"The legacy of this tournament has to be an improvement with our national teams." Colin Linford, president, Canadian Soccer Association.

"Today's not a day for analysis of soccer in Canada, I'm not willing to talk today about what the problem is in Canadian soccer. We're playing soccer, we're not playing hockey, so we're not the best in world."  Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell.

"The game is about glory. It's about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." Tottenham Hotspur legend Danny Blanchflower.

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The U-20 World Cup rolls on into the knockout stages minus the presence of host nation Canada, who went goalless, winless, pointless in three first-round games. No one expected such an embarassing early exit. No one can defend it.

But the fact that the tournament continues it's highly successful run - in the stands and on television - only serves to illustrates the contrasting fates that await the two men who will likely bear the brunt of the collective criticism directed at Canada's national soccer programs.

CSA president Colin Linford and Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell will find themselves targets for all sorts of abuse in the days and weeks ahead as answers are sought to Canada's dismal showing at an event they looked well prepared to compete in.

Linford may well find that his position as president, which looked shaky going into the event, has suddenly become bulletproof, as FIFA's financial gnomes squeak in unbridled joy at the unexpected success the tournament has become.

Ticket sales are miles beyond where anyone thought they would go. The seats have been well filled in all six venues, with paid attendances now topping one million, double the numbers from this event's previous edition in Holland and approaching the record levels set two decades ago in Mexico where ticket prices, if they even existed, would have been mere pennies on the now-healthy Canadian dollars being spent here.

The event has also proven to be a successful competitive laboratory for FIFA to study the effects of playing high-level soccer on synthetic playing surfaces. With venues in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa all using field turf, featuring games involving top teams like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, USA and Portugal, it's let FIFA take a close look at what's needed to make plastic pitches more viable in the future.

It's an issue that's a high priority with FIFA as it looks to find ways to grow, or at least sustain, the sport's development  in regions where climatic or financial concerns make quality grass playing surfaces difficult to maintain.

Regardless of Canada's on-field success, Linford is bound to hear nothing but praise from FIFA and that will only strengthen his position in the CSA board room, where he fought and lost over the selection of Canada's next national team head coach.

Linford had lined up Brazilian Rene Simoes and his accomplished associates to assume the reins of the national team program. A board room battle ensued just prior to the U-20 event kicking off and when the red smoke finally appeared from the chimney at CSA-HQ, Mitchell was the man.

The fact that his current U20 squad, the culmination of seven years in his current post, failed to score, or even remotely excite, is damning criticism. But when you consider that Mitchell failed to score in three games playing striker for Canada in the 1986 World Cup, it may have been a foregone conclusion.

An inability to score, or perform well, on either grass or plastic, could indicate that Mitchell's greatest failing as a coach was his inabilitiy to find another surface to play on.

His tactics were totally wrong in the opening game against Chile, when a passive, defensive stance allowed a swift, skillful side even more time and space to slice open a static Canadian defence.

The fact that Austria totally outplayed Canada from a physical standpoint in the second group game will not sit well with Canadians, who are used to seeing their hockey teams rock the bodies of more skll-oriented European opponents.

It looked like the CSA had a simple, straightforward plan for their men's national team program.

Let Mitchell guide his junior squad into the latter stages of the U-20 World Cup, picking up valuable experience for all of them at a high-level event. Then have Mitchell assume control of the senior men's squad and guide them through qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

His experience and knowledge of the younger players would add depth to, and even competition for, positions on the national team. And he was a good ol' boy, a product of the Vancouver soccer system that has been the backbone of much of Canada's efforts the past two decades or so.

But who would have anticipated that interim coach Stephen Hart would draw such a broad range of fine individual performances and get the natonal team to perform so well in the recent Gold Cup event. They were robbed of a place in the final by a ludicrously poor offside call that negated a late equalizing goal.

There's an old, time-worn saying that goes: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

Most Canadian soccer observers would agree that there's little wrong with the current men's national team. They'd also agree that a lot went wrong with an U-20 side that had the talent base to do much better. The program had a clear path set out for it and it quickly went off the trail into the bush.

As Colin Linford returns to his CSA administration duties after the U-20 World Cup ends, he'll find that the excellent organization of this event has given him back an edge he lost just a month or two earlier. It could be quite a sharp edge to wield.

Dale Mitchell has to wonder whether he'll use that sharp edge to hack out a path to respectability for his coaching endeavours. Or just use it to cut him and work with what 's already working.

You can forgive Spanish soccer fans if they've been led to believe another King Kong movie is about to be filmed soon in Madrid. For looming over the fabled Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid, with the power to rattle it to its foundations, is the game's proverbial 800-pound gorilla.

Why, Arsene Wenger, of course.

Dapper, suave, urbane and accomplished, he could well be Mr. Eligible soon if the boardroom battles at Arsenal aren't resolved to his liking.

With recent news that Arsenal's board are well pleased with the club's improved economic performance despite the heavy debt created by building Emirates Stadium, it looks like the determined takeover bid by American investor Stan Kroenke is facing ever-stiffening resistance, putting a damper on the return of exiled Wenger board ally David Dein.  

An early resolution would best serve the club in it's efforts to get Wenger to renew his contract before it expires at season's end. Should that war of wills and egos, which goaded star striker Thierry Henry into leaving for Barcelona, become an even more drawn-out affair, who could fault Wenger for saying au revoir, Arsenal.

The uncertainty and speculation created by this high-level showdown - will Cesc Fabregas be lured home and join Henry? Will Wenger supplant Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard? - has led some to cheekily refer to the north London club as Barce-nal.

However, the situation at Real Madrid is one that has to tempt Wenger.

Unlike the financially-prudent but competitively-challenged Arsenal, Real is a team of unlimited wealth already well built to defend the Spanish title it holds, comfortably awaiting the group stage of Champions League play. And it's desperate to put the safe, efficient playing style of ex-manager Fabio Capello behind it and return to a more artistic approach. 

Who better, then, to do that than Wenger? He's a manager whose spurned national team opportunities in favour of running a club because a club gives him "more clay" with which to mould a playing style true to his vision.  

He's spent a decade making his Arsenal teams into a showcase for the sort of swift, flowing game the Madrilenos are craving to see again. Real's title success was an unexpected surprise and no one who supports them could be disappointed by it. But a single season of Capello's grim, grey grinding had sapped everyone's patience.

Of course, patience is hardly synonymous with Real. Since sacking Vicente Del Bosque in 2003, the team has gone through managers like grain through a goose. Their next hiring will be their seventh manager in five years.

It can't be a coincidence that, until this latest, unlikely, title, the team had gone trophyless in that time of managerial turmoil

It's a club craving stability. It's a club craving artistic success. Not many men can deliver that. Until Wenger settles his immediate future, not many may be able to do so.

Bernd Schuster, the current coach of Getafe, a plucky suburban Madrid side, had that flair on the field as a player, winning one La Liga title with Barcelona and two with Real. He's rumoured to be the front runner for Real's top job, but you have to think that he'd run a distant second if Wenger's name was in the race.

You also have to think that if he were named as Real's manager tomorrow and Wenger was to stoically see out his contract with Arsenal next season to become a free agent, it would only serve to fuel further rumours for the coming season.

Schuster and Real would be doomed to a year of endless speculation and uncertainty. Schuster's failure could be a foregone conclusion as the potential acquisition of star players may well hinge on Wenger's decision.

Madrid's already suffered a little quiver with the departure of Atletico's Fernando Torres. The next big rumble won't be its marvelous Metro rolling under foot. It'll be the impact of Arsene Wenger's next big decision.

Brace yourselves. 

An amazing weekend of stylish play and well-struck goals left Canadian soccer fans looking foward to the week ahead.

Both Toronto FC and Team Canada scored emphatic wins in what was, arguably, the best weekend Canadian soccer fans have seen in many years. And that's taking into account the 0-1 home loss suffered by the Montreal Impact to the Charleston Battery in USL play.

Ahhh, that Montreal-Charleston rivalry. Those teams HATE each other. Don't they?

Well, that loss aside, Canadian fans had to be up on their hind legs and howling at the feast of goals served up in Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of Guatemala by Canada, followed by Sunday's 4-0 branding by Toronto FC on an FC Dallas squad that looked all too eager to mount up and ride home.

For those who viewed both matches, there was extra satisfaction in watching two days of misery for Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz. The serial dive artist is known to his fans as El Pescadito(The Little Fish) , perhaps because his flopping antics make him look like a well-hooked bass on a dock.

He was on the losing end for both games, earning a yellow card for a nasty elbow that split open Canadian defender Richard Hastings head, then 'showing up' for Dallas a day later and getting another yellow for chirping. Is their a Spanish word for 'schadenfreude"?

Toronto FC couldn't have found a better way to bid a temporary goodbye to the friendly confines of their BMO Field. They'll be on the road for their next six games as the U-20 World Cup tournament evicts them until late July.

They'll set off brimming with confidence, having raised their W-L-T record to 4-6-1, an impressive turnaround from an 0-4-0 start. And for a team that couldn't find the net through that initial four-game losing streak, Toronto has begun delivering goals that are pure eye candy.

It continued on Sunday, as defender Kevin Goldthwaite sold the Brooklyn Bridge on a cutback move that almost had his Dallas marker sliding into the beer garden behind the goal. His follow-up cross resulted in a first-ever goal for top rookie Maurice Edu.

Carl Robinson honored his daughter's Father's Day wishes to get a goal and planted a neat header in off the bar for his first goal in Toronto colours. Even the near misses are drawing oohs and ahhs.

Coming a day after Canada demolished Guatemala with three first-half goals, with Ali Gerba slicing home a sharp right footer to cap a dazzling, seven-pass masterpiece,  Canadian fans have to wonder what has happened to the stodgy punt-and-plod that was a hallmark of their game for decades.

Respected for defending well and breeding decent goalies, Canada has never been associated with eye-catching buildups or highlight-reel goals. It looks like it's all about to change.

This edition of the national team is full of atheticism, skill and quick minds, but most importantly, high-level playing experience .

No longer forced to rely on a conservative game plan based on defending well and making the most of set pieces, Canada can mix the power of sturdy veteran Dwayne De Rosario and the distribution and work rate of winger Martin Nash with the agile close control of Atiba Hutchinson and the playmaking and decisive touch of Julian De Guzman.

Thursday's Gold Cup semi-final with the United States in Chicago should provide an excellent examination of this blossoming soccer program. When you factor in these results with the promise of Canada's U-20 side, it's becoming clearer that the Canadian game has never been healthier.

And with a club side like Toronto FC giving Canadian youngsters an attractive  target to aim for in their future playing aspirations, the chances of this country experiencing another loss of talented players like Owen Hargreaves or Jonathan De Guzman become smaller all the time. 

Poised to end a turbulent time at Real Madrid by winning a championship, David Beckham prepares to depart the grand stage of European soccer in the best way possible - leaving them wanting more.

It's a departure that will vastly overshadow the quieter and more dignified Bernabeu exit of teammate Roberto Carlos, the stellar Brazilian left back whose thunderous left foot has produced some of the game's finest long-range goals.

And it's a departure in style and tone from the soap-opera mayhem that now engulfs Thierry Henry, as speculation wildly swirls about his playing intentions for the coming season. Boardroom sparring and a media-fuelled fire has begun to consume the dignity that embodied Arsenal's gifted striker, it's elegant manager Arsene Wenger, and even the club itself.

Admittedly, the announcement that Beckham was leaving Real Madrid for L.A. Galaxy came amid a similar media circus to that surrounding Henry today. But Beckham has shown a master's touch in handling a tricky situation that could have left himself and Real Madrid surrounded by wreckage. Henry and his prickly agent could take a lesson.

After a tearful ending to the 2006 World Cup and the apparent conclusion of his days playing for England, an awkward start to the current season for both player and club had delivered Beckham to the low point of his career. His decision to move to America was met with widespread derision and scorn, with some of the worst comments coming from Real president Ramon Calderon. Real manager Fabio Capello gravely announced that Beckham would never play for the club again.

Despite an ability to be as manipulative with the media as any sports or showbiz star, Beckham never rose to the bait. He simply returned to the place where he surely must be most at ease, the training ground, and continued to be a complete professional by preparing himself for a possible return to the playing field, should the opportunity arise. And he did it quietly and earnestly.

No one knows a player like teammates do. They see the work put in on the training ground, they know the quality of a character through daily contact in the change room.

It gives them the keenest insight into what that player can offer on the playing field and if it's talent that can't be matched by a replacement, or even a change in tactics, it's not going to sit well with them for long. Especially a team with the pedigree and expectations of Real Madrid.

It spoke volumes when their immedate reaction to the statements from Calderon and Capello was one of total support for Beckham. They wanted him back.

Beckham's eventual return sparked Real on a drive to the top that should end this weekend with yet another Spanish league championship and this could be one of the more storied titles Spain's greatest club has ever earned. That run also forced England manager Steve McLaren to think again and Beckham's re-instatement to the England midfield has revived his country's chances of qualifying for the 2008 European championships.

Throughout the process, Beckham has refused to gloat or speak ill of anyone who misjudged him or his abilities. He's let his play do the talking and once again the highlight reels are filled with goals created by his tantalizing delivery of the ball.

Again, the strongest endorsement he could receive is that of teammates, as prominent England players, such as captain John Terry, have had nothing but the highest praise for his attitude and his play. Terry has vowed to return the captain's armband to Beckham when he plays his 100th career game for England, something that could happen in October or November.

Which means his impending transfer to the L.A. Galaxy is now one of the world's most eagerly anticipated sports events. He's made the step across the Atlantic a short one indeed, arriving still at the top of his game, with some of Europe's most prestigious clubs clamouring for him to reconsider.

 He won't play in front of an empty seat throughout his abbreviated Major League Soccer season and, considering the time he's had off earlier this season while recuperating from injuries, he should still be feeling fresh and energetic. Motivation under these circumstances will not be an issue. This is a man at ease under the hottest of spotlights.

Really, the only concerns facing his arrival involve his new club and the league it plays in.

 Will Beckham's arrival be enough to rescue the Galaxy from their poor start to the season? And will his involvement with England hamper the club at a critical stage in the late season, or possibly in the playoffs?  It's a valid concern given the fact that Beckham could become only the third player to reach 100 games for England late this fall, when playoff concerns could become paramount for the Galaxy.

And will MLS be able to retain some sensibility in the early stages of Beckham's MLS career? It's going to give the league it's highest-ever global profile. Can they resist the giddy temptation to abandon a salary cap and allow the sort of wild spending that brought the demise of the late, lamented North American Soccer League?

All in all, nice problems for MLS to have. Beckham will arrive with his image restored, his dignity intact and a world eager to watch what he will do next. We're in for a treat.

"Toronto FC hasn't proven anything yet, We're still the best team in Canada and our goal is to continue to be the best team in Canada and, if we have the opportunity to play Toronto FC, our goal would be to prove it."  

 Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, March 1, 2007

 Joey Saputo has every right to be proud of the accomplishments of his Montreal Impact soccer club. Now playing in the United Soccer Leagues Div. 1, they've been tier-two soccer's ongoing, on-field success story and they've enjoyed a consistently growing level of support throughout their 15-year history, now averaging around 12,000 fans a game.

 So there was a time when a brash comment like that quoted above would have been appropriate. It's fair to say that it was appropriate when he said it earlier this year. But not any more.

 The truth is, his beloved and well-supported Impact squad aren't even Canada's best team in tier-two soccer, let alone the nation's best team period.

 A unique and enjoyable two weeks of far-flung business commitments provided your correspondent with a first-hand sampling of the best in professional Canadian club soccer, on both sides of the continental and competitive divide.

 A visit to Vancouver's delightful Swanguard Stadium to watch the Whitecaps entertain USL Div. 1 rivals from Carolina and two rollicking MLS games at Toronto FC's pulsating BMO Field were sandwiched around an intriguing night in Montreal, where a packed house topping 12,000 witnessed the Impact host the first-place Whitecaps in a battle of USL leaders.

 All four games were tense, entertaining battles but the chance to watch games from both leagues in close comparison showed the difference in skill levels to be quite obvious.

 For all the hard running and purposeful effort put in by USL players, their games are ultimately undone by a lack of polish around the net and by the number of unforced errors. Stray passes and errant clearances frequently create midfield turnovers that quickly become dangerous opportunities.

 But when three top USL clubs can only combine to turn those chances into just one goal in two games, it gives clear indication of why USL Div. 1 is just a developmental league. It's a big reason why a cultured audience like the one in the Toronto area failed to support the USL's Toronto Lynx.

 It seemed like half the Whitecaps' squad, searching for an equalizer in a 1-0 loss, had a crack at the Carolina goal in a second-half shooting gallery, wasting some fine chances created by good runs and well-placed crosses, often the result of crisp deliveries from standout winger Martin Nash.

A week later, Montreal's lively fans were holding heads in disbelief as striker Charles Gbeke found the woodwork or missed the net on clear-cut chances from in close as Montreal and Vancouver ground out a scoreless draw.

The contrast couldn't have been sharper watching Toronto FC play against Colorado and New York, where superior finishing skills delivered memorable goals - Jeff Cunningham's first for Toronto, pounded into the roof of the goal after crafty Andy Welsh's nifty pass, Andrew Boyen's textbook header off a great corner kick from dead ball artist Ronnie O'Brien or Danny Dichio's clinical touch inside the six-yard box to cap off Marvell Wynne's sensational set up. All of them, first class stuff.

 MLS delivers much more quick, skillful interplay, numerous one-touch passing sequences used to relieve pressure, establish control or create time and space to set up a smart through ball. You just don't see that very often in USL soccer.

 To be fair to Joey Saputo, his comments were made almost three months ago and Toronto were still scuffing about in pre-season training, giving no one a clear picture of what they were capable of. Still, you'd like to think that Saputo might be willing to give MLS some praise for putting on a better show than he gives them credit for.

Given the permanent small-time status of USL soccer, MLS is a league he may well want to be a part of sooner rather than later and it's not the first time he's courted controversy in commenting on MLS. It's an attitude that could cause him some short-term pain if MLS honchos choose to make him sweat out a franchise acquisition.

He's been outspoken before, balking at paying an MLS expansion fee of $10 million and taking issue with the quality of play in MLS compared to that served in USL Div. 1. He's always backed up his words with his wealth, paying competitive wages to bring decent players to Montreal and building a new stadium that will open next year. Judging by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd that came out to watch the Whitecaps visit, he may well need to start planning to expand it beyond its initial size in the 15,000 range. A lot of Montrealers think a place in MLS is Saputo's for the asking. He might want to consider asking nicely.

 If Toronto FC has quickly established itself as the best professional team in Canada, Vancouver is about to become the apple of MLS' eye as the league views a list of prospective sites for its next round of expansion, a process that MLS president Don Garber says will increase the league by three teams to a total of 16.

 And Garber has indicated his awareness of the progress being made in Vancouver's preparations to build a spectacular waterfront soccer stadium, with an initial capacity in the 20,000 range, expandable to 30,000. The target date for completion is 2010, which gives the Impact a two-year head start in playing in their new soccer-specific stadium.

 There's every reason to believe, though, that Vancouver's stadium, bordering on the lively Gastown district, with a spectacular view of the North Shore mountains, will be the site MLS will choose first in adding a second team Canada. If the league expands by three teams in 2010, two western teams and one eastern franchise would balance out the two divisions evenly at eight each. A rebirth of the mothballed San Jose Earthquakes and a return to glory for the Whitecaps would give MLS two additions with great soccer traditions to build on and an ability to quickly establish hot rivalries with the two L.A. clubs. Vancouver would also broaden appeal within Canada and their matches with Toronto will bristle with intensity.

 At first glance, the impending MLS expansion in the east can't afford to include Montreal. The league needs to add another rival, beyond the New England Revolution, for Red Bull New York, whose on-field excellence is being met by fan indifference at having to watch games in sterile Giants Stadium. Philadelphia would make the most sense, a city where soccer fans would easily get fired up over games with D.C. United.

 However, questions continue to be asked about how viable the Kansas City Wizards operation will remain. They're drawing little more than  family and friends currently at 70,000-seat Arrowhead Stadium and are facing an uphill run getting local municipalities to agree to provide funding for a soccer project that would include a soccer-specific stadium that meets MLS standards. The alternative is an image-crushing move into a refurbished high school football stadium.

 The creation of an expansion team in nearby St. Louis might save this situation. Maybe not.  This is heartland America and baseball country first and foremost every summer.

If it was necessary to move this franchise, it might make more sense to take a proven star like Eddie Johnston and a competitive squad like the Wizards into Philadelphia and let the geographic heat of rivalry add to the competitive sparks that have flown between Red Bull and the Wizards this year.

That would open the expansion door for another eastern city and Montreal would be worthy of consideration given the track record established by the Impact and the credibility created for the Canadian marketplace by Toronto's sensational start. It may not be Don Garber's first, or even second, choice, but he needs to take the game to cities where he knows it will be supported from the get go.

Maybe it's time for Joey Saputo to start cuddling up a little to MLS. He's established that soccer has strong appeal in Montreal and he's already building a stadium that gives him a head start on other competitors for an MLS franchise.

 Everyone connected with MLS has taken notice of what Toronto has brought to the league this year and it's clear that Montreal has the potential for a repeat success story.  A little diplomacy will go a long way towards earning Saputo and his loyal fans the rewards they deserve.