FIFA has you covered.
asserted
you → have → ?
Football’s under-fire overlords chose Friday as high time to try to shift focus back to the game itself by releasing its technical study group’s findings from this summer’s men’s World Cup.
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overlords → choose → Cup
At 546 pages, it may take more than Saturday and Sunday to plow through it.
uncertain
it → take → it
Jesse Marsch has plenty on his plate and will wait until the current international window closes next Wednesday to thumb
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window → have → plate
It’ll help pass his flight back to Tuscany, perhaps.
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It → help → Tuscany
FIFA bills it as ‘Goalkeepers Redefined’ with charts, graphics and video snapshots analyzing how the tournament proved that a country’s last man back is now its first man to move things forward.
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man → bill → things
“The role of the goalkeeper continues to evolve, with sides increasingly using (them) as an active participant in the buildup phase and as a solution … to overcome the opposition’s press,” read a summary.
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summary → continue → press
For Marsch, defining who was Canada’s goalkeeper at all proved a huge headache of the first phase of his reign.
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who → define → reign
It wasn’t until the eve of the tournament, two-plus years into his tenure, that he finally conferred No. 1 status on Maxime Crépeau.
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he → confer → Crépeau
On Friday, the second stanza in Marsch’s Canadian story brought him back to the very room where that Crépeau decision was announced in June.
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decision → bring → June
This time in Stade Saputo’s media suite, the coach confirmed that Owen Goodman will wear the gloves and the maple leaf on his chest for the first time here Saturday against Peru.
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Goodman → confirm → Peru
Dayne St. Clair, the friendly rival who ran Crépeau to the finish line in the race to be World Cup starter, was in goal for last Saturday’s victory over Chile in Toronto but will return to the bench as the highly touted Goodman debuts.
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Goodman → run → bench
This camp marks the start of a near four-year journey to the next global gathering.
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camp → mark → gathering
While trophies and world ranking are pointed to as new goals, Marsch’s bigger-picture priority now is to evolve his team.
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priority → point → team
Goalkeepers have greater longevity than their outfield brethren, yet the age profile of Canada’s keepers feels pertinent.
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profile → have → keepers
Goodman is just 22 and, unlike his elders who have exclusively plied their trade in MLS, is cutting his teeth in European football.
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who → ply → football
Having extended his contract with the Premier League’s Crystal Palace after impressive loan spells in England’s lower leagues, he is currently excelling in Scotland’s top flight at Dundee.
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he → extend → Dundee
International football can be a foggy place to make forecasts and a dreary, drizzly autumnal Friday in Montreal hardly helped.
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Friday → make → Montreal
Yet it may well be that the cap Goodman wins against Peru is the first step in him eventually settling between Canada’s posts, where certainty has been absent for four years.
uncertain
certainty → win → years
Eventually, because Marsch still sees the gloves as Crépeau’s to lose.
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Marsch → see → Crépeau
“Max has done a lot to earn the No. 1,” he said.
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he → do → .
“Dayne is competing still for that spot, as well as Owen.
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Dayne → compete → spot
(Saturday) will be Owen’s first chance to be on the pitch for Canada and to show his quality.
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Saturday → show → quality
We’re excited for him to have an opportunity.
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him → ’re → opportunity
Goodman, born in England but raised in Alliston, Ont., from the age of five until his early teens, was told his Canadian dream was dead before it began.
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it → bear → teens
Undeterred, he hired his own immigration expert and made it happen, rejecting advances from Nigeria along the way.
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it → hire → way
At six-foot-four, he’s a gifted shot-stopper and his distribution has improved significantly.
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distribution → ’ → foot
Finding his voice in international football is the next step.
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Finding → find → football
Alongside Marsch Friday sat a veteran voice largely absent during the American’s reign.
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voice → sit → reign
Having farewelled Junior Hoilett last week, Canada Soccer will pay tribute here to midfielder Samuel Piette.
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Soccer → farewelle → Piette
Unlike Hoilett, Piette insists his 70th Canadian cap isn’t definitively his last, but it surely is.
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it → insist → Hoilett
Ismaël Koné, Nathan Saliba and Mathieu Choinière, currently second, third and fourth on Canada’s midfield depth chart, all tutored under Piette at CF Montreal.
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all → tutor → Montreal
“An amazing role model,” Saliba said.
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Saliba → say → ?
“He’s done a lot for the program, for the country.”
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He → do → country
With the final match of the window against the U.S. arriving rapidly Tuesday, Marsch will make changes.
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Marsch → arrive → changes
Cyle Larin is iffy and Jonathan David will be needed more in Minneapolis so Promise David, Daniel Jebbison and Tani Oluwaseyi may all see significant time up front.
uncertain
David → need → front
Stade Saputo is trending to be full for the lunchtime encounter.
asserted
Saputo → trend → encounter
As a city, Montreal has been a robust market for the national team and the 800 or so tickets that remained unsold Friday were in the most expensive sections.
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that → remain → sections
Canada Soccer’s pricing strategy came in for criticism last weekend in Toronto where the World Cup “homecoming” was well-attended but still saw 5,000 empty seats.
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homecoming → come → seats
In The Voyageurs’ section, a banner was unfurled reading “Don’t extort supporters.
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banner → unfurl → supporters
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
