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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
August 13, 2012 |
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Email Steve Bottjer
Twitter @BottjerRNO
Video interviews by Gavin Day |
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The Canadian Men’s National Team faces off against Trinidad and Tobago at a neutral site in Lauderhill, Florida on Tuesday in their only friendly between their June and September World Cup qualifying matches. With only a 72-hour FIFA international window and given the fact the majority of the European clubs are just approaching the kickoffs of their new campaigns, head coach Stephen Hart has had to pull together a roster primarily composed of MLS players, Scandinavia-based Internationals and a few new faces to the senior national team setup.
Canada and Trinidad & Tobago currently sit at 79th and 80th respectively in the latest FIFA rankings and the two sides have not played each other since 2000, when they played each other five times, with each team earning two wins and a draw.
Julian de Guzman discusses his recent trade to FC Dallas and Canada's upcoming friendly against Trinidad and Tobago
Keep Thinking
In terms of preparing Canada for Panama – their opponent in back to back home and away World Cup qualifying fixtures in September – Trinidad and Tobago presents a decent CONCACAF opponent. Hart believes that T&T play a similar style to Panama and should present a good test for a Canadian team defense that earned three clean sheets in June against Cuba, Honduras and the United States. Furthermore, the weather in which the match will be played in Florida should be something akin to what the Canadian team will have to contend with down in Panama on September 11th.
Patrice Bernier discusses his return to the Canadian Men's National Team
With core players such as Atiba Hutchinson, Kevin McKenna, Dwayne De Rosario, David Edgar, Simeon Jackson and Olivier Occean unavailable for this fixture, Hart has classified this match as an opportunity to play some of his squad regulars who have not played in recent matches and to give some other new faces and recently recalled players an opportunity to prove that they deserve to be selected for Canada’s upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.
It would not be a surprise to see keepers Lars Hirschfeld and Milan Borjan both play forty-five minutes in this game in order to give both a final tuneup before the September and October fixtures.
Terry Dunfield discusses his passion for representing Canada and his return to the Canadian Men's National Team
With Edgar and McKenna unavailable for this game, expect to see Dejan Jakovic and Andre Hainault play ample minutes in central defense and either Ante Jazic or Marcel de Jong starting at left back. De Jong will be an interesting player to watch in this game in that he is versatile and is returning to the fold for the first time since June 2011 after missing out on number of matches as a result of various injuries. His return allows Hart the option to play the Bundesliga player at left fullback (which would allow Hart to test drive Jazic at right back), left wing or as a central midfielder. At right back, Hart has a multitude of options at his disposal, even if none of them are natural right fullbacks. In addition to Jazic, Nik Ledgerwood, Doneil Henry and Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault could see time at right back, as Hart aims to solidy his depth chart at the position behind the incumbent, David Edgar.
Canadian National Team Head Coach Stephen Hart discusses Canada's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago
From the midfield standpoint, this match will be interesting as there looks to be a real battle for selection and minutes in Canada’s four remaining World Cup qualifiers. When he is fit, Atiba Hutchinson is a de facto starter at attacking midfielder and arguably Canada’s best two way player. Behind him, Julian de Guzman, Will Johnson and Nik Ledgerwood all delivered strong, cohesive and assured performances against Cuba and Honduras, while Patrice Bernier and Terry Dunfield have fought their way back onto the squad via inspired and consistently strong performances at the club level with the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC respectively. Pedro Pacheco is another versatile player who will be looking to impress Hart in this game.
At the wide forward positions, expect to see the currently without a club Tosaint Ricketts continuing to to familiarize himself with the right wing position in Hart’s preferred formation. On the left side, De Jong could see some time in place of Dwayne De Rosario, with Evan James and another young natural left footer, Russell Teibert also getting a chance to impress Hart.
Russell Teibert of the Vancouver Whitecaps discusses his first call-up with the Canadian Men's National Team
Canada’s options at centre forward are somewhat limited in this match, with Ricketts possibly seeing some minutes in a more central attacking role. Ultimately, youngster Lucas Cavallini could find himself with the greatest opportunity among the newcomers to play and impress Hart towards a possible selection for Canada’s next set of matches.
Hart was Tony Fonseca’s assistant coach at the most recent Olympic qualifying tournament in which Canada impressed and pulled off an upset 2-0 win over the United States, with Cavallini scoring Canada’s second goal. As one of Canada’s most impressive performers in that tournament, Cavallini has an opportunity with a good showing against Trinidad and Tobago to plant a seed with Hart that he could be a possible solution to the senior national team’s struggles to put the ball into the back of the opposition net.
Lucas Cavallini discusses recent loan move in Uruguay and his first call-up with the Canadian Men's National Team
In the end
In the grand scheme of things, a result in this match is mostly meaningless. The two games that really matter are less than a month away. That said, confidence is a major variable in football and a win and another clean sheet would allow the Canadian team to go into what are essentially two make or break fixtures against Panama in a positive frame of mind and on a four game undefeated streak. While some players who likely won’t figure in the September and October World Cup qualifying matches will get a run out in this one, don’t expect Hart to deviate too far from the tactical game plan that currently has Canada sitting in second place in their qualifying group.
Prediction
Canada 2 – Trinidad & Tobago 0
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