Canadas path to World Cup glory became much clearer on Saturday as the draw took place for next years tournament and after a positive draw for the host nation, head coach John Herdman says there can be no excuses. There is no easy team in the group, said Herdman. China have been one of the top Asian teams over recent years, the Netherlands are an up and coming team with some real talent in there, and I know a bit about New Zealand, so Im pretty happy. We have beaten these teams in the last two years, we are ranked higher than them, so there should be no excuses, but these teams have improved over the last three years. Canada will open the tournament against China in Edmonton on June 6 before facing New Zealand at Commonwealth Stadium and wrapping up the group stage at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and Herdman is aiming high. Theres no reason why we cant win the group, thats fair to say. If you had one of those tough European teams in it might have been a bit tighter, but we should get a good chance of doing that. Ahead of the draw, Herdman said he wanted to avoid Sweden and England - mission accomplished. He also talked of his hopes to be drawn against a New Zealand team he coached before moving to Canada – again, Herdman got his wish. All my wishes nearly came true, he said following the draw. I wanted New Zealand in the opening game, that would have been really cool because some of those girls Ive brought up from the age of 18 and now they are blossoming into some top class players. With an expanded tournament of 24 nations, there are six groups of four teams. The top two from each group will qualify along with four of the best third placed finishers. Following the draw, Canada can now also plot a pathway through the knockout stages of the tournament. If they can win Group A they would play one of the best third-placed teams from Group C, D or E in the Round of 16 in Vancouver. That would also give them the chance to avoid the top teams in the world until the semifinals and even set up a final against the United States – but lets not get ahead of ourselves! Canadas preparations are already well underway with residency camp having started in Vancouver earlier this fall, but they will get a chance to see one of their World Cup opponents up close when they face China in a four-team tournament early in the New Year. Everything over the last two or three years has been preparing the players for what will come in the World Cup, said Herdman. Its about getting used to playing in Canada, the media, the hype, so people dont have to put mental energy on things that are new. We want to have experienced as many things as we can. That preparation goes even as far as trying out different training facilities and hotels so that Herdmans team will be in surroundings that are familiar and most conducive to success when the tournament kicks off next June. The coach will not leave a stone unturned when it comes to making sure Canada is the most prepared team in the tournament. This team knows what their responsibility is, said Herdman. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they will get one chance to make this country proud. We have kept this simple – it is just about them being at their best and knowing the responsibility of wearing that shirt. We can connect the country through the way we play, and that is as simple as it gets. Theres little doubt it was a good day for Canada. It could have been better, but it could have been much worse. Canada will be the highest seed in the group, with the backing of the home crowd. It gives them a great chance to progress out of the group stage and hopefully long after that as well. Fake Yeezys From China . The 30-year-old Kottaras served as Kansas Citys backup catcher last season after being claimed off waivers from Oakland in January. Fake Yeezys Outlet . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. http://www.fakeyeezysforsale.com/. Olsen, who is 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, can play either centre or guard. The 25-year-old Olsen played 16 games and made four starts in 2012 with the New Orleans Saints. Fake Yeezys Store . Despite Barcelona showing the same vulnerability in defence, Messis best performance since returning from a lengthy injury layoff ensured that his side bounced back from a defeat by Valencia in the previous round. Fake Yeezys Boost .ca. Kerry, I hope you address Ron MacLeans comment during the second intermission of Game 4 in Montreal-Tampa series. Basically, he suggested that the NHL should not have used a referee from Quebec, following the Game 3 disputed non-goal, because the referee could be biased towards Montreal.COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - The Vancouver Whitecaps hadnt experienced a loss in over two months before falling to the Colorado Rapids 2-0 on Saturday. Dillon Powers and Vicente Sanchez both scored in the first half as the Rapids snapped the Whitecaps (5-3-7) franchise-best unbeaten streak at eight matches. But as head coach Carl Robinson saw it, it wasnt that big of a deal. "Weve lost one in nine," Robinson said. "I wont get carried away." Despite the loss, Vancouver had reason to celebrate as Whitecaps Mehdi Ballouchy, Steven Beitashour and Nigel Reo-Coker all made their returns after various lengths of absences. Ballouchy played 20 minutes in his first game in nearly 11 months since tearing his right ACL last season. He tore his left ACL two years ago, and played only five games for the San Jose Earthquake before the most recent injury. "Its been a long time," Ballouchy said. "When you do an ACL, you come back, and you do it again, these are long-term injuries. A lot of players dont come back. Its been a steep, steep hill and Im happy to be playing again." Reo-Coker was back in action after missing Wednesdays scoreless draw against Montreal to be in New York for the birth of his first child, while Beitashour was back after a long trek back from Brazil, where he played for Irans national team in the World Cup pool play. Vancouver hadnt lost since falling to Los Angeles 1-0 on April 19. It was the second of a brief two-game losing streak that started with a home loss to Colorado a week earlier. "Weve lost three games out of 15. Its not bad," said Reo-Coker. "Every team has spells like this — even the top teams. Were going through it now. We have so much belief and confidencee in this team that were going to bounce back.dddddddddddd Its a sign and test of how good we are." Reo-Coker said the birth of his daughter Scarlet changed his life "completely." "Its fantastic," he said. "Its something you cant put into words until you go through." He had a less memorable moment late in the first half when he fouled Sanchez in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Sanchez easily beat goalie David Ousted in the 36th minute to give the Rapids their second goal. "It was just miscommunication between David and myself," Reo-Coker said. "I saw David coming out and we kind of hesitated amongst each other, no one really took command of the full situation." Robinson had no issue with the call. "Second goal, it was a blatant penalty," he said. Powers hit the bar in the 17th minute and put a shot through the legs of a Vancouver defender three minutes later to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. The Rapids had another chance in the 27th minute, but were turned away by Ousted. Vancouver had two solid chances in the second half but Pedro Morales put a shot wide in the 63rd minute and Johnny Leversons laser in the 77th minute was saved by Clint Irwin. Colorado had 19 shots overall to Vancouvers five. "Were going to win games where we dont deserve to and were going to lose games we deserve to win," Robinson said. "Tonight we got what we deserved." Robinson didnt play Beitashour, opting instead to give him a rest after a long period of travel. "Beitas had three flights and in total its probably 16 hours of flying," Robinson said. "What I didnt want to do is risk an injury to him. I made the decision before the game." ' ' '