Canada has shown that they are a legitimate challenger for one of the CONCACAF spots on offer at the 2010 World Cup. However, at this moment that is probably of little consequence given the nature of their controversial loss to the USA in the Gold Cup semi-final.
With only seconds left and Canada pushing for an equalizer a ball was lofted forward towards the US penalty box. Onyewu stretched for the header and finished up heading the ball to the feet of Atiba Hutchinson who calmly side footed it past Keller in the US goal.
From the limited TV replays we received in Canada – apparently the Toronto thingies were playing a game of rounders – Hutchinson was not in an offside position when the initial ball was played forward and although he was in an offside position when he benefited from Onyewu’s wayward header the only way it could have been judged offside was if the ball had deflected of the big US defender.
It would require an active imagination to construe Onyewu’s header as a deflection. But an active imagination apparently is exactly what the assistant referee has as he immediately flagged and the referee accepted his call. If there are any referees out there who might shed some light on this decision I know a good number of Canadian fans would love to hear from you.
The first thirty minutes of the match consisted of the USA trying to play a bit too quickly while Canada could have done with a bit more pace to their game. Although the US may have had the better of the play Canada had a couple of set piece opportunities that might have turned profitable.
But it was the USA that opened the scoring through full back Frankie Hejduk. Hejduk may have trouble with his distribution at times but you have to admire the enthusiasm and energy that he brings to every game. And you have to admire the way he struck the ball from just outside the box to put the US into the lead.
The second goal came from the penalty spot after Beasley was tripped by Canadian keeper Pat Onstad. Beasley was played in by the simplest of passes inside full back Paul Stalteri. Donovan drilled his penalty down the middle.
The two goals the USA scored in the last ten minutes or so of the first half served to change the shape of the game in the second half. The play spread out and as Canada tried to push forward there were acres of space for the US midfielders and forwards to run at the Canadian defence. As the second half progrressed the US’s bad habit of spurning chances reemerged and it proved costly, although thanks to the officiating, it was not fatal.
The emergence of Ian Hume was a turning point for Canada as the wee man starting hustling the US defence and running at the them at every opportunity. Suddenly Canada’s attacks became more intense and threatening and when Hume equalized with a quarter of an hour left we knew we were in for a barnstorming finish.
Ratings Canada Onstad (6) – Had no chance with either of the two US goals. Otherwise rarely tested.
Stalteri (4) – Was guilty of a sloppy back pass in the second half. Was unable to get forward into attacking positions.
Hastings (6) – Handled Dempsey and Johnston well.
Hainault (6) – Ditto.
Jazic (7) – A very competent performance.
Bernier (6) – Pace of the game was a bit too quick for him but he made few mistakes.
Hutchinson (7) – Never imposed himself on the game but he showed again that he is type of player who can turn a game in an instant.
Nash (4) - When given time he sprayed a couple of great passes but in close quarters he was ineffective.
De Guzman (7) – Victim of a brutal challenge in the first half but De Guzman was Canada's most consitent performer over 90 minutes.
De Rosario (5) – Looked like he was going to pull off something special in first half but faded in the second.
Gerba (6) – A thankless task being the lone striker with little support for long stretches of the match. Fought valiantly.
Subs. Hume (8) – A terrific performance off the bench only reinforced the unanswered question as to why he was used so sparingly in this competition.
Nakajima-Farran – no rating
USA Keller (6) – Handled what he came his way.
Hejduk (8) – Scored a call and was here, there and everywhere…although you may not want to see that in your right back.
Onyewu (3) – He might be a fan favourite but too often he is an accident waiting to happen.
Bocanegra (4) – Was lucky to be on the park after a spectacularly late challenge on De Guzman in the first half.
Bornstein (5) – Showed great promise and energy in the first half but suffered in the second half as much of the US attacks avoided the left side.
Dovovan (6) – The upside his Donovan continued to look for the ball even though he struggled most of the evening. He will want to remember his set up for the first goal and his well-struck penalty. He will want to forget his wiff with an open goal in front of him. That was in the 50th minute and would have killed the game as a contest.
Bradley (4) – Was prominent in the early stages of the first half but his performance dropped off alarmingly as the game progressed. Rightfully shown a straight red card for a challenge that was late, high, from behind and designed to stop a player breaking away from him – the referee got that one spot on!
Mastroeni (7) – Patrolled his area well with a minimum of fuss as a good holding midfield should do.
Beasley (6) – Everytime I watch Beasley I am left with the feeling that he could have contributed so much more.
Johnson (4) – Poorly timed runs and failed to link well with Dempsey and the midfield.
Dempsey (5) – Absolutely starved of the ball but failed to go and get as well.
what a joke. any of the so called refs out there trying to legitimize the call are as mentally challenged as Archundia himself. when the ball was played neither Canadian attacker was offside. when you add the Mexican travesty against Costa Rica...the whole tournament is a joke; just like Concacaf always has been. i'll start taking soccer seriously in this region when they find somebody competent to re####ame and replace the money grubbing crooks who run it and tried to orchestrate a US-Mexico final.
Just like an outfield player a goalie rarely goes in with the intent of tripping an attacker. You make the decision to go for it and sometimes the player is too quick.If Onstad doesn't come out then Beasley standing 10 yards out with no pressure on him with the keeper to beat and other attackers arriving in the box. Of course he's going to dive at Beasley's feet. If he didn't you would be complaining about the keeper standing on his line.
I like Gooch, but man does he look awful!!! His stock is dropping faster than Enron's. It was a nice strike by Hejduk, but I still would rather go with Simek, his crosses actually stay on the field of play. Johnson, what a disapointment, and does anyone on the US team have the ability to strike a ball from outside of the PK area, who isn't playing defense? Also if Landon does his stupid little ritual one more time, I am gonna throw my remote at my television. Can we please get some conversations in hear about Landon's stupid PK ritual!!!
The way I saw it, US defender did not deliberately played ball back. So, it could not be considered as a back pass.
With that, question is whether or not Canadian player was in offside when ball was originally played by his teammate. Replays did not helped me-first I thought he was in offside, then I changed my mind and changed it again after watching the next replay...
I truly understand how upset Canada's team and fans are. However, since I couldn't decide whether or not it was offside after watching a few repleys and sitting on my couch, I'll go with the linesman as a) he was closer to the play then I was and b)he had to make a decision right there without watching the replays.
I don't care what FIFA and Blatter are saying- it is the time to use technology in this game!
Really don't care about LD's ritual, he put the ball in the back of the onion bag. To me, that's all that matters and let's face it there's a lot worse out there. Thought Bobby was a little generous with his scores for Canada and a bit soft on his scores for US players. Onstad never played the ball on Beasley from the start so it was deserved PK. An amateur attempt by Onstad, there was no need to trip him. I was underwhelmed by DeGuzman. Impressed by Nash, Jaszic, Bradley, Pablo, Hedjuk.
Like I said in an earlier post Onyewu will be lucky to get an offer from a USL side, he is a liability. EJ has completely lost his first touch as MNT striker.
I really don't care about the "tempo" in a match because if video replays can change the course of a bad call so be it. FIFA has to do something because we are all fans of arguably the most poorly officiated professional sport.
I though the game tying goal was clearly a goal for Canada but the game should have ended at least a minute earlier by my calculation. Again horrific officiating. I don't blame Canada for being upset.
i really have no clue how a ref can make a call like that. it's almost like they go out of their way to call offsides in a sport that could arguably use more goals to begin with...there's zero justification for making that call. it's a disgrace. it's the same with the diving garbage..they let this stain the sport year after year and do nothing about it, then they trot out some tripe about fair play at the beginning of each World Cup. Mexico's performance against Costa Rica was shameful. I'm a big sports fan as I'm sure many around here are, and of all the world's major sports soccer has by far the worst officiating.
