. "At all times Timeless retained the authority to make strategic or organizational changes. Therefore, the service was always controlled by Timeless." Canada's upcoming games at the Canadian Shield Tournament are being shown on TSN as well as OneSoccer. While Mitchell's group owns the rights, he said it was happy to work with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which organized the event. But such deals are rare. "To this day, we've not been offered a single penny of investment for any of the media companies in Canada to carry any of the matches," said Mitchell. Canada's games in March at the CONCACAF Nations League Finals were carried by both TSN and OneSoccer. Michell said OneSoccer, which produced the games itself, did not get a rights fee. "Unfortunately we've been pushed into, at times, doing deals that are very economically harmful to us. But we do feel a responsibility, particularly on the national team games, to get the games distributed as far and as wide as we can. Unfortunately giving away the content for free is just not economically feasible in the long term." "We appreciate TSN's willing to work with us on it but those arrangements are economically not feasible in the least." While companies like Rogers don't like being told what to do, OneSoccer consultant Laura Mellanby believes Rogers' resistance is down to the bottom line. Cable providers are primarily willing to launch their own channels and work with inexpensive options, she argues. In contrast, One Soccer is a live sports channel with an expensive production budget. Mellanby, who has worked for both Rogers and Bell, points to Willow, a cricket-themed channel carried by Rogers, that takes feeds from others rather than produce games themselves. "Production is very expensive, especially sports production. And you can only simplify it so much. You can't do a single-camera coverage of a soccer game." If Rogers were to carry OneSoccer, it would pay the service a monthly fee negotiated on the basis of the number of subscribers. Rogers would then mark their fees up, to recover its investment. "Cost is always a problem," said Mellanby. But she argues that the shared risk of carrying a sports channel with high production costs also comes with a shared reward — especially with a channel featuring a sport "that is in a pivotal moment in its history in this country." "A good investment, if you ask me," she said. Mellanby says OneSoccer has had "really productive conversations" with Bell about distributing the channel. But she says the rest of the industry is waiting to see what happens with the CRTC case. "Nobody wants to spend any money … This is not a charity, it's a business," she said. "There needs to be a revenue stream." Canada Soccer, which clearly wants to expands its audience, is understandably watching with interest, although CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue declined comment citing the ongoing CRTC case. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025. Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
News.com.au
23-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
James Johnson accepts leading role in Canadian soccer following exit from Football Australia
The chance to foster growth in football off the back of a World Cup for a second time was a key factor in ex-Football Australia chief executive officer James Johnson's decision to accept a similar position with Canadian Soccer Business. Johnson's resignation from FA earlier this month after more than five years in charge shocked the Australian football fraternity; however, the 43-year-old sports administrator hasn't dwelled on his departure, being quick to accept an offer from Canada. Canadian Soccer Business describes itself as an 'independent commercial agency that offers a suite of representation services, delivering corporate partnerships, sponsorships and media rights for entities that make up the backbone of soccer' in Canada. Johnson's role reportedly also includes being the boss of the Canadian Premier League. However, the chance to have an impact on next year's FIFA World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting with the US and Mexico, perhaps had the greatest appeal for Johnson – who was a driving force behind the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand – in taking the CSB job. 'This is a big opportunity for Canadian soccer,' Johnson said on Thursday night on the Gold Coast, where he was awarded Bond University's most prestigious accolade, the Alumni Medal. 'We've seen what these big tournaments can do for local football with the success of the women's World Cup here in 2023 and the Matildas. 'These tournaments are so much more than a month of great competition. They're an opportunity to leverage and promote growth (in the sport).' Johnson told The Canadian Press that football was 'heading north very fast' in Canada. '(There are) great participation numbers, a new professional game on the men's side and the women's as well and two outstanding national teams,' he said. 'It's a very good time for Canada, and I'm really excited to be part of that.' Johnson was also honoured to receive his Bond University accolade.
