2014 World Cup Cycle Player Pool – November 2009 edition

The notion that there is a peak age for player performance in soccer, or any sport, is not a neat and tidy one. Whatever peak age is suggested – most often in the range of 27 or 28 – there are many exceptions. And yet, support for the notion of a peak age is not difficult to find. World Cup winning sides almost invariably have a disproportionate cluster of peak or near-peak players. The 2006 cup winners, Italy, fielded twelve players who were within two years of their 28th birthday.
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Canada 0 - 1 Poland: Game Notes

Given what came before, it is hard to not be happy with Canada’s effort against Poland. This match was a largely evenly played until the final twenty minutes, when Canada slumped noticeably – understandable for a side with so many players either out of season or struggling to find first team football with their clubs. Ultimately, the two teams were separated by the one moment of brilliance on offer, a perfectly worked 19th minute goal by Poland’s Maciej Rybus.
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Growing (Old) Pains

The careers of Canadian national team players have rarely ended gloriously – few, if any, have received a send off befitting their service to the team. It appears that Stephen Hart wants to change that: he wants to give Paul Stalteri the chance to retire as the all-time caps leader, and he wants the curtain to come down for Tomasz Radzinski in the country of his birth. This is laudable stuff, and very unlike the national team program of the past.

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