The bad, bad, bad, bad offsides call stole the right from Canada to play on. Its not sporting, period. A video replay, which will never be allowed by FIFA b/c it interferes with the sacred "Flow" of the game would have been a perfect solution with 5 seconds to go, on the last scoring opportunity of the game. No sacred "Flow" interrupted there, right? Too bad on the call, b/c I felt the Mexican Ref forgot for a few minutes (the first 90) that he was on the payola and it was an arranged US/Mexican "hatdance" in the final; then he woke up and "cashed his cheque"...and by the way, what IS a Ref from an interested 3rd party (Mexico)doing ref-ing that match anyway, FIFA designation or not? He was in an apparent conflict of interest, plain and simple. Shame, Shame!! -signed, a very bitter and upset Canadian fan robbed of extra time and a chance for a rare display good sportsmanship by both teams; now they both feel robbed-
First off, Canada was not offside. But there shouldn't have been 4 minutes of stoppage time and it was past four minutes. 6 of one half dozen of the other. Say what you want about Gooch, I would rather have 4 of him in the back row than see Eddie Johnson on the pitch. With EJ being EJ and Clint Dempsey looking tired and uninspired I'm relieved we got the win tonight.
How can you give Keller a 6? He was terrible early on; giving away two corners when he should have cleared comfortably, he was hardly challenged a lot by the mighty Canadians. He was getting his 100th Cap as B.Bradley figured the US would easily beat Canada; Howard will be betwwen the sticks for the final. Fair play; he did save well from De Rosario in the second half.
Not only was the late equalizer not allowed but before the US scored Bocanegra got away with a late and high challenge on DeGuzman, he was extremely lucky to get only a yellow.
The US beat a poor Canadian team with some luck and yet again; no goals by the front players. Bradley played well against the Canadians but is nowhere near as good as Feilhaber, nepotism has no place on the soccer field Bob!
Johnson was poor, very poor. He dropped into midfield where his pace can't cause problems and he consistently ran offisde, stupid to do when you can look along the Canadian back line AND have lots of pace!
Onyewu will get better if he plays somewhere other than the MLS.
Beasley is too old, where once his pace and runs threatened the whole game now they appear sporadically. A player like Smith; NE; will soon replace him.
Hejduk has lots of pace and energy but can't cross for toffee, Spector is a tough defender and can actually cross the ball.
Donovan has been the US's best player in the Gold Cup, he scores and he creates.
How will Bob Bradley sort out his front men, no pairing has looked threatening?
To all you ref-haters,
As sceptical as I was of seeing a Mexican referee at the start of the game, by the end I found myself saying "thats the way a game should be ref'd". I thought he did an outstanding job. For the most part he allowed the game to flow, allowed fair physical play, punished a few hacks, and even attempted to punish diving.
The questionable call at the end came from the linesman who had a habbit of not giving Canada the off-side benefit of the doubt on that far side, and continued to do so till the very end. When the linesman puts up his flag for offsides, under those circumstances the man in the middle had no choice but to go along with it.
To all you Canada fans,
Be proud, your team played like giants.
The US team beat a mediocre opponent in unconvincing fashion. If they play this way in the Copa America they will get creamed.
Bob Bradley still doesn't quite convince that he is the right man to take a competitive team to South Africa in 2009 or the 2010WC.
Two choices are denied Bradley for the final but Spector and Feilhaber probably would have made the starting eleven anyway.
Bobby, I know Canada is your adopted country and I like your blog and your comments on FSR so please don't read any venom in my comments but....Are You FREAK'N NUTS? The offsides should be a moot point!!! explain to me 4min of extra time! How about the offsides call that was called on Dempsey when he was completely even with the defender and was turning on your boy Hastings--please! Hastings should have been called for a foul on Donovan with his clear intent to obstruct not play the ball---result would have been a free kick from 20 yrds. out! Onstad, if you remeber the '06 Champions League match when Lehman gets a red for the same offense Onstad was guilty of, Onstad could have been and one could argue should have been shown a red...following CL precedence. My point? A controversial call at the end of the game does not overturn the rest of the missed or bad calls throughout the entire game. Also you actually ranked De Guzman as having a good game? Where was that invincible midfield of Canada? You didn't give Hedujk enough credit for frustrating DE RO. You want to critize there is plenty to go around for Bradley's lack of subs and his insistence on having Johnson out there so long. But please do not come with the "Canada got robbed" arguement...I just can't handle it coming from someone whose opinions I respect.
