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Multicultural Soccer Association 2015 Tournament

Soccer Coach

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Game (Synergy FC-La Libertad Vs Van City Kotoko)
This was an interesting game that ended with deserved victory for the Ghanaian team with three nice finishes.

First game of the season for both of these new teams. The first few minutes were marked by chaotic play as players were trying to settle and try to get into the game. Many in our team were playing together for the first time and were trying to get used to each other. Thus, it was not surprising that the first goal came before the 5th minute. The winger beats with speed the side back, and the center back arrives late. Minimal contact after the winger has lost control of the ball, but the referee sees it differently and awards a penalty. The penalty is nicely converted by the striker. It seems that the game will go their way, but once everything is settled down, the game becomes relatively even. Kotoko is able to keep possession on their half. They move the ball nicely among the back four and the holding midfielders, but they have difficult progressing into the midfield and attacking third with passing. Thus, they have to use long balls or dribbling by some of their very skilled players. Our midfielders have no problems in getting the ball and quite a few counterattacks are staged. In one of them our winger makes a nice cross to the back post, and unfortunately the forward heads the ball barely touching the crossbar. A goal seemed eminent from similar chances, but an unfortunate event allows them to double the lead. The full back is ready to clear an easy bounce, but he misses the kick and the ball goes directly to the forward. A one on one situation with the goalie, which the forwards does not forgive.

The second half saw quite a bit of reorganization on the team. Fresh young legs came into the pitch, and did unexpectedly well. Kotoko's players were tired, and many shots on goal were possible as they were not pressing. Their keeper saved them all well. One minute before the end of the game our players are still pressing up, and a breakaway unsued. A foul at the top of the box followed by a magisterial free kick to the top corner seals their win.

Kotoko was a nice team to play. Some of them apparently played semi-pro or pro in their earlier years. Good quality of play from their part.
Next round is versus the Colombians.
 

Soccer Coach

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The league has without doubt improved since the years that I played on it or previously coached it. The boys have lost to Shaheem, tied one of the Colombian teams, and lost to the other Colombian team. In general, it is servicing our purposes of keeping our Division 2 and 3 players busy and playing together with relatively decent opposition. Looking forward to the games with Westside (I suspect the Cat team) and NorthVan.
Thank you for keeping the forum going.
 

Soccer Coach

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I regret that I could not keep up with the updates. It became a bit difficult because we fielded to two teams in one for the summer (Division 2 and Division 3). This made the games really uneven as we played the games more for development purposes of the players individually. For instance, one half would be strong with the more experienced players and another would be a bit weak with the new players, some which never competed in a team. Sometimes we would mixed them so the more experienced players could guide the younger ones. To give an example, the team was leading Shaheen 2-0, but when we started to make the substitutions; the game ended 2-8 for them. Perhaps, the most notable game was the game with West-side, which ended 4-1 in our favour. We had only 11 players, and most of them were the new players. They really defended well, and countered very efficiently. We have figured out how to neutralize both teams. Essentially, Shaheen can have the ball in non threatening areas. They can have the ball and you just have to be patient. If you try to chase the ball or put pressure, they will penetrate. However, they eventually make errors, and this is when they are really vulnerable. They are slow in the transitions. The same for Westiside. They play 4-3-3 and one touch soccer really well, but they do not have the accuracy to penetrate when you put 5 at the back, and they give the ball away with ease in crowded situations.
In general, the league has been well run, and the teams have been decent and nice, and it has helped our purpose of developing players and collective play. We made the point of playing a different formation every game, and it has taught the players a lot by given them different situations and problems to figure out on their own. From 4-4-2, to 4-2-3-1, and even 4-2-4. We for sure will be back next year.

http://www.msasoccerbc.com/
 

Soccer Coach

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The team behind BYE has quite decent players. My understanding is that several of them played or play Premier at the Fraser Valley. I think that they just had problems fielding full teams during some games. Overall, the league had decent play.
 

Soccer Coach

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The summer has gone really fast. This week, the team had to play Norvan, which is the team in first place ahead of Shaheem. Norvan has only lost one game and has a goal differential of about 30+. It is a very fast and young team. It was a challenging situation because our team needed to win to get into the play-offs. This time, we only put our top players, and were lucky to survive away with the win (2-1). Perhaps it took them by surprise, because they were expecting an easier game. We had to play counterattack with them. It was 2-0 at the half. They discounted towards the end with a corner kick scramble. We could have gone up 3-1 after hitting the post and subsequently missing an open net. They kept pressing but did not manage to create any clear chance. This loss might cost them the league because Shaheen is just behind them.
http://www.msasoccerbc.com/
 

Soccer Coach

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We had our last game this week. It was a win of 6-2 over Northwest United. The three points gives the team a spot for the play-offs. Most likely we will have to face one of the two Colombian teams in the quarter finals and then either Shaheem or Norvan on the semifinals. There is not much to report on the actual game because Northwest United was a highly depleted and demoralized team from the start. You have to give them credit for showing up and playing their best. Nice sportmanship ass they did not had the same players and it was likely to be a one way traffic affair. They score two very nice goals on a breakaway and free kick towards the end of the match.

The league was well run and we had decent referees. It help us to prepare and form the base for our two teams in the winter.
 

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