The Canadian Men’s National Team kicks off their arduous journey to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil Friday night as they take on CONCACAF minnows St. Lucia. The mantra all week has been not looking past any team and Stephen Hart’s initial selection for the squad reflects that, as nearly man for man he has called up what many would call the best senior players available. In St. Lucia, Canada are taking on the 187th FIFA ranked team in the world, and a side that are composed of mostly domestic players with a few based out of Trinidad and Tobago. Without a doubt, the Canucks are heavy favourites and that is without taking a home match into consideration. There is really no reason to think that Canada cannot leave this match with their arm raised, and in St. Lucia have an opponent that they can start their qualifying out with a good performance.

Keep thinking
With a new qualifying format for CONCACAF now underway, Canada no longer progresses via a simple home and away and now must qualify for Round 3 via a group stage. The top six nations in CONCACAF receive a bye into that round, while countries on the periphery such as Panama, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago must get started almost a year earlier than previous campaigns.

Drawn into Group D, Canada starts this stage against 187th ranked St. Lucia Friday night, followed by an away fixture on September 6th against 144th ranked Puerto Rico. Their final opponent they will not face until November, and that is 118th ranked nation Saint Kitts and Nevis.

One of the main talking points heading into this opening match was that Stephen Hart is taking no chances and essentially called up the exact same squad as he had in this summer’s Gold Cup. There were a few last minute injuries coming into this game, notably the red-hot striker Olivier Occean and Augsburg mainstay Marcel De Jong, but the current depth and replacements are comparable and should not effect the overall outcome at this point.

St. Lucia presents a golden opportunity for Canada to remedy what was rightly perceived as the glaring issue in the squad during the Gold Cup, and that was lack of finishing and overall scoring chances. While a potential world class striker in David Hoilett continues to ponder his international future, the remaining Canadians have a chance to find their touch. Attackers such as Josh Simpson, Simeon Jackson and Dwayne De Rosario truly can become offensive forces at this stage of qualifying and this opening game is the time for them to get into a rhythm wearing red and white.

One of the biggest questions heading into this fixture is determining what exactly St. Lucia brings to the table. A ranking of 187 in FIFA does not exactly make the earth tremble, nor does a side with only three players competing outside of their domestic league. St. Lucia’s record of late consists of only two wins over a span of almost seven years. However, perhaps their biggest win came in July when they came back from a 4-2 opening leg loss, to win 4-2 and advance to Round Two via penalties. U23 attacker Jamal Joseph lead the way with a hat-trick, and this come from behind victory should give warning that while St. Lucia appear to lack quality, they do possess determination when the odds are against them..

Stills from St. Lucia's 4-2 comeback over Aruba:


While attacking and support through the midfield was an issue in the Gold Cup, one area Canada should feel more confident in, especially in Round Two, is defending. Kevin McKenna has emerged over the last three years as a capable replacement to Jason De Vos as the stalwart in defence, and the only area that desperately needs shoring up is right back now that Nik Ledgerwood is out due to injury. Andre Hainault and McKenna formed a competent partnership in the Gold Cup and Hainault’s flexibility at the back for his club side gives Canada the option to push him out wide and possibly bring David Edgar into the picture.

This might be one of the few games Canada will play at BMO Field where home field advantage is clearly in their favour.  A perfect night, thousands on hand at the Canadian National Exhibition, added with the growing hype around qualifying should result in a better crowd than most recently against Ecuador and last year at this time against Peru.

As was noted at the beginning, Stephen Hart has done the right thing in calling up the best available players, despite the perceived level of competition. Now is not the time to take anything for granted and aside from the roster, this needs to be shown through the on-field display. In the Gold Cup Canada appeared almost too patient against teams such as Guadeloupe and Panama, and it did them no favours in the end.

The words coming from Hart and the players should indicate that it will be all business from the start, and they will need to make an impact from the opening whistle. Canada needs to exert their dominance from the very beginning and use that to lead them through a clinical display for ninety minutes. The first half will be the indicator of where this round will go and if everything lines up as it is looking right now, should be a good start.

In the end
Canada starts the Second Round of World Cup Qualifying against the perfect team to ease into the new campaign. St. Lucia do not present a formidable side, despite all the warnings of overconfidence that should be made note of, there is little evidence to point to an upset. The away fixture will be one that presents more challenges but at home, at BMO Field, Canada has a huge advantage not just being at home, but overall quality. Players such as Josh Simpson, Dwayne De Rosario and Simeon Jackson should be able to put on a convincing display that will give them momentum heading into a tougher match against Puerto Rico. At the end of the night, everyone should go home happy and Canada start their World Cup Qualifying on the right foot.

Prediction
Canada 4 – St. Lucia 0