Once again Bobby McMahon shows his extreme Canadian bias. (Let's talk about Toronto FC for the whole MLS section of the FSR.) McMahon gave Canada's starting 11 a total of 64 points compared to 58 for the USA. This seems extremely inaccurate seeing that the US dominated the match for long stretches and the most effective player for Canada was a substitute. Bobby talks about a justified red card for Bradley in the second half and that Bocanegra should have got one in the first half. Take off those distorted red and white glasses and see that your main man Hume shouldn't have even been in the game to score his goal, after repeated brutal "challenges" on Onyewu and Mastroeni. It seems to me as if your blog post was written in response to the anger you felt in your teams loss and wasn't very well thought out.
As an old keeper myself, you guys need to lay off Onstad. Watch it again, 1)He had to come out. 2)Beasley was quicker and able to touch the ball past and away from Onstad who was already committed. 3)Beasley drags the right foot (WATCH THE REPLAY)hitting Onstad in the CHEST. It looked to me that Onstad was bringing his hands in as soon as that ball was by him. There’s an old saying goalkeepers are taught that I've mentioned before, "If the ball goes by the man doesn't." With that in mind I wouldn't fault Onstad if he had brought the speedy D.B. down but I really think he had no option but to be born with more speed, in which case he probably wouldn't have ended up between the sticks. The only possible question was Onstad staying on his feet and not committing a half a moment more if he knew he wouldn't get to the ball first. He just underestimated D.B.s speed.
Last edited by ulsterson on June 21st at 10:51 PM.
I'm a US fan but I think you've got to say the US should have been playing with 10 men from that challenge on DeGuzman and the extra time goal should have counted. I felt the US did deserve the win on the day but the last 20 min were owned by the Canuck’s and that Hume kid with one to many I's in his name. The Reffing was bad for both sides and while robbed is a strong word, the Canadians have a legitimate claim to a better result than they were left with.
US had a solid 50 or so minutes of good play, Canada played well for 20 minutes. Once that thug came on and started smacking people around, they got better, and I do give him credit for a great goal.
The offsides goal - yeah, probably a goal. You know what else was a goal? Shevchenko's goal for Milan against Barcelona in two years ago's Champions League semi-final, which they lost. Luca Toni's header in the WC final, which they won. Neither was offside, but were called such. No one ever talks about those. Just like they won't talk about this one anymore either. It is the Gold Cup.
Canada- GIVE DE ROSARIO THE FREAKIN' BALL. Can I coach this team?
Although Canada did put themselves in the hole as Pat Onstad said, they still got ripped off on that last call of the game. What bothered me was some of the American players comments that I read. They could have been a little more honest and gracious with their comments after game. Comments like the call was offside and thats that sound little arrogant. Some of them could've of been more honest and said things like we got a lucky break there at the end, and thats sports and human referies for you. Mistakes can be made at both ends...
Last edited by ColoColo91 on June 21st at 11:39 PM.
hey Zack a-ss...take the american flag out of your eyes and try opening them. perhaps you forgot Bocanegra's challenge on De Guzman that was worse than anything Hume did. IT doesn't always end on the exact minute. you must have been sleeping when Hejduk hammered De Rosario and then woke up to see the retaliation. nice attempt at justifying the bogus call that handed you the game, although not at all surprising. too bad anybody who actually saw the game who possesses a quarter of a soccer brain knows you're full of shiite.
Leave it in bible class.
As for the comments from the American players...wow; i'm really shocked they're comically contending it was offside rather than exhibit a smidgen of class that they don't have.
The U.S. looked abysmal. Canada was controlling the game prior to the first goal. Donovan hasn't convinced me that he's the best man for the US up front. We were lucky to get away with the win, and the Canadians are correct to be mad at the outcome. How could the ref not see that the ball glanced off Gooch's head? Didn't the AR see it? It's too bad that if US prevail over Mexico on Sunday, it will be tainted.
I think you were a little hard on Johnson. Every time he timed his run well he got a terrible through ball that went straight to the keeper. And the reason he had to go to midfield to get the ball was because there was no one giving it to him up front.
As you say for Dempsey, he didn't even come to get the ball and it should've been him retrieving the ball and sending in Johnson. Not the other way around.
Well in my view clearly onsides and the goal should have stood.
Time of the clock is ref judgment but remember every sub and every goal unoffically adds 30 seconds onto the clock. Add to that the bradley red card and 4 minutes was not unusual. (rememeber this isnt basketball the clock you see is unofficial)
The real question to me is what was Donovan thinking when he had the ball in the final seconds
in the corner. He refuses to sheild the ball and attempts to either dribble or knock off the defender and misses. IF he had used his soccer brain he would have sheilded the ball and clock would have run out.
Some of you should tone down your vicious comments. Remember the game was on the pitch were here to discuss, comment and if possible raise a brew together
First, let me thank you for your insight regarding football. It is quite refreshing to hear a knowledgable voice in the U.S.
Your are spot on with your analysis of the U.S - Canada game. In all fairness, however, you neglected one important fact. While you praise Hume, he should have been ejected for a vicious foul followed by shoving Pablo. These occurred on two sparate plays. While he certainly sparked energy into the Candadian game, he did so with harsh play. Typical of a player on a Championship League team or a lower tier EPL team. This is very ugly play. In addition, wasn't the second Canadian goal AFTER 4 minutes of stoppage time had elapsed? I'm not certain. Hume's dismissal would have changed the game dramatically.
As I understand the rules, that looked offside to me.
If Onweyu hadn't touched the ball then they would not have been offside, but the moment he touched the ball the two canadians were still running and were offside after they recieved it from Gooch's header. That is what it looked like to me.
Last edited by therealrico on June 22nd at 5:53 AM.
I am a HUGE US fan and there was no way when the ball was played, prior to it hitting the head of Onyewu, was any Canadian player offside. So the point should be moot and we would still be playing. Regardless the referees in this tournament have been awful, it's embarassing to CONCACAF.
On a player note I feel badly for Onyewu. He looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He needs to relax and let the game come to him instead of trying to force the issue all of the time. He has all of the physical ability in the world but does he have the mental fortitude to become a great player.
What a brutal night all around for what should be the best and brightest of CONCACAF.
In my view in reverse order of quality from worst to less worse:
1. FSC - What an awful presentation of a semifinal of a regional championship. Quickly falling behind espn360.com as the 5th rated soccer channel in the US. The prematch show was only upstaged by the match production and commentary in terms of truely dreadful sport television.
2. US-Canada, this match pitted two awful teams. Neither could retain possession, nor do much with it when they infrequently did. Came close to matching the quality of the FSC announcers, but exceeded that low bar by somehow managing to score three times.
3. Officiating, tend to give them a break because the quality of play was so horrific I think it broght the referees down to their level.
4. Mexico-Guadaloupe, Quality finish by Mexico in an otherwise rather tepid display. All hearts to Guadeloupe who seem to have more committment and desire than talent. How embarrassing for CONCACAF that a side fielded by something other than a recognized country nearly makes the final. WOW!
There have been a number of comments regarding the "added" time. The time that is posted on the board is suppossed to be the minimum amount of time added. You will hear from time to time commentators state "there will be at least X minutes of added time."
trike11 - Good comment on Onyewu. He does always look like he is trying too hard or attempting something beyond his ablity. If he kept to the basics his confidence would improve.
Fightin Fugee - If the Canadian Soccer Association were on the ball promotionally they would be announcing a "friendly" with the USA at BMO Field in the fall.
It was a bad call, true, but this is part of sports, and the US has been on the wrong side of the calls before. Need I mention the clear hand ball by Frings on the goal line during the 2002 World Cup QF?
By the same token, if CONCACAF can't get capable refs from Mexico, we should think about hiring some European refs!
Wonder who will ref the final; hopefully the guy from Netherlands Antilles to have neither a Spanish nor English aligned bias. What I don't want is for the ref in the final to compensate for the bad call against Canada, it should be called fair.
Decision 1
In the definition of offside position, “nearer to his opponents’ goalline” means that any part of his head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.The arms are not included in this definition.
Decision 2
The definitions of elements of involvement in active play are as follows:
• Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate.
• Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movements or making a gesture or
movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
• Gaining an advantage by being in that position means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.
I watched the game from across a bar with no sound, but have since seen the highlights.
