September 12, 2007 Men's National Team--Canada vs Costa Rica [Canadian fans protest] (from National Post)

Sean Fitz-Gerald, CanWest News Service; National Post
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 Article tools

TORONTO - Dino Rossi has never marched on Parliament Hill. He has never distributed placards at a rally and had never organized a protest until Wednesday night, when the suburban father of three gave a voice to hundreds of frustrated Canadian soccer fans just like him.

With nothing more than word of mouth and an orange traffic cone acting as a billboard on top of his minivan, Rossi sold black T-Shirts condemning the Canadian Soccer Association for its alleged culture of failure. He sold around 400 before Canada kicked off its international friendly with Costa Rica at BMO Field, moving each for only $5, enough to recoup his costs.

"I've been a fan of Canadian soccer for as long as I can remember, when I was about 12 and realized that Canada actually played soccer," he said. "My first memories were of the '86 World Cup team getting walloped, but it was still fun to watch Canadian guys play the game. And it's just amazed me that, in 21-plus years, we just really haven't been able to get off the mat and do any better than that.

"In fact, we haven't done anything at all. We've regressed, rather than progressed."

Canada drew 1-1 with Costa Rica Wednesday night, in its first senior men's international held in Toronto in seven years. Dwayne De Rosario scored early in the second half to salvage the tie for the home side on a chilly night in front of a half-empty stadium.

The attendance was announced as 9,325, which looked sparse even in the cozy confines of the soccer-specific venue. And with the exception of a few flourishes in the second half, the action on the field was also a little lacking.

Rossi's protest was part of a movement called "Black Wednesday" by a small but vocal group of Canadian soccer supporters. Their uprising was given mention in Wednesday's editions of The New York Times, and culminated Wednesday night with frustrated fans wearing the black T-Shirts emblazoned with the mantra: "Support our national teams - Sack the CSA."

The CSA has come under fire for its seeming lack of direction, and was lambasted by Colin Linford when he resigned as president in August after serving only 15 months of a four-year term. On his way out, he said "looking at this from the outside now, it becomes pretty clear that there is not a will to change."

Canada sits 53rd in the latest FIFA world rankings, one spot behind Costa Rica. And with the sport's national governing body run mainly by a handful of volunteers, Linford was not optimistic that ranking would ever really improve.

Costa Rica took a 1-0 lead moments into the second half Wednesday night when Victor Nunez accepted a pass behind the Canadian defence and beat goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld. It gave the visitors a boost, after they had surrendered seven shots in the first half, but it was only momentary.

De Rosario accepted a brilliant pass from Julian De Guzman before blasting the tying goal past Jose Francisco Porras in the 54th minute. The bulk of the Canadian support was behind the other goal, where some of the most exuberant fans happened to be wearing black.

The CSA further aggravated the few fans who did bother to show up by closing the upper section on the west side, leaving more than a hundred lined up minutes before kickoff to have their tickets reassigned to a section lower in the stadium.

Other fans complained about the lack of advertising for the game, pointing to the sea of empty seats. Some complained that Canadian team jerseys were not even among the items for sale at the main souvenir kiosk.

Rossi said his group, which often discusses the state of the game in online forums, hoped the protest would raise awareness about needed change within the CSA.

"My wife, she thinks I'm crazy," Rossi said laughing. "She'd like me to spend less time on the forums and more time putting kids to bed, but that's OK. She's cool. She understands."

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