The canadian midfielder is back and ready for the new season. De Guzman thinks that the new signings will be very good for the team, which could play in three tournaments (league, national cup, and uefa cup). Julian ends his contract after this season, but he wants to renew with Deportivo.
DXT - You returned to work a few days ago, so you have not the same pace than the rest of the players. How is the pre-season going?
Julian - It's good right now. I need a little more time to get the same pace than my team-mates, but i'm very happy, comfortable, and i'm very sure that i'm going to be ready for this pre-season.
- I guess that you were looking forward to be on holidays, after the long season.
- Yes, but the holidays were long and i was already looking forward to play again. The team is stronger than last year, and we have higher targets.
- This year the team maybe will try to be more regular and having less ups and downs...
- I hope so. In theory we're very good.. but we must show that on the field. If we start with good results, i think this season will be very better.
- As you previously said, this summer the team has new signings and it seems to be stronger, which is exciting for the manager and the supporters.
- Yes, the new signings won't be only good for the league only, else it will be very useful for the UEFA Cup too. There is a lot of players now, and that's good for everyone, because if you want to play, you must do you your best. That's very good for the team.
- It seems the team is now improved with new strikers, which could guarantee more goals...
- We already scored a lot of goals last year, but it's obvious that if you want to win, you need to score. This season we have a lot of strikers, but we need to defend if we want to get the victory. We'll work all together to make the best for the team.
- One of the best "signings" is the return of Juan Carlos Valerón. I guess this will make you happy, particularly for the more veteran players.
- Yes.. if Valeron is fully recovered, the whole team will be very improved. I'm very happy about having him in fit this season.
- I guess that you will go step by step in order to play the three tournaments.
- Yes, we want to focus in every tournament, step by step. The first target is winning next Saturday in order to enter the UEFA tournament. Later, we'll start the league against Real Madrid.. and if we keep a positive tendency we could fight for other targets.
- What do you think about Saturday's match on Intertoto cup?
- We won 1-2 in the first leg, and that was perfect for facing up to the next match. I believe that we have a great team for winning at home too.
- The chance of returning to an european championship must be a great satisfaction.
- Yes, the immediate objetive is qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and it will be very good for us if we achieve this.
- Your contract ends next season. Would you like to renew your contract?
- Yes, of course. I'm very happy in Deportivo. I believe that i've performed my best seasons in this club and i want to stay here forever.
- Lotina have the confidence in you, and that's a warranty.
- Yes, he's very confident about me, and that's very important for a player. I'm very happy because he gives me the chance to play in La Liga with Deportivo.
Posted on Saturday 26 July 2008 - 13:06:52 |
The table is set. Canada will be facing Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico in CONCACAF Stage III of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers. Canada's three home matches are 20 August against Jamaica in Toronto, ON, 6 September against Honduras in Montréal, QC, and 15 October in Edmonton, AB.
Canada will also play Mexico on 10 September in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Honduras on 11 October (venue yet to be announced), and Jamaica on 19 November in Kingston (Jamaica). Canada needs to finish amongst the top-two teams in Group B to advance to CONCACAF Stage IV in 2009.
Tickets to the Toronto match will be available through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.ca or 416.872.5000) while tickets to the Montréal match will be available through Admission (admission.com or 514.790.1245). Tickets for the first two matches go on sale this 14 July. Tickets to the Edmonton match will be available through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.ca or 780.451.8000); details regarding the Edmonton on-sale date should be announced shortly.
The 20 August 2008 match at BMO Field will kickoff at 19.30 ET. It will mark Canada's 10th FIFA World Cup Qualifiers(tm) match in Toronto, albeit the first at BMO Field. Canada has a record four wins, three draws and two losses in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Toronto, including a 1:0 win over Jamaica on 1 November 1992. Canada's first-ever FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match in Toronto was 22 June 1957 (a 5:1 win over the United States) while its most recent was 15 November 2000 (a 0:0 draw with Mexico).
Canada has an all-time record of six wins, five draws and two losses against Jamaica's senior team. In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada's record is one win, two draws and one loss against Jamaica.
The 6 September 2008 match at Stade Saputo, presented by Sony, will kickoff at 20.00 ET. It will mark Canada's second FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match in Montréal. Canada recently won its first home match in 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers on 20 June at Stade Saputo - a 4:1 win over Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.
