These have been trying times for Canadian Mens soccer. A struggling national team, and likewise Canadian Major League Soccer franchises have tested the patience of the most ardent support of the game in this country. Tuesday night at our National Soccer Stadium in Toronto told a different story: attractive play, highlight reel goals and a winning experience. The Canadian men gave head coach Benito Floro a winning home debut in a 3-1 victory over CONCACAF rival Jamaica. It was all-around a fun night for the Canadian faithful. Baby steps and hints of progress. To say its been a rough two years for the Canadian Mens National Soccer team would be an understatement. The players, program and supporters all deserved a night as such. A 16-match winless streak dating back to the 8-1 World Cup qualifying humiliation to Honduras in San Pedro Sula in October 2012 has cast a cloud of negativity over our Mens Soccer program. A seemingly never-ending goalless streak, soul searching and an absolute loss in confidence in the players and leadership has made for an all-time difficult time for the program. A losing mentality can be contagious. But that negative demeanour was nowhere to be found at Canadian camp over the last week heading into Tuesdays win. There was passion, energy and excitement around the team getting back at it for a long-anticipated home date. It was the mens first home date in 2014, and just the third match on home soil in the last two years. The players are well aware of all the negative talk about the team, individually and as collective. They felt they had something to prove. The win wont take away the sting of 8-1 but sets the tone of where this group plans to go. Its time to move forward. The players can now do so with confidence and reasoned belief in their new manager. The move by the CSA to bring in Floro was a calculated one; a man of vast experience looking for a new opportunity. How the marriage would work out was up for great debate. Much work was to be done, and many questioned whether Floro would be up for it. The initial returns are showing steps in the right direction. His players are speaking of tactics and compartmentalization in approach: something entirely different than recent years when survival and keeping heads above the water always seemed the goal. The new coach won over the crowd by bringing on Canadian and local soccer legend Dwayne De Rosario, as well as defender Karl Ouimette, who lost his sister to cancer earlier this month, for second half appearances – an appropriate touch and show of understanding by the manager. As for game-play, Floro has a clear vision how he wants his team to play. From attacking perspective, the initial returns speak to improvement. Its about making the most out of what he has. Canada will not win through individual ability: it must be a team approach, top-down. The intelligence and purpose of the Canadian attack against Jamaica was something unlike we have seen out of the Mens program for quite sometime. Canada may not be blessed with the natural goal-scorers of yester-year, but the team has pace. The ability to attack down the wings and move off the ball accordingly was refreshing. Tosaint Ricketts led the line well and looks a much more active player than in the past. His goal came off a mistake from goalkeeper Andre Blake, but the Canadian striker put himself in position to finish. It was a standout performance from the Israel-based player. Ricketts goal was the clincher after Canada scored three unanswered en route to victory. The other two goals were of the highest quality. Patrice Berniers corner finding David Edgar on the top of the 18, who volleyed home for a spectacular goal, rivaling Terry Dunfields wonder-strike against Ecuador in 2011. Marcel de Jong scored the other on a picture perfect free kick. Top goals, no matter what league or side youre watching worldwide. Atia Hutchinson remains the pulse of the team, outstanding again Tuesday night. The Besiktas player is a step above, and can be argued he could start for any CONCACAF nation. Hutchinson stands of evidence this country can still produce players of such high quality and deserves any and all the praise he gets. The team with speed around him takes advantage of his poise, composure and overall gifted ability to read the game. Hutchinson remains the centerpiece, and with Julian de Guzman, Patrice Bernier and the absent Will Johnson around him, make for a formidable middle of the park. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was the play of goalkeeper Milan Borjan. Multiple top saves and intervention helped keep Canada in a position to win on home soil. His positioning was sound and shot-blocking ability was equal to the task. The defensive line was shaky in front of him and will need work growing as a unit. Toronto FCs Doneil Henry played at right-back and provided size and strength on the outside. Henry needs more polish at the position but was an interesting look for a player used to playing centre-half. Borjan is without a club at present time. He, along with de Guzman and Adam Straith need club teams as soon as possible. It need not matter the inexperience in the Jamaican team or the lack of preparation time for the visitors. Its the result that matters. Its time to turn the corner from the negative narrative to developing something positive. That only comes through results. Belief in Benito and better days ahead for the program is paramount looking ahead to the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifying in the not-so-distant future. Its important for the Mens program to gain prominence on the Canadian sports landscape. Canada has become a leader in the womens game in terms of development and fan support. The success of the womens game has been a boon for the Canadian Soccer Association. But the Mens program on a global scale will always be the primary, long-term moneymaker and the barometer by which a countrys soccer success will be judged. It was unfortunate young boys club teams didnt flock out Tuesday night as girls club teams do for the womens program. It all comes from perception. When the perception of the mens program turns to one of success, we can expect similar fandom to follow. So some headlines the night before tickets went on sale for the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup is well-taken by the CSA and the Canadian soccer community. Its a big year for Canadian soccer and there is no reason the Mens team cant be part of the headlines. The goal is all programs finding on and off-field success. Progress should be embraced as it comes. Tuesday was just that. More baby steps. Gareth Wheeler can be reached at:@WheelerTSNgareth.wheeler@bellmedia.ca Carter Rowney Jersey . 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According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game.A football education is not complete without a visit to the magnificent Westfalenstadion in the heartland of industrial Germany. Anyone who graduates this test does so with a smile on their face. Borussia Dortmund has that effect on people. The club is to football lovers, what Christmas is to children; leaving you with a warm feeling, full of stories about something that is done right. It happened to me at the World Cup with my wife in 2006 and this past week English journalists, in town for Arsenals visit to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, typed at great lengths about their love for the club. Dortmund is everyones second team wrote John Cross of the Daily Mirror who was clearly enamoured by the surroundings. He wasnt alone. Arsenal, though, were not in town for a sightseeing trip. The great aspect of sport remains its unpredictability. Arsenals performance in Dortmund on Wednesday flipped the script and made them the main characters in a fascinating subplot, known as Group F of this seasons Champions League campaign. No English club had ever won in Dortmund before Aaron Ramsey headed in Arsenals winning goal in front of their travelling fans, who up until then had played the part of non-speaking extras inside a theatre dominated by a chorus of passionate, singing bees. It gave the Gunners a sensational 1-0 victory, their 14th win in their last 15 away games in all competitions dating back to their last win in Germany, when they defeated the soon-to-be European Champions Bayern Munich in March. Yes, in 2013, a club still searching for respect in its homeland has beaten both teams who made the Champions League final, at home. Their last win in Germany ended their Champions League journey for another year; its latest win opened up a whole host of possibilities. Not only did it place Arsene Wengers men in pole position to qualify for the knockout stages for the 14th year in a row it also means they have a great shot at winning the group, something they have accomplished just twice in the last five years. No team has felt the importance of this more than Arsenal in recent years. "Perhaps, we have been very unlucky with our opponents," said Wenger earlier this season on their failures in Europes top competition. It is true the last 16 has often presented them with a tough opponent, including eventual winners Barcelona in 2011 and Bayern Munich last season, but it is equally true that Arsenal have blown crucial opportunities to win their group and avoid such a difficult draw. For those in England struggling to believe in Arsenal, Wednesdays victory showed glimpses of another side to the Gunners, a much more mature display to their game, full of belief in themselves even when they were against the ropes. Dortmund, who had scored in 59 of their last 60 home games headiing in, dominated much of the games best chances but rarely threatened the centre-back core of Laurent Koscielny, again excellent in the Champions League, and Per Mertesacker.dddddddddddd Aside from a torrid fifteen minute spell at the start of the second half, Wengers men, crucially, seemed in control of their emotions, if not the game. They had learned to keep things tight and remain content with the score level, something they struggled with at home to Dortmund last month. Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky, creators so used to coming inside to work and combine with Olivier Giroud, stayed wide and tracked their opponents. Their football intelligence shone. Dortmund wanted to stretch the game and Arsenal played them at their own game even if some of their key men struggled at times. Mesut Ozil and Giroud couldnt combine as they like to while Mikel Arteta, desperate for a partner to help him be the guardian of the gates, at times seemed to struggle with the flow of the game but such scenarios, against a team who had won all eight of their home matches this season, will surely have been anticipated. Few teams in the world transition as well as Dortmund, who explode in numbers the moment they turn over the ball, and on another night Arteta, as the principal holder in midfield, could have been exposed but Arsenal withstood the pressure and still found a moment to shine themselves. Rosicky, a poster child for a former Dortmund team of debt and disarray, played a superb one-two with Ramsey before unleashing Ozil on the right. The German, whose presence has done so much to install a new belief in Arsenal, crossed a ball in dangerously that wasnt dealt with by Dortmunds defence, allowing Ramsey to continue a dream season by heading home. Suddenly Arsenal found themselves, much like many before them, smiling inside the iconic Westfalenstadion. On Wednesday night they board a plane back to a land where many still wait for their match at Manchester United on Sunday to see if they are for real. They neednt bother. The facts are clear. Win, lose or draw on Sunday, Arsenal are still a far superior side to the one that played for the majority of last season and are finally a team that is looking like one that is coached properly. Whether or not that makes them title contenders remains unclear and only the future will declare the verdict. What was declared on Wednesday was people need to find a middle ground when analyzing this club. How they match up against Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City over 38 games is irrelevant in November. Right now, Arsenal are playing a level of football their high-paying fans expect and those searching to see what they will do come May are losing sight of special performances and it doesnt get much better than a win at the Westfalenstadion. Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '