Canada names World Cup Qualifier roster

Canadian men's soccer coach Dale Mitchell has named the 19-players he will use for their 2010 World Cup qualifying matches against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. The Canadians are looking to reach the finals for the first time since 1986.

Here is their roster:

GK (2): Greg Sutton (Toronto FC), Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo)

D (6): Jim Brennan (Toronto FC), Mike Klukowski(Club Brugge KV), André Hainault (Sparta Praha), Ugo Ihemelu (Colorado Rapids), Adrian Cann (Vancouver Whitecaps), Richard Hastings(Inverness CT)

M (7): Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas), Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna),Paul Stalteri (Fulham FC),Marcel de Jong (Roda JC), Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Nordsjælland), Atiba Hutchinson (FC København), Patrice Bernier (FC Kaiserslautern)

F (4): Tomasz Radzinski (Skoda Xanthi), Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo), Ali Gerba (FC Ingolstadt), Rob Friend (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

The Canadians play in Kingston this Sunday and then head home to Montreal for the second leg next Friday (20 June).

It will be interesting to see if Toronto FC coach John Carver complains about these call ups.

Toronto's ref dispute investigated by MLS

The league is looking into allegations that Toronto FC was treated in a disrespectful manner by the fourth official during Saturday's match against Columbus. Coach John Carver said referee Mauricio Navarro's attitude towards TFC was premeditated after the league sent around a DVD featuring bad behavior by coaches. Carver was featured in the DVD.

The league is now looking into the issue, but since the refs used for TFC matches are all from the Canadian Soccer Association, any disciplinary action against Navarro will come from them.

It does seem that the referees are starting to get more attention then in the past. As MLS grows and becomes more competitive, bad calls only stand out that much more. I don't know if Navarro did anything wrong on Saturday, but I do like that MLS is looking into it.

As far as Carver is concerned, he stresses that he is a passionate guy when it comes to the game and that his reactions are not meant to be aggressive.

"I'm a passionate guy, we miss a shot, I put my hands on my head," he said. "We don't get a free kick, I put my hands on my head and that's why they don't want that. ... They don't want passionate people."

Toronto FC hired John Carver as coach - Mo Johnston reassigned

Toronto FC have replaced Mo Johnson with former Leeds United manager John Carver. Most recently, Carver was involved with English First Division side Luton Town, but was released last month.

Mo Johnston will still be involved with the team as manager and director of soccer.

Although Carver does have some English experience, his resume is nothing amazing. Since Mo is still involved with the team, I would imagine he feels he can do more running the club then manning the sidelines.

So did anyone else think of the Mayflower leader when they read the name John Carver?