Canada had its full squad together today in Montréal at the Parc Gabrielle-Lalemand. Coach Dale Mitchell and his staff put the players through a two-hour training session, most notably a red versus yellow inter-squad exhibition. Canada is currently preparing for this Saturday’s FIFA World Cup\u0099 Qualifiers match against Honduras at Stade Saputo.
“The only thing we have in our minds is a win,” says Julian de Guzman. “We’re not going to this game in a panic mode. No one should panic at the moment. We have a whole week to prepare for this.”
Canada is playing six matches against three teams in Stage III of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa\u0099 Qualifiers. Three of those matches are in Canada: 20 August against Jamaica in Toronto (a 1:1 draw), 6 September against Honduras in Montréal (admission.com or 514.790.1245) and 15 October against Mexico in Edmonton (Ticketmaster.ca / 780.451.8000).
“It’s important to have a good performance, but what counts right now is the result,” says de Guzman. “We are facing a tougher team than Jamaica. They are very strong in the midfield and the attacking parts. Our main job going into this game is to play very solid and compact in the middle.”
The 6 September match will also be televised live on Sportsnet. For those viewers with all four Sportsnet channels, the match will be found live on Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet East (20.00 ET / 18.00 MT / 17.00 PT) and delayed on Sportsnet West (21.00 MT) and Sportsnet Pacific (23.00 PT).