Canada has an all-time record of five wins, four draws and six losses against Honduras' senior team. In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada's record is three wins, three draws and one loss.
The 15 October 2008 match at Commonwealth Stadium, presented by adidas, will kickoff at 19.00 MT. It will mark Canada's ninth FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match in Edmonton. Canada has a record of five wins, two draws and one loss in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Edmonton, including a 2:2 draw with Mexico on 12 October 1997. Canada's first-ever FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match in Edmonton was 31 July 1993 (a 2:1 win over Australia) while its most recent was 4 September 2004 (a 1:1 draw with Honduras).
Canada has an all-time record of three wins, six draws and 14 losses against Mexico's senior team. In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada's record is one win, six draws and nine losses.
Canada has a 2008 record of three wins, one draw and two losses, including back-to-back wins in CONCACAF Stage II of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifiers against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Canada was most recently ranked fourth within CONCACAF in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings (June 2008). Within CONCACAF, Mexico was ranked first, Honduras was ranked third and Jamaica was ranked ninth.
Canada is looking to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Canada's last participation in a senior FIFA competition was the FIFA Confederations Cup Japan 2001, following the team's successful championship at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Posted on Wednesday 02 July 2008 - 09:32:25 |
After years of underachieving, Canada suddenly seems on the verge of doing something special. On Friday night, in Montreal, the Canadians overwhelmed St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 4-1, and waltzed into the next round of World Cup qualifying.
The hero at Saputo Stadium was Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who dominated the midfield, scored two goals, and set up the other two, both by Ali Gerba, who plays for German club Ingolstat.
The 11,502 who turned out on a damp, cool night to Saputo Stadium were not disappointed in what they saw from Canada's national soccer team. It rained hard for an hour before the match, which likely kept some fans at home, but the game opened in sunshine on a slick pitch.
Canada won the two-game series 7-1 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage of qualifying in the CONCACAF zone — a tough round robin tournament that begins in August against Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica.
DeRo opened the scoring in the 29th minute, when he beat his defender and slotted home easily past goalkeeper Winslow McDowell. Gerba doubled the lead in the 38th minute, heading in a De Rosario cross.
Five minutes after the interval, De Rosario received a pass from Tomasz Radzinski and slammed a shot past McDowell. Gerba finished the scoring for Canada in the 63rd before SVG’s Marlon James pulled one back late.
Canada's Julian de Guzman and Radzinski were cautioned, the latter for giving a small shove to referee Joel Antonio Aguilar while St. Vincent's Cornelius Stewart was being booked.
"Most importantly, we got the result," De Rosario said after the match. "It's nice to play well and score, but we got the result. The fans were really into the game, which is very important, and hopefully we'll continue this run."
“I think the main thing is finding a home ground where we can play,” added De Rosario, a Scarborough, Ont., native. “In Montreal, it's beautiful stadium."
“I think Saputo has done a great job of putting together a great atmosphere. And if we continue to get results, why should we move anywhere else?”
“I'm looking forward to that round,” said De Rosario, the Houston Dynamo striker. “We've been playing well and in order to be the best, we have to beat the best.”
Canadia captain Paul Stalteri said Canada has to toughest of the three four-team groups in the next round. The top two from each group advance to the final round to be played in 2009, with the best three or four from that going on to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“Again we have the hardest group in qualifying, like the last two World Cups,” said Stalteri. “But in the end, you have to play everybody.
“We need to get off to a good start, because the last two times, we lost the first game and it made it very difficult for us.”
“We read each other very well,” De Rosario said of Gerba. “It's just the cohesiveness of this team — we all read each other well.”
Injuries forced two lineup changes from the first leg for Canada. Gerba replaced Rob Friend (back spasms) as he did only seven minutes into the last game, and defender Adrian Cann took the place of Richard Hastings (abdominal strain). St. Vincent started midfielder Darren Hamlet in place of Richard Haydes and forward Shandell Samuel for Sean Glynn.
The first game of the next round is currently scheduled for Aug. 20 against Jamaica at BMO Field.
Posted on Saturday 21 June 2008 - 10:14:23 |
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