Canadian men aim for rebound in Nations League
Soccer squad needs wins over Cuba to regain momentum lost against Haiti
TORONTO Canada’s men’s soccer team will be looking to get back on track in its quest to get to the “Hex.”
The team faces Cuba on Saturday at BMO Field (8 p.m. ET) in its opening CONCACAF Nations League match, not only moving forward in its qualifying quest but also trying to shake off the disappointment of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June, when Canada surrendered a two-goal lead in a 3-2 quarter-final loss to Haiti.
“The fact we had to deal with the adversity when things were going well brings us together,” midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye said. “That game was eye-opening as we know there are things we have to work on and get stronger at.”
Canada, ranked eighth in CONCACAF (78th in the FIFA world rankings), needs to move up two spots in the confederation between now and June 2020 to get into the six-nation round-robin that will determine the first three qualifying spots for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The remaining 29 teams in CONCACAF will play a qualifying tournament in which only the winner of the knockout round will remain on a path to a qualifying spot.
Canada will also be looking for a spot in the 2021 Gold Cup, which goes to the top two teams in the group. Should Canada beat Cuba on Saturday and again in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday, they should be assured of a spot. The teams will face the United States to complete Group A play later in the fall. The Gold Cup loss represented a bit of a setback for a team that brought in coach John Herdman in early 2018 to try to stabilize the program, as he did with the Canadian women’s team. And while the men’s team has had a decent run, it now realizes what it needs to do to take the next step.
“We’ve got one eye here, which is the Cuba match, and one eye on the future,” Herdman said. “We’ve got to be better every camp.
“We’ve got tough matches (against the U.S.) in four weeks’ time. We don’t want to look beyond this but we are going to be working on things that we hope will help us.”
Kaye, who plays for MLS-leading Los Angeles FC, said: “We have to understand how to manage games better. We’re a talented group but now we realize we have to work a lot harder and be more clear about what we’re trying to do.”
The highlight of the Gold Cup for Canada was a 7-0 win over Cuba. Kaye cautions Saturday’s game will provide a different test.
“They’re going to try to come back with redemption,” he said. “We just have to make sure we execute our tactical identity and control what we can.
“It’s going to be a different game but our guys are ready for it.”
Herdman said: “We’re going to be looking at a team that will be tight and look to get us on the counter-attacks. We’ve got to get back to the mindset of not letting them get opportunities.”