After a week of training and a warm up match against Ecuador in Toronto, the main event for the Canadian Men’s National Team kicks off on Tuesday in Detroit when the team faces the United States in their 2011 Gold Cup opener. And while the Canadian team has been focused on using the always too little training time at its disposal to fine tune the Canadian squad and its tactical approach, the Canadian players to a man are also ready to once again play in meaningful tournament matches and are pumped to go up against a U.S. team that currently sits ranked 22nd in the world and that is a perennial World Cup qualifier.
RedNation Online recently had the opportunity to catch up with Canada Head Coach Stephen Hart and a number of the Canadian players to get their thoughts on the team’s opening Gold Cup fixture against the U.S.A.
By virtue of the fact that Canada-U.S.A. matches are always events regardless of the sport being played, the Gold Cup match-up between the two teams is the one that is garnering most of the attention north of the border. As for Stephen Hart, he believes the match is important purely because it is Canada’s opening match in the tournament.
“It’s the first game of the competition and in a tournament you always like to do well in the first game and come away with a result. That means that you don’t leave things in other people’s hands. So in that respect, it’s a very important game,” said Hart.
Canada midfielder and team leader Atiba Hutchinson echoed the statement of his Head Coach and expressed his hope that Canada will continue to deliver the impressive style of play the team has shown over the last year against the U.S. team.
“I think it is an important game for us. And to get off on the right foot, it will be important to get a good result against the States. It’s pretty important for us in terms of seeing how the tournament will go. We want to go out there and play the way that we have been trying to play lately and be confident and try to express ourselves as much as we can and, of course, get three points. I think it is a pretty important game for us,” said Hutchinson.
Midfielder Will Johnson expressed that there is a palpable sense of excitement among the players around both letting the games begin and in going up the United States.
“I think it has been a good camp so far. We’re still working on some things that we are trying to focus on and to get on the same page and everybody up to the same level. But the mood is good and the guys are excited to start the tournament and everybody is definitely excited about that first game,” said Johnson.
Canadian target man Rob Friend explained that he sees the Canada-U.S.A. match as an opportunity for the Canadian National Team to earn the same type of respect that the American team has earned via their success on the International stage.
“Obviously, we are the underdogs going against the U.S. and we want the respect. Within the U.S. team I know that they respect the players that we have, but I don’t think a lot of U.S. fans respect the Canadian National Team. I actually know some of the players (on the U.S.A. squad) and I definitely know that they respect us. And we know that on paper they are not a lot better than us, but they’ve obviously earned the respect on the International level and that’s what we need to strive for as well,” said Friend.
In terms of what it will take to get a result against the United States, Hart believes that, while the team will prepare a game plan specific to the U.S., his side needs to primarily focus on playing to their strengths via the tactics and strategies the team has been working on over the last year and a half.
“We know how they like to play and what they like to do. But I think it’s more important that we play our game. When everything is dependent on what they do and you focus on that too much, you kind of lose perspective on what you need to do. So, yes, we are aware and we know where the danger comes from with them and hopefully we can take that away and take advantage of their mistakes,” said Hart.
As for Friend, the veteran forward believes that the keys for Canada will be to play a strong defensive game and to keep American stars like Landon Donovan off the scoreboard.
“Obviously, we need to be tight defensively. They have a lot of great offensive players. If we can keep it a low scoring game, I think we have a great chance,” finished Friend.
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