BEGOVIC CALLED UP FOR BOSNIA FRIENDLY

Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager Ciro Blazevic has called up Bosnian / Canadian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic for their August 12 friendly against Iran.

My understanding of the language is extremely limited - but from what I’ve found - Begovic has said he will NOT play v. Iran.

If that is indeed the case, it probably has everything to do with his current club situation since it looks like Portsmouth have signed the previously retired Antti Niemi to back-up the soon-to-be fit David James.

Begovic would certainly be loaned out to another club.

Squad named for Iran friendly:

Goalkeepers:
Nemanja Supić, Asmir Begović, Adis Nurković

Defenders:
Emir Spahić, Ivan Radeljić, Sanel Jahić, Damir Mirvić, Boris Pandža, Safet Nadarević, Adnan Mravac

Midfielders:
Dario Damjanović, Samir Muratović, Elvir Rahimić, Sejad Salihović, Miralem Pjanić, Zvjezdan Misimović, Zlatan Bajramović, Senijad Ibričić, Semir Štilić

Forwards:
Zlatan Muslimović, Edin Džeko, Vedad Ibišević, Admir Vladavić

WESLEY CHARLES RELEASED

VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that defender Wesley Charles has been released by the club.

During Tuesday’s training session, Charles took exception to a tackle by fellow defender Jeff Parke and attempted to strike Parke. Charles was immediately dismissed from the grounds and training resumed.

"This is the second incident between Wesley Charles and a teammate in just over a month, and as a result, we have decided to release Charles outright," explained Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi. "As a club, we do not condone any violence on or off the pitch, and take such actions very seriously."

On June 12, during the latter stages of a Whitecaps home match versus Miami FC Blues, Charles was involved in an on-field incident with teammate Charles Gbeke. As a result of the altercation, Charles and Gbeke received monetary fines and were suspended for two matches.

Charles joined the Whitecaps on July 11, 2008, and played in 33 matches for 2,785 minutes of action over two half-seasons with the club. Prior to his move to the Whitecaps, Charles spent 11 seasons in the League of Ireland.

***
This is crazy, Sandro Grande in Montreal, Wesley Charles in Vancouver. I'm just waiting for something to happen in Toronto. Both Montreal and Vancouver have struggled this year and the frustration seems to be building in those camps. Hopefully these problems have been solved with the release of the Charles and Grande.

FULL-TIME FANTASY LEAGUE

Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show would like to invite you to play in our Fantasy Premier League called Full-Time League, the official fantasy league of Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show. The winner takes home a Full-Time prize pack, which includes the coveted Full-Time scarf.

Last season, Mike Martignago took the Full-Time League title. Can you beat Mike this year? Feel free to invite your friends.

If you aren't already playing the game then you can register at
http://fantasy.premierleague.com

Once you have logged in and entered your team, click on the 'Leagues'
link you can find on the right of the page. Now enter the code
264927-56391 to join the private league.

Enjoy the game!!

TEVEZ

Carlos Tevez completed his move to Manchester City on a five-year contract. Tevez will earn a reported £150,000 a week in wages - and to Kia Joorabchian, who will take possession of £25.5m for the "owners" of Tevez he represents. Okay, all that money, and two things, what is Tevez wearing on his head? A knit head band or a weird toque? Secondly... Tevez is one seriously ugly dude.

SPORTSNET GETS IT RIGHT

Rogers Sportsnet will broadcast Canada’s quarter-final match this Saturday 18 July from the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada’s match will broadcast live on all four Sportsnet channels at 17.00 ET / 14.00 PT. The Canada-Honduras match is the first of four quarter-final matches at this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

BLANCO REPLACES DE ROSARIO

Dwayne De Rosario decided to skip the All-Star game for TFC's CONCACAF Champions League match against Puerto Rico. A wise choice from DDR... I am happy that he is skipping the All-Star game to play for TFC, he did afterall decline on the opportunity to play for Canada at the Gold Cup, so why not decline for a match of lesser importance. If Dwayne decided to play in the All-Star game, it would simply have been a major kick in the teeth for both TFC fans AND Canadian soccer fans.

The full story is on DeRo skipping the All-Star game is here. DeRo will be replaced with the 2008 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco.

BOSNIA REACTS TO BEGOVIC

According to translation experts (or guys on the internet), Bosnia is reacting with mixed emotions about Asmir Begovic after coming on with our radio show on Sunday night. One report states:

Asmir Begovic, goaltender for Portsmouth has again arrived at the center of attention for sports journalism in our country. This Trebinje-born player has recently promised Miroslav Blazevic that he will play for the national team of Bosnia & Hertzegovina, but he has clouded things with his announcement for one Canadian radio station stating how he still is thinking about Canada's national team!

As it is common knowledge, Begovic wore the jersey of the youth Canadian team, but according to the new rules of FIFA he has gained the right to change his sports citizenship.

We discovered that [he has] already "started" the procedure where he will change his sports citizenship and his declaration about how he wishes to play for Bosnia has already gone to FIFA. This has been confirmed to us by Munib Usanovic, general secretary of the National Bosnian Football team.

"Ten days ago, we talked with his father and with Asmir and he signed a declaration about the change of his sports citizenship, that is, he confirmed that he wishes to play for Bosnia. The completed documentation was sent by us to Zurich, and in the procedure is also the taking out of Begovic's passport" said Usanovic, who was surprised by Asmir's announcement on Canadian radio:

"I don't know what he means, but something is suspicious, considering that in recent days Begovic has not been answering the calls from our Federation."

It is certainly very confusing. On one hand, Asmir tells us that he hasn't done anything but spoken to Bosnia but insists he still wants to respresent Canada. On the other, they say that he has already begun the process of becoming a Bosnian national squad player. We'll try and dig more into this story and find out more.

HOW TO SELL TICKETS 101

Tickets to the Zidane match obviously went well. This photo was snapped outside a local skytrain station in Vancouver a few hours before the match kicked off. A moving ticket vender.Judging by the marketing campaign, I'm surprised tickets were even still available.

As sporting events go, the BC Lions, Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Canadians and Vancouver Whitecaps really need to get on board with this new and improved way of selling tickets and marketing your product.

BEGOVIC: “I don’t want to switch...”

Portsmouth Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic joined us on Full-Time last night. It sounds like he wants what most fans want: some organization at the CSA and an idea of who (Stephen Hart) will be guiding the Canadian Men’s National Team to (hopefully) the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

You can listen to our conversation here and itunes users can sign up for the podcast here.

Below is a brief rundown of his comments:

On Canada v. Bosnia… “I’ve played for Canada for a long time. There’s no decision, I don’t want to switch… but there is a state of uncertainty with Canada soccer (next coach, etc). Get things in place and I’m happy to stay with Canada, that’s where I see my future… I’ve been approached by Bosnia. There were talks… but I have no intention on playing for Bosnia.”

On coaching situation / Stephen Hart… “Stephen Hart is a very likeable guy. He has a great respect from the players. But the uncertainty concerns many players. Hopefully he stays on… Hart told me I’m in his plans for the future… Which I’m happy with.”

A firm commitment to Canada when things get cleared up?... “Yes… this isn’t a threat or an ultimatum. Myself and some of the other guys just want to know what’s going on. We can really build on our squad and succeed.”

Any pressure from either side?... “The CSA has been really good… no pressure – I would never make a decision without speaking to the CSA. Bosnia – there’s been a lot of speculation, pressure/heat from them. If I was to make a decision, it can’t be made that quickly... I don’t want to change... it’s not really an issue right now.”

Other comments include… “I have never had a problem playing for Canada… there shouldn’t be a change”… and “I’ve been following the Gold Cup. This squad has a lot of potential. Hopefully they can go all the way and make a statement.”

Good.

BEGOVIC DECLARES INTERNATIONAL INTENTIONS ON FULL-TIME

In June of 2009, Bosnia and Herzegovina manager Mirolsav "Ciro" Blazevic told sportsport.ba that Asmir Begovic had committed to play for Bosnia.

Last week, on the July 5th edition of Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show, Canada's interim head coach Stephen Hart said that he didn't believe Begovic had committed himself to the Bosnian national squad and when all was said and done, he would likely choose Canada.

We've all heard what each coach has to say, but what about Asmir Begovic? What are his intentions? Well, you can find out Sunday, July 12th at 9pm on Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show as the Portsmouth goalkeeper joins Tyler Green and Mike Martignago for an exclusive interview where he answers all the questions about his international future.

Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show can be heard live on the AM dial at 1040 or online here.

For more information on Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show, visit the official TEAM 1040 Show page located here.

Contract Extension for Gerrard

LIVERPOOL, England -- Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard signed a contract extension Thursday tying him to the Premier League side until 2013.

The 29-year-old England midfielder, who has been with the Reds his entire career, signed a two-year extension to his previous contract lasting to 2011.

Gerrard followed striker Fernando Torres, midfielder Yossi Benayoun, winger Dirk Kuyt and defender Daniel Agger in recently committing himself to the 18-time English champions.

Gerrard, who came close to joining Chelsea in 2005, now looks likely to stay with his hometown club until retirement.

"We have spent this summer trying to secure the players we have," manager Rafa Benitez said Thursday. "It's really good to keep Kuyt, Torres, Agger, Benayoun and Steven. They are the here and now of the club and for the future it is really good."

Liverpool finished four points behind Manchester United last season.

THE 3 BEST THINGS I LEARNED WATCHING CANADA V EL SALVADOR ON GOLTV

This is going to be a short post. It's the top 3 things I had the chance to learn while watching the Gold Cup match between Canada and El Salvador the other night.

1) Paul Sutton is the goalkeeper for Canada. I don't know when they made the change from Greg Sutton, but he looked alright -- a few "oops" moments, but overall, not a bad performance from Paul.

2) Will Johnson is 27 years old. I certainly need to know what he's doing to stay so young looking.

3) Dwayne De Rosario, surprisingly, is on the Canadian team. Now despite reports to the contrary, Dwayne is actually on the squad. He isn't playing, but he is on the squad. Why wouldn't they play him? I think he's certainly good enough to play.

There you have it. I am looking forward to the game on Friday against Costa Rica to find out some new tidbits. I'll share those with you on the show on Sunday evening.

IF ANYONE CARES... ZIDANE MATCH CHANGED TO SWANGARD

The Zinedine Zidane and friends (we are still wondering who these friends are) match has moved locations and the ticket price has dropped. The, as reported last week by numerous sources will take place on July 12th. The location has now also officially changed. It will be at Swangard Stadium instead of BC Place. Prices for tickets have also dropped from the $99 starting price at BC Place to $50 for Grandstand seats or $30 for Bleachers.

This tournament has been a debacle from the start. Everything from information about the match and who is playing to venue changes to freak injuries. As much as it would be interesting to see Zidane play, I can honestly say I have no interest in watching this event whatsoever. Perhaps it's because I have seen Zidane play twice in the past, once while covering a World Cup for the radio station and once with Real Madrid, or maybe it's because I am not comfortable supporting something that, for me, just doesn't feel right.

If you go to the match, enjoy and I hope it's worthwhile.

HART on BEGOVIC: “IN THE END, HE’LL PLAY FOR CANADA”

Canadian Men’s National Team Interim Coach and CSA Technical Director (longest title ever) Stephen Hart joined us on the July 5th edition of Full-Time. He had some rather interesting thoughts on what will happen with Canadian / Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Various reports have indicated that Begovic will turn his back on the country he represented at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and play for the Bosnia and Herzegovina senior squad.

However, Hart thinks that won’t happen. While he acknowledges that in the end it’s Begovic’s decision, Hart doesn’t believe that yet another fine talent will forget Canada and represent another nation.

“We chatted before the Gold Cup. I had invited him in… he had some situations that he had to deal with that would’ve made it very difficult to come in, he explained that to me.

… In his words, he was very happy to be called in and was more than willing to come in if these situations had not occurred. But at the end of the day, the decision is going to be his… I have a feeling he’s going to play for us, he’s played for us since U-17, and I think in the end he’ll play for Canada.”

Hart mentioned that he spoke with Begovic in late May when Canada met Cyprus in a friendly. At that time, Begovic was unable to play after having to fill-in for injured Portsmouth regular David James.

Hart also added that while it’s always been a rumour, Begovic has never said anything to him about playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SEE THE WHITECAPS IN ACTION...

Some slick moves from the 'Caps... including Full-Time favourite, Wes Knight.

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT?

Many never could have believed that this would ever happen. Michael Owen has signed with Manchester United.

DAVID EDGAR AT BURNLEY

Full-Time reported it earlier in the week about David Edgar moving from Newcastle to English Premier League's newest side, Burnley. Here's a photo with his new manager and teammate.

ZIDANE UPDATE!!

After posting a story about the possibility of the Zidane game being cancelled, got word from Bob Mackin at 24 HOURS that the game will just be postponed to July 12th. The organizers have made this comment.

The game has sold about 8,000 tickets to date and could be moved from BC Place to Swangard Stadium. Details on how you can get a refund for those who cannot make the new date will be available shortly.

In other news, TEAM 1040's Joey Kenward, will be one of the referees for the match. Joey has worked local games around Vancouver along with PDL and USL games.

ZIDANE GAME IN TROUBLE IN VANCOUVER

The Zinedine Zidane charity soccer match scheduled for this weekend at BC Place is in danger of being cancelled after Zidane suffered a back injury.

Nick Smith, a spokesman with the game organizers, said the former French star injured his back after bending down to pick up his child during Wednesday nights fireworks display. The organizers expect to make a decision on Friday about whether the game should go ahead as planned. Smith told the Canadian Press that Zidane's chances of playing were "50-50."

The Zidane is understood to have gone through a physiotherapy session on Thursday, but may have pulled a tendon in his back and recovery usually takes up to a week.

EDGAR IS A CLARET

As we mentioned yesterday on the blog, David Edgar is set to sign with Burnley, now it appears official, as reported by the Burnley website.

Edgar will wear the number 15 shirt for Owen Coyle's squad and looks to be a regular in the squad throughout the season.

The Canadian International will earn close to £10,000 a week at Burnley, for whom he has already completed a medical, and crucially for the Canada international, has been guaranteed first-team football. Edgar was reluctant to sign a deal with Burnley after being at Newcastle since the age of 14 and having come through their academy.

Birmingham City had also shown interest in Edgar but the player opted for Burnley, who will play in England's top flight next season for the first time in 33 years. Despite the fact Edgar is a free agent, Newcastle are entitled to compensation as he is under 23 years of age and has come through their academy. The two clubs will begin discussions on the size of the fee today.

Two things I like about this move. Edgar gets to play regular first team football and he gets to do so, in the premier league. This is going to be fantastic for the Canadian National squad. It is only going to benefit the team down the road as they will now attempt to qualify for the 2014. The young players will have to step up.

The second thing is that it shows that some Canadians that play in a top league will continue to play for Canada. We reported earlier in the week that Asmir Begovic has decided to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina after the manager, Mirolsav "Ciro" Blazevic, told sportsport.ba that he had decided to play for them and not us. Now, I am still holding out hope (because Begovic hasn't played for B&H yet) that Edgar will give his fellow U-20 squad member a call and tell him that the two of them should be the ones to lead Canada to the big time. They are the next generation of players, actually the first generation of players. to truly lead Canada to glory.