If you were hungrily waiting to hear that the men's national team's friendly on Aug. 15 would be up against Spain at the sold-out Camp Nou, sorry, but you're probably pretty disappointed today. And pretty delusional.
But for those of us living in reality -- and who had a reasonable idea of who Canada's opponent was likely to be -- the news that Canada will face Trinidad & Tobago at a multi-purpose facility in Lauderhill, Florida is, all things considered, pretty decent. With a pair of make-or-break World Cup qualifiers against Panama coming up on Sept. 7 and 11, Canada needed to take advantage of the only FIFA window available.
"We can't play on a non-FIFA date," head coach Stephen Hart told reporters on Thursday. "This is the one time that we can get to play, so it was better to play the game than not to have any game at all. it is what it is."
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Hart referred to the 72-hour FIFA window as "probably the most hated date on the FIFA calendar," given its proximity to the training camps and pre-season schedules of so many teams and players. Canada, of course, must also deal with the fact that many members of its player pool compete in a league that doesn't even recognize FIFA dates.
"We've been trying to get a game, but the game had to fit what would be happening with all the clubs and everything else," Hart said. "We got this game and I think it's important for us to play."
Hart confirmed that the CSA was looking at four potential opponents for the friendly, but said that two of them (based in South America) would have required an amount of travel that simply wasn't acceptable given the time constraints. Though Hart didn't say it outright, those two teams were almost certainly Colombia and Bolivia.
All things considered, said Hart, Trinidad and Tobago was a "good fit".
"We're playing Panama (in September), which is a very athletic team and it's a similar sort of team (to Trinidad & Tobago)," said Hart.
"And the convenience of being able to play the game in Florida, which was easy travel for everybody. ... We sort of played with the idea of playing (in Trinidad & Tobago) but then, to get everyone in and out of (T&T), it didn't work. We have to respect the clubs, they wanted to get the players back as soon as possible. Florida worked out to be ideal."
Trinidad & Tobago, of course, hasn't played since they were eliminated from World Cup qualifying last autumn, so while Hart said he has a general idea of what their roster selection may look like, his opportunities for scouting have been limited.
As for Canada's roster selection, well, that could be just as cloudy. Hart will need to, as always, battle with clubs to get players -- a situation compounded by the fact that there's no break in the MLS schedule.
But the situation "probably allows some of the players that haven't played (for Canada recently), (to) give them an international game, see how they handle some of that pressure. ... I'm still trying to work out the roster in that respect. It will be a balanced squad with a few players that have been in the last sequence."
Two of those haven't-played-for-Canada-lately players are Patrice Bernier and Terry Dunfield, both of whom have shone for their respective clubs recently. Hart said Bernier is "definitely" under consideration for a call-up.
"I think he's done very well, he's playing a lot, he's playing with confidence, playing consistently. I've been very pleased with what I've seen from him."
Hart had similar praise for Dunfield, but noted that Toronto FC is scheduled to play on Aug. 15. "I still have to sit down with (TFC head coach) Paul (Mariner) and discuss what is possible, but Terry has done well."
Ultimately, it seems to be much of the usual for the Canadian men's national team -- attempting to make the most of less-than-ideal circumstances. But then, Canada will need to overcome plenty of less-than-ideal circumstances if it truly has designs on qualifying for the World Cup once again... so perhaps a friendly such as this is, indeed, the perfect fit.