Canada has already clinched first place to secure advancement to CONCACAF Round 3, with the next round matches to be played in 2012 against Honduras, Cuba and Panama. So while the result won’t affect Canada’s placement in the standings, coach Hart promises his team will be ready to put on a show for the home crowd.
“The match means a lot to us,” said Hart. “We owe it to the fans to put on a good performance.”
Canada’s last home match of the 2011 season is Tuesday 15 November at BMO Field in Toronto. Tickets to the match are available via Ticketmaster via ticketmaster.ca / 1-855.985.5000.
Coach Hart said he will not only pick his starting XI with an eye towards the future (“I would like to give some players an opportunity to say, ’you should pick me in 2012’”), but with an eye firmly planted on goal. Despite conceding only one goal in five matches and producing the second-longest shutout streak in Association history, coach Hart knows the fans want to see goals on Tuesday night.
“The fans deserve a good result,” said fullback Nik Ledgerwood. “We are going to come out and hopefully give the fans something (from which) they can go home and be happy.”
Canada has scored six goals in three home matches this year, but missed the target at home against Puerto Rico on 11 October. With the 2011 qualification business out of the way, Hart believes his team is relaxed and ready for Tuesday night.
“The mentality will be different (now that we have qualified) and the fans will see that,” promised Hart.
Full pre and post-match coverage of the Canada match will be provided via migmultidev-canada-soccer.pantheonsite.io and CanadaSoccerTV. Along with the Rogers Sportsnet One broadcast, there will also be a live in-match stream via Twitter @CanadaSoccerEN. Finally, Canada Soccer’s national team coverage includes Facebook.com/CanadaSoccer and flickr.com/CanadaSoccer.
\u200b