Canada, Costa Rica
Tie Before Frustrated
Soccer Fans
Sean Fitz-Gerald,
CanWest News Service;
National Post
TORONTO - Dino Rossi has
never marched on
Parliament Hill. He has
never distributed
placards at a rally and
had never organized a
protest until Wednesday
night, when the suburban
father of three gave a
voice to hundreds of
frustrated Canadian
soccer fans just like
him.
With nothing more than
word of mouth and an
orange traffic cone
acting as a billboard on
top of his minivan,
Rossi sold black
T-Shirts condemning the
Canadian Soccer
Association for its
alleged culture of
failure. He sold around
400 before Canada kicked
off its international
friendly with Costa Rica
at BMO Field, moving
each for only $5, enough
to recoup his costs.
"I've been a fan of
Canadian soccer for as
long as I can remember,
when I was about 12 and
realized that Canada
actually played soccer,"
he said. "My first
memories were of the '86
World Cup team getting
walloped, but it was
still fun to watch
Canadian guys play the
game. And it's just
amazed me that, in
21-plus years, we just
really haven't been able
to get off the mat and
do any better than that.
"In fact, we haven't
done anything at all.
We've regressed, rather
than progressed."
Canada drew 1-1 with
Costa Rica Wednesday
night, in its first
senior men's
international held in
Toronto in seven years.
Dwayne De Rosario scored
early in the second half
to salvage the tie for
the home side on a
chilly night in front of
a half-empty stadium.
The attendance was
announced as 9,325,
which looked sparse even
in the cozy confines of
the soccer-specific
venue. And with the
exception of a few
flourishes in the second
half, the action on the
field was also a little
lacking.
Rossi's protest was part
of a movement called
"Black Wednesday" by a
small but vocal group of
Canadian soccer
supporters. Their
uprising was given
mention in Wednesday's
editions of The New York
Times, and culminated
Wednesday night with
frustrated fans wearing
the black T-Shirts
emblazoned with the
mantra: "Support our
national teams - Sack
the CSA."
The CSA has come under
fire for its seeming
lack of direction, and
was lambasted by Colin
Linford when he resigned
as president in August
after serving only 15
months of a four-year
term. On his way out, he
said "looking at this
from the outside now, it
becomes pretty clear
that there is not a will
to change."
Canada sits 53rd in the
latest FIFA world
rankings, one spot
behind Costa Rica. And
with the sport's
national governing body
run mainly by a handful
of volunteers, Linford
was not optimistic that
ranking would ever
really improve.
Costa Rica took a 1-0
lead moments into the
second half Wednesday
night when Victor Nunez
accepted a pass behind
the Canadian defence and
beat goalkeeper Lars
Hirschfeld. It gave the
visitors a boost, after
they had surrendered
seven shots in the first
half, but it was only
momentary.
De Rosario accepted a
brilliant pass from
Julian De Guzman before
blasting the tying goal
past Jose Francisco
Porras in the 54th
minute. The bulk of the
Canadian support was
behind the other goal,
where some of the most
exuberant fans happened
to be wearing black.
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