The officiating was poor for both teams, so I don't know how anyone can focus on just one bad call. In my opinion, Bocanegra should have been sent off, Bradley shouldn't have; Onstad should have been sent off (was screaming in the bar at that one); and the Canadian players were onside at first, offside after the Onyewu header, and in no way can anyone objective say that was a back pass. It was an inadvertent backwards ball and therefore the play was CORRECTLY adjudged as offside. As for the clock, I agree with Bobby. In any case, it wasn't as ridiculous as the extra time in the CL final (yes, I'm still pissed at that one).
You cannot be played offside by a defender off a rebound according to the wording of the law.It reads "or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position."
The critical wording is "having been in an offside position." The only way that the call was correct was if Hutchinson was offside when Bernier played the initial ball forward.
Now to argue against myself but..... If Hutchinson came back from an offside position into an on side position when the ball was played by Bernier then the call would have been correct. However, that does not appear to have been the case from the foootage I have seen.
whether it's a back pass or not has nothing to do with it. both players were onside when the ball was played...how can a touch by an opposing player then put them offside? this answer is that makes no sense and it can't. the mexican ref seems to be drawing most of the ire, but wasn't the call originally made by the linesman? they need to develop some sort oftechnology for offside, cause it's obvious the linesmen simply can't call this correctly, and the fact they apparently are told to err on the side of not calling it when it's close is lost on them cause usually they do the opposite.
First off, I think I should say that the DeGuzman foul was one of the worst I've seen and I was waiting for Bocanegra to go. Also, I am a full blooded American and I will admit Canada got screwed last night. But, for the US, maybe they should look at the fact that in the last minute, we had yet another breakdown and surprisingly enough, it was by Gooch. He needs to go. You might as well put a statue at Center Back and it might be able to get a ball off someone's foot. Hejduk had a brilliant game last night even though he has 0 servicing ability. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Hejduk saved our ####. Why is Feilhaber not starting? Is he being sent to Copa America so he decided to hit the bench? He's obviously in the top 5 best players on the US MNT and I don't know why Bradley doesn't see that. Simek and Demerit should start over Hejduk and Gooch. That simple. They're both seasoned English products and are used to a) a more physical game and b) understand talent and possession.
WHY IS EDDIE JOHNSON STILL GETTING CHANCES??? He's absolute garbage. Apparently, the only way he knows how to play is backwards. I counted last night. ONCE, he turned the ball to goal. Every other time, he checked back and passed back. That does not help us attack.
And finally, where in the hell is our Copa America roster. Wasn't it supposed to be submitted by midnight last night?
can anyone explain the donvan rituals before panalities, which are more like black magic, if its not a publicity stunt why not take a whitch's broom to the sot absolutely disgusting
l have jumped on to the lalas band wagon that states that the english media is ####ked up, l know arsenal are not that active and l believe that we actually do not have money for players, but its not all doom and gloom even if titi goes we will still be forth and probably a carling cup final appearance
As a Canadian fan, the Americans probably deserved to get the result last night. This doesn't change the fact that there is no way the Canadian player should have been called offside.
Bobby, I'm really curious to see what the "respected referee" has to say about the offside call.
And am I the only Canadian fan who got even more upset when I saw Kevan Pipe protecting the referees at the end of the game? Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!
bwkirby17, I had no idea the USA still haven't come out with their squad list for Copa America. They are in the same group with my Argentina (who I thought were taking a long time coming out with their own list!). It was finally released yesterday evening.
I have been a high school referee in MD since 1978, and worked Onyewu's school games many times.
The final offside call was definitely wrong by the linesman, and a top flight center referee should have easily overruled his AR, if not immediately, then after a brief consultation with him.
Let's assume Atiba Hutchinson was offside when ball was last played by his teammate (I don't believe he was at that point)Had a pass merely been deflected off a defender, offside would still be in effect. If the ball is played by a defender, offside would NOT be in effect. A referee must take a defender's skill level into account when judging this. Obviously, on a National team level, one must assume the defender was intentionally playing the ball. Clearly Onyewu had teammates to his left, and he was attempting to head the ball to one of them. Ergo, AH is not offside.
I felt that officiating was fine up to that point, but final call was a disgrace.
Atleti, you won't have to worry about it. After looking at your squad and our supposed submission of a 'B' team to Copa America, you will most likely walk through our Group.
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