Football
Associated Press 17y

Dale Mitchell hired as Canada's soccer coach

TORONTO -- Dale Mitchell was hired as Canada's soccer coach
Thursday, inheriting a national team that is ranked 94th and has
not been to the World Cup since 1986.

He replaces Frank Yallop, who quit last June to coach the Los
Angeles Galaxy.

Mitchell, a former star player who was on the '86 team, has
coached the under-20 team the last five years. He will move into
his new job once the world under-20 championships end in July. His
first game will be Aug. 22 at Iceland.

"I think national teams have to be about something more. ... I
would never be against having a foreign person on my staff, if that
person could help us," Mitchell told a news conference at BMO
Field. "But I think there's something to the entire group all
being from the same country and all being from the country that
they're representing when they go into battle in those qualifying
matches."

Mitchell also has worked as an assistant to the national
under-17, under-20 and senior teams. He is a former coach of the
year in the A-League.

"This job to me is essentially about two things," he said.
"It's about Canadian players, and it's about CONCACAF where we
have to compete. I've been involved with those two things during
the last 30 years."

CONCACAF covers North and Central America and the Caribbean,
with three automatic qualifying berths for the World Cup and a shot
at a fourth via a playoff.

Former national team coach Bob Lenarduzzi believes Canada can
qualify for the 2010 World Cup if it takes the right approach.

"We have a good core of players," he said. "And the trick
will be to get that core of players and to get them to all buy into
a philosophy that is team-first."

Mitchell understands he is in a "results-oriented business."

"To me, it means you have to be resilient and hard to beat
defensively, and tight and organized and on the same page," he
said. "You have to have a commitment to defending, you have to
have an ability to hit teams quickly in today's game. You have to
be able to play the transition game."

Stephen Hart, the coach of Canada's under-17 team, was appointed
Mitchell's assistant. Hart will lead the Canadian team at next
month's Gold Cup next while Mitchell is with the under-20 squad.

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