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Hunt begins to replace Lenarduzzi
"We'll be looking at Argentina, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands and everywhere else," Kevan Pipe, chief operating officer of the Canadian Soccer Association, said following Lenarduzzi's expected announcement. "We're looking for someone with a proven track record."
Lenarduzzi said during Canada's ill-fated World Cup qualifying run that if his team didn't qualify for next summer's tournament in France, he would quit the post he held for five years. True to his word, Lenarduzzi announced from Vancouver yesterday he was leaving to become the GM of the Vancouver 86ers of the A-League.
"It was never a question of someone coming to me and pushing me out," said Lenarduzzi, who blamed his poor record on player availability, internal unrest and poor talent. "These are not excuses, just facts."
Canada assembled an embarrassing 1-6-3 record in CONCACAF qualifying ending with a 3-1 loss in Costa Rica on Sunday. Despite having some talented players in key positions such as strikers Alex Bunbury and Paul Peschisolido and goalkeeper Craig Forrest and finishing first in the initial round of qualifying with a 5-0-1 record, the Canadians failed to qualify for the third straight World Cup.
Canada's world ranking, which was as high as No. 40 in 1996, slipped to No. 63 between Switzerland and Gabon in FIFA's November rankings released yesterday.
Lenarduzzi, who was the first Canadian-born coach to lead the national team, was criticized for playing a defensive style and not using more of this country's talented young players, such as Toronto's Paul Staltieri, who this week signed with Werder Bremen of the German First Division.
Pipe said the financially constrained CSA will open up the purse strings for its next coach.
"The price for a new coach has to be reasonable," said Pipe, who would not say how much is budgeted for the new coach. "But we will be willing to spend the money if the right candidate should come along."
Pipe said he already has received about 20 applications in recent weeks from interested coaches when it became apparent Lenarduzzi would resign.
"It's not going to be easy to coach this team," Pipe said. "Our players are spread over 8,000 miles and most of our top players are playing all over the world."
Pipe said a new coach will be in place by the end of 1998 with qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea to start in 2000.
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GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan