Canadian National Team Head Coach Stephen Hart has announced his roster for Canada’s two upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Panama on September 7th and 11th in Toronto and Panama. He has selected 21 players to represent Canada in the home and away matches against Panama, the third and fourth matches in the six-match CONCACAF 3rd Round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Qualifiers.

There were no major surprises in terms of the makeup of the squad that will feature in two key fixtures in Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign, as Hart has gone with a group mainly consisting of veteran International players who are playing regularly at the club level and who have very significant experience competing in the CONCACAF region.

“You always want to have a balanced squad and I tried as much as possible to go with the players that are playing and looked to where we might need the most reinforcements and just went from there. There are certain positions where we are a little bit thin at and you have to make decisions based on potentially what might happen on the weekend with the club games and then what could happen leading up to the first game. So I did my best to come up with a squad that is as balanced as possible,” said Hart via conference today.

“I think that in the last three games we played we showed good team spirit and a good mental attitude and the players felt comfortable with each other in their roles. And with the competition for places and the way some players have been performing, I think that it if we are in a good mental state, things should go well,” added Hart.

Three players who made their returns to the Canadian National Team in Canada’s friendly against Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month – Patrice Bernier, Terry Dunfield and Marcel de Jong – were called up for the Panama fixtures after not participating in Canada’s June World Cup qualifying matches against Cuba and Honduras.

On today’s conference call, Hart was asked in particular about the possibility of the red hot Bernier earning a start in either of Canada’s two matches against Panama. The Canadian National Team Head Coach spoke very positively on the recent club form of the Montreal Impact midfielder, but also made it clear that, at this point, no player has yet pinned down a place in his starting eleven.

“His chances are as good as that of any other player. It is a matter of how we decide to approach the games, what roles people are asked to play and how they look in training. I don’t have a starting eleven in mind as we speak. I have to see the players in training and I have to go through a couple of scenarios as to how we could approach the game and then see who best fits at the time,” stated Hart.

Hart was also asked to describe the focus of his training sessions next week in advance of lining up against Panama on September 7th.

“We’ll have the full squad in on Tuesday, because most of the players play on the weekend and will come in on Monday. So the first session will be Tuesday. There will be certain aspects of our game that we have done very well and that we want to reinforce. And probably we will continue to work a little bit more on the offensive phase of our game and sort of finishing off the moves. We have been creating the chances, we just need to be a little more clinical,” said Hart.

Hart was also asked if he had been at all heartened by the recent goal scoring exploits of a number of his core players, specifically Simeon Jackson, who scored his first EPL goal of the new campaign last weekend, Dwayne De Rosario, who recently scored his 100th career MLS goal, and Patrice Bernier, who has been regularly for an impressive Montreal Impact squad.

“It’s a confidence thing. Players go through phases in their games - especially those that depend on scoring goals – in which they need to be very confident. And what that does, is it brings them into the training camp in a good mood and with a certain amount of confidence. So it can only be healthy for us,” added Hart.

CANADA
1- GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
2- M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll
3- FB- Ante Jazić | USA / Chivas USA
4- CB- Kevin McKenna | GER / FC Köln
5- CB- André Hainault | USA / Houston Dynamo
6- M - Julian de Guzman | USA / FC Dallas
7- M - Terry Dunfield | CAN / Toronto FC
8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Real Salt Lake
9- F- Tosaint Ricketts | ROM / Politehnica Timişoara
10- F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Norwich City FC
11- FB- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
12- CB- Dejan Jaković | USA / D.C. United
13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | NED / PSV Eindhoven
14- M/F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / D.C. United
15- CB- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
16- M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / CD Santa Clara
17- F- Olivier Occean | GER / Eintracht Frankfurt
18- GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor
19- FB- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
20- M - Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact Montréal
22- GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK Fotbol