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Fresh off an impressive 3-1 victory over Jamaica in their previous match, the Canadian Men’s National Team are dialing things up a notch in terms of the quality of their opponent in their next fixture.
With Canada set to face off against Colombia, a side ranked 3rd in the world, at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday October 14th, in many ways, the rebuilding national team squad are now set to face the biggest test of the Benito Floro era.
According to Head Coach Floro and Canadian National Team striker Tosaint Ricketts, it is a test that the Canadian squad is welcoming and ready for.
“It’s always great to play the best teams out there and I think it is a good test for us to show our growth and where we stand on the International stage,” Ricketts said via conference call on Monday. “I think it is a great test for the guys and we really just need to apply what we are being taught and our tactics and really just focus on our personal games. If we go out there and stick to what we know and what we have been taught, the rest will come out in the result.”
“We know perfectly well that Colombia is a very good team,” Floro said. “They play a modern style of game defensively and they know how to drop off (and when to attack). Their quality is very good, so they will obviously be a very good test for us to realize if we are improving our level compared to the last game.”
In a similar fashion to Canada’s last match and training camp, the Spanish Head Coach has called up a squad that is a healthy mix of both the veterans players who comprise a significant portion of the team’s ideal starting eleven and a number of the most highly regarding young players in the Canadian National Team player pool.
According to Ricketts, young up and comers such as Hanson Boakai, Cyle Larin, Luca Gasparotto and Dylan Carreiro won’t only gain from the possibility of playing against one of the top three national team sides in the world, they will also gain immensely from the opportunity to learn directly from Floro.
“They are very excited to be here, which they should be,” Ricketts explained. “It is a great opportunity for the young guys to get experience underneath a coach like Benito and also to grow and learn new things which they can apply to their club careers. For the young guys it is a great opportunity. I think they are really relishing it and learning and growing.”
In addition to his role as Canadian Men’s National Team Head Coach, Floro is also the head coach of the U23 Canadian National Team that will compete in the next round of Olympic qualifying. With that in mind, the Colombia match and the training sessions leading up to it have allowed him to concurrently prepare some of his young players for that tournament while at the same time implementing his ongoing development plan for the Senior Men’s National Team.
“We called a number of players from the Olympic national team player pool because we need to teach them the system of play that the first team plays,” Floro said. “If we need to play 3 or 4 of them in the game, we will able to put them on the pitch because they now know their attacking and defensive roles. But our main focus is on our first team lineup (for the Canadian Men’s National Team) in order to continue to develop our rhythm (as a team).
The last time that Canada played such a highly regarded national team, they were overpowered 5-0 by Argentina in Buenos Aires just prior to the 2010 World Cup. While the Canadian team is certainly keen to avoid another one-sided final score, both Ricketts and Floro were quick to state that Canada is primarily focused on its development, tactics and performance rather than focusing on playing ten men behind the ball at all times to try and contain a super high powered Colombian side.
“First and foremost, we are focused on ourselves and our personal goals as a team and we are looking forward to the future,” Ricketts stated. “That is always the main focus. But with Colombia I think it will be about our transition game going forward and coming back and switching between defense and attack that will be the most important thing (to be aware of). I think if we stick to our tactics and what we are being taught, we’ll be all right."
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