|
|
After Wednesday there will be only one more match before World Cup Qualifying, and despite this it was not only a challenge for Canada to arrange their friendly with Armenia but also get enough players released from their club teams to fill out the roster. It has been well reported the difficulties the CSA had in not only finding an opponent, now it was Stephen Hart getting permission for his internationals to travel for the midweek match during preseason training or in between league fixtures.
There is no question Canada's strongest eleven will not be on the pitch Wednesday at noon ET, however, a handful of the key players needed on form for qualifying have made it to Cyprus for the match. Armenia on the other hand are taking full advantage of the two days and will have thirty-one players in camp, as well as will have already faced Serbia in the 48hr window. Expectations will likely need to be tempered for this game as Armenia will be fielding much closer to their ideal starting eleven and have played significant opposition within the last six months. This will be a match where Stephen Hart will have to stick to his guns and get the most out of what he has available to him - which is enough of a core group to not make this match a mere exercise. It is a long shot at a result, but if focused Canada can leave Cyprus with positives heading into the summer
Atiba Hutchinson discusses his recovery, PSV, CMNT and WCQ
Keep thinking
With a small pool of players to draw from to begin with, arranging a friendly in late February will need to be a lesson learned for the future of the National Team. Having the majority of Canadians competing in three regions: North America (summer season), Europe (Scandinavia, summer season) and Europe (winter season) it makes it difficult to bring together the best players when half are in preseason training and the rest are either returning or just coming out of winter break.
Josh Simpson discusses his club situation, moving to Switzerland, and reconnecting with the CMNT
Stephen Hart did his best to bring in players from Europe, and even try to get Serbia up for a match, but in the end fell short and in terms of players had to call on the services of Julian De Guzman, who is competing in MLS, to make up numbers. For what was going to be a friendly for mostly European based players anyhow, the significant names missing are Lars Hirschfeld and Olivier Occean. Marcel De Jong is down with an injury, but the addition of any of these players would have given Hart a better chance to assess the state of the team
Samuel Piette on his surprise call-up, rooming with Kevin McKenna and the short CMNT camp
Despite the minimal numbers, there are still a core group of first team players who will be on the field Wednesday against Armenia. Simeon Jackson, Josh Simpson, Atiba Hutchinson and Kevin McKenna are all players that leave a significant gap if they are absent. All four players are in form for their domestic clubs and it is a small positive that they will get a game in together in preparation for qualifying come June.
Nana Attakora goes over his series of trials through January, comparing Europe to MLS
At first glance this fixture looks futile for Canada, as their opponent have had one of their better years of competition in recent memory. Armenia are far from a glamorous European footballing nation, however, they put up a valiant showing in Group B of the 2012 Euro qualifiers. The highest scoring team in the group, with three of the top four scorers, Armenia proved they are able to compete with some of the best teams on the continent.
Canada will have their work cut out for them and for this fixture to be of any value, Stephen Hart will need to put the low turnout behind him and focus on who is available and who he feels will be called upon this summer. Samuel Piette and Marcus Haber are encouraging stories heading into this camp, however, unless they impress so much as to become clear cut starters, Hart needs to ensure his key players needed in the summer are given the match forge a stronger cohesiveness.
Milan Borjan on his move to Romania and fitting in with the CMNT
There are enough players to put together a starting eleven that will carry over to the U.S. and Cuba match, specifically Mike Klukowski, Kevin McKenna, David Edgar, Julian De Guzman, Atiba Hutchinson, and Simeon Jackson. Every area of the pitch is represented and will be given a strong test by who Armenia has to offer - Robert Arzumanyan defending, Marcos Pizzelli in the midfield and the extremely potent attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Even though they will be facing a different regional style than CONCACAF, every area of the field will be put to work.
In the end
Canada has unfortunately been dealt a bad hand when it has come to what is truthfully a very important friendly. The last one for months leading into World Cup qualifying, Stephen Hart will need to find a way to make a pair of twos stretch as far as they can. He does not have Olivier Occean, Lars Hirschfeld, André Hainault, and is still waiting on Jonathan De Guzman's passport issues to resolve. However, he does have arguably Canada's best players in Atiba Hutchinson, Josh Simpson, Kevin McKenna and Simeon Jackson. The holes in the roster should not be an excuse as there is no time to waste, and getting these players in form, in the red and white is paramount. Armenia likely will be too strong on this day, but that has been thought before, as seen in the Ukraine. The right mentality and approach will at the very least finish the day with positives in hand, even if the result might be too much to ask for.
Prediction
Armenia 2 Canada 1
Stephen Hart goes over the short camp and what to expect out of the match with Armenia
|