With the Canadian Men’s National Team having completed their initial round of World Cup qualifying with a statement victory over St. Kitts and Nevis at BMO Field in Toronto on Tuesday night, the Canadian Soccer Association has released the dates for the six matches that Canada will play in the next round of qualifying. A quick look at the home and away dates against Canada’s three opponents suggest that the Canadian team has once again come out a little bit lucky in terms of the fixture schedule that has been mandated by FIFA.
First of all, while some lamented the fact that Canada even had to play an additional round of World Cup qualifying matches against three lowly ranked teams over the past three months, it appears that it was probably just what the squad needed in terms of additional fixtures playing together as a team and in lessons learned. Despite the fact that Canada scored 18 goals and conceded only a single goal in the opening round, the team has learned that there are no easy opponents and they will need to bring their “A” game and total focus and dedication to every match they play. In a sense, the team has been both humbled and played well enough to feel confident that they can defeat their next group of opponents.
When the World Cup Qualifying draw was announced last July, it was generally conceded that Canada had been lucky in terms of the teams they were to be drawn against in the third round of World Cup Qualification. After all, Cuba had struggled mightily at the most recent Gold Cup, losing their Group Stage matches 5-0, 5-0 and 6-1. Honduras qualified for World Cup 2010 but now appear to be in something of a rebuilding stage. And Panama, while looking like a CONCACAF team on the rise in recent years, is not Mexico and is certainly a team that Canada can beat if they deliver a strong performance and play to their full potential.
Remember, the top two teams in this round will move on to the final round of World Cup qualifying for the CONCACAF region. So, if you assume that Fidel’s boys will be the doormat of the group, then realistically Canada only has to beat out one of Honduras or Panama to earn a spot in the “Hex”. And once there, the saying goes that anything can happen. (And in CONCACAF, it probably will.)
Now looking at the announced schedule for the next round, Canada will start on the road on June 8th, but it will be against Cuba and, thus, the game will be at a location that will be easy and affordable to get to for a large number of Canadian supporters. It’s probably a stretch to say that Canada will have home field advantage, but it should be a far cry from the acidic and unrelenting atmospheres that are common when playing away in other CONCACAF countries.
Furthermore, for a team that was up and down in terms of their focus and intensity against St. Lucia, Puerto Rico and St. Kitts, starting the next round on the road will be a good way to make Canada focused and disciplined as they attempt to get off on the right foot. And in terms of continuity from the previous round, both the atmosphere and level of competition in Cuba should not be all that different than what the Canadians faced in the previous round against the so-called minnow teams. Furthermore, with many pundits still questioning Canada’s ability to compete after some lacklustre performances in September, October and November, the team should be pumped up to deliver a message against Cuba similar to the one they did in their final opening round match against St. Kitts.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed, but away fixture in Cuba presents Canada with a better than average chance to kick things off with a positive result. And if Junior Hoillet could even have a particular penchant for Mojitos and black beans and rice, that would be all the better.
Canada will then play two matches at home, welcoming Honduras on June 12th and Panama on September 7th. The home team should have some confidence playing the Hondurans on Canadian soil considering that they defeated them 2-1 in Montreal in 2010. And while Canada’s most recent performance against Panama was a heartbreaking draw that eliminated the Canadians from the Knockout Stage at the most recent Gold Cup, it wasn’t exactly a blowout and Canada is capable of better form than they showed in that fixture and they will have the home crowd behind them.
Or at least, that is how it is supposed to go when playing at home in International competition. With Canada staring down a decent chance to open Round 3 Group C with three wins in their first three matches, it will be imperative that Canada has the 12th man behind them in their crucial home fixtures against Honduras and Panama. And while the Canadian squad has established BMO Field as their main base of operations over the last couple of years, Stephen Hart and the Canadian brain trust are likely now focused on figuring out which Canadian cities will provide Canada with the best chance at a truly Pro-Canadian crowd. In many ways, the decision that is made in this regard could be the main determinant as to whether or not Canada will earn a chance to compete in the final round of World Cup qualifying.
Canada’s fourth match will be away in Panama and a draw would a very good result for difficult game played in Central America. Following that fixture, Canada will then head back home for what most people would pencil in as three points on home soil against Cuba. And like previously mentioned above, the team’s disappointing draw at home in October against Puerto Rico should have the Canadian team fully focused on preventing a repeat of that let down.
The Canucks final match would be away in Honduras, which will be the most difficult game that Canada will play in their second set of qualifying matches. However, the beauty of the announced schedule is such that if Canada can play to their full potential, win their home matches and possibly even squeak out a result in Panama, they will likely already be through to next round before they play in front of the most imposing away crowd they will face in 2012.
Once again good fortune has fallen upon Canada in terms of their fixture schedule. The announced dates provide the Canadian team with a very good chance to get off to a good start and to build momentum as the round progresses.
To start things off with an away match in Honduras would have been very unlucky. Instead, the Soccer Gods appear to have smiled upon Canada once again. That said, the Canadian team will need to be focused right off the bat on taking advantage of the small blessings they have been given, because if they do deliver a stinker or slip along the way, that final match in Honduras could become a nightmare scenario in which their World Cup dream would hinge upon winning in one of the toughest countries in which to earn results in the entire CONCACAF region.
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