Canada travel to Panama City to take on a side that helped eliminate them from World Cup qualifying back in 2012. The Canadian Men’s National Team failed to make it out of their group in the semifinal round and did not qualify for ‘The Hex’. A big reason why they have consistently fallen short in Wiorld Cup qualifying is their performances in Central America, a problem new head coach, Benito Floro hopes to solve.
“We are going to play away in their stadium against another good team but it’s good for us because we need to test our level in these situations,”
The two sides also met in last year’s Gold Cup, where they played to a 0-0 draw. Interim head coach, Colin Miller, was in charge of the side then, and Canada exited the tournament without a single goal scored. Panama on the other hand, went all the way to the Final, where they lost 1-0 to the United States.
Tuesday evening’s contest will be an important one for Floro in terms of evaluating just how much progress the team has made since he took over the helm. The former Real Madrid tactician has done his best to change Canada’s identity since taking the job, and based on recent results it already seems to be working.
Canada snapped a long winless streak that lasted almost 2 years when they defeated Jamaica 3-1 at BMO Field in Septemeber, and nearly shocked the world when they played Colombia last month in New York. Although a fantastic James Rodriguez would eventually win it for the 3rd ranked country on the planet, Canada showed a lot of heart and grit, something rarely seen in the past.
Panama is still looking to rebound from a heartbreaking loss to the United States last October, that saw their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup disappear. The country was minutes away from punching a ticket to Brazil, when Two stoppage time goals were enough to kill the dream. However, a trip to the Gold Cup Final and being minutes away from a World Cup berth, should have fans in Panama excited for the future.
Despite it being an international friendly, expect these two rivals to give it their all when they meet on Tuesday night. Players on both sides will look to cement their spots on the team, and begin preparations for another World Cup qualifying cycle. Floro knows his team will need to improve on the road in the extreme conditions that are often fostered in Central American countries, if they are to have any chance of being in Russia come 2018.
ROSTERS
Canada
GOALKEEPERS: Lars Hirschfeld (Valerenga/Norway); Milan Borjan (Ludugorets Razgrad/Bulgaria); Kenny Stamatopoulos (AIK Stockholm/Sweden)
DEFENDERS: Nik Ledgerwood (Energie Cottbus/Germany); David Edgar (Birmingham City/England); Doneil Henry (Toronto FC); Adam Straith (unattached); Karl W. Ouimette (Montreal Impact); Daniel Stanese (FC Augsburg II); Nana Attakora (DC United); Maxim Tissot (Montreal Impact); Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Julian de Guzman (unattached); Issey Nakajima-Farran (Montreal Impact); Bryce Alderson (Vancouver Whitecaps); Kyle Bekker (Toronto FC); Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact); Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas/Turkey); Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC); Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps)
FORWARDS: Tosaint Ricketts (Hapoel Haifa/Israel); Marcus Haber (Crewe Alexandra/England), Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)
Panama
GOALKEEPERS: Óscar McFarlane (Pérez Zeledón/Costa Rica); José Calderón (Coatepeque/Guatemala)
DEFENDERS: Román Torres (Millonarios/Colombia); Luis Henríquez (Lech Poznan/Poland); Harold Cummings (Juan Aurich/Peru); Carlos Rodríguez (Fortaleza/Colombia); Leonel Parris (Uniautónoma/Colombia); Adolfo Machado (Saprissa/Costa Rica); Roderick Miller (Merida/Mexico)
MIDFIELDERS: Gabriel Gómez (Herediano/Costa Rica); Armando Cooper (Godoy Cruz/Argentina); Alberto Quintero (Zacatecas/Mexico); Aníbal Godoy (Honvéd/Hungary); Rolando Escobar (Deportivo Anzoátegui/Venezuela); Francisco Narbón (James Madison University)
FORWARDS: Luis Tejada (Universidad César Vallejo/Peru); Gabriel Torres (Colorado Rapids); Nicolás Muñoz (Isidro Metapán/El Salvador); Roberto Nurse (UAT/Mexico)
Tuesday, November 18, 8 P.M./ET
Estadio Rommel Fernandez – Panama City
TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet World