It would be an interesting social experiment to gather a group of people - some soccer fans, others not - and ask them to predict the score of the upcoming friendly between the Canadian men's national team and Brazil. A quick, unscientific hypothesis of my own would probably put the range somewhere between 6-nil in favour of Brazil and a 2-2 draw; which is interesting because it reveals that we will either be completely outclassed or competitive against the five-time World Cup champions.
When the story broke that Canada would host the soccer superpower, much debate was heard over the decision to: a) schedule the game on the same day the only Canadian MLS franchise is playing the celeb-laden Los Angeles Galaxy in Toronto, thus creating a media exposure tug-of-war; and b) play Brazil.
I believe the original plan was for Brazil to play the United States, but a scheduling conflict prompted an invite to Canada, which the CSA gladly accepted. And why not? The opportunity to play Brazil in any capacity, regardless of the soccer glitz going on elsewhere, should be paramount for a national team looking ahead to qualification in the fall.
Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell, the man burdened with squad selection, agrees.
"Whenever you are presented with the opportunity to play the most famous national team of all, I don't think that you can pass it up," Mitchell said. "Our players will be able to measure themselves against some of the world's best. This game will help us to prepare for the qualifying matches upcoming."
With the recent news that David Beckham will likely miss the game in Toronto, the only leg left on which the scheduling argument stands surrounds what kind of roster hit Toronto FC will absorb. TFC coach John Carver, who has mountains of club-over-country experience because of his time in England, has already said that he and Mitchell are on the same page over call-ups. However, Mo Johnston, who watched his team lose goalkeeper Greg Sutton to injury while on international duty last year, might have something to say on who stays and who goes. The Sutton injury, now only a footnote on the inaugural season, had a profound effect on TFC, who went through reserve 'keepers like water in his absence. Realistically, TFC might not lose anyone to call-up; the last time Canada played internationally against Estonia (0:2), no TFC players were involved. In fact, the only MLS player involved was Dwayne De Rosario.
But you have to believe pressure at the player level will exist as lining up across from a team with the pedigree of Brazil would be a feather in the cap (excuse the pun) of any player.
Judging from Friday's roster list from Dunga, the Brazilian coach not-so-burdened with squad selection, the invite was not just a cordial greeting.
The 25-man Brazilian roster includes midfielders Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Elano (Manchester City) and Anderson (Manchester United), as well as forwards Alexandre Pato (AC Milan) and Adriano (Sao Paulo).
My guess is Canada will respond with names like Mike Klukowski, Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario, Atiba Hutchinson, Ali Gerba, Rob Friend and Tomasz Radzinski.
Something prompts me to like the chances of being competitive over outclassed.
One last point to consider, before you try out the aforementioned social experiment, is the last time Canada played Brazil in a senior international friendly they drew 1-1. Brazil went on to win the World Cup. They played Brazil in earnest at the Confederation Cup and drew 0-0 in 2001. Brazil went on to win the World Cup, again.
Good news for both sides, no?
