THE CANADIAN PRESS

Plagued by suspensions, injuries and controversy, Canada heads to Honduras on Thursday for a Saturday showdown that could signal the end of its latest World Cup soccer qualifying campaign.

Missing are suspended influential midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and defender Adrian Serioux. Midfield star Julian de Guzman is hurt, as are Daniel Imhof and Issey Nakajima-Farran. And veteran defender Jim Brennan is back at home, sniping at coach Dale Mitchell.

Blunt at the best of times, Mitchell fired back Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, intimating that Brennan was self-centred and surplus to requirements.

And the usually pithy coach delivered one of his longer, more eloquent statements since taking over as coach in the summer of 2007, saying he had felt under a negative spotlight since the day he accepted the job. Mitchell may have a point there, given he was widely seen not to have been the first choice of the then-president of the Canadian Soccer Association.

"In terms of the qualifying campaign, I think the negativity started after the first game against Jamaica (a 1-1 tie), which I was trying to convince people was a good performance, not maybe the three points that we wanted obviously but certainly something to build on. But other people saw it differently," Mitchell said from Sunrise, Fla., where the Canadians are training.

"It doesn't help but it's part of the game at this level. I think once you're involved in coaching at this level, really there's two things -- there's winning and peace and quiet, or there's losing and criticism. That's what I'm in right now and we're doing the best we possibly can to get the results in a very difficult (qualifying) group."

Any perceived platform from the Jamaica tie, however, was subsequently lost in defeats to Honduras and Mexico.

Mitchell also suggested that some of the critics do not understand the sport at the highest level.

"I think there's enough scrutiny. I don't know if there's the experience, if that's the right word, within the people that are doing the scrutiny to know what it really is that we're dealing with here," he said. "That is the frustrating part. Without the background or really the knowledge to cover international soccer at this level -- I think that that's part of the problem that we're facing, but you know we're a country that's growing in every way in terms of the game and trying to grow it at the professional level, we're trying to grow it at the international level. But we don't have what other countries have -- we don't have the game played in Canada, at a high enough level, on a regular basis, for people to really know what to expect of our national team. I think that is part of the issue we're dealing with here."

The CSA does not expect a single Canadian-based journalist to be at the Honduras game. In contrast, it has received more than 50 to 60 credential requests from Mexican media for next week's game in Edmonton.

"I'm not trying to get away from any of the criticism out there," Mitchell added, "because as I just mentioned I think it goes with the territory."

Brennan added to that when he announced his retirement from the national team -- at least as long as Mitchell is in charge. The 31-year-old defender has won 49 caps for Canada and, as captain of Toronto FC, is one of the most recognizable faces of the sport in Canada.

"I wasn't getting on with a few of the people on the staff," Brennan told Rogers Sportsnet on Tuesday. "I don't see eye to eye with them. Obviously there's a couple that I do -- with (assistant coaches) Stephen Hart and Nick Dasovic, I get on well, 100 per cent with them and I respect what they're trying to do with Canada. But for the most part, there's a lot of people not happy with the national team, and that's including players that are playing there now, and I'm sure you'll hear a lot more from other players when this campaign's over."

Brennan is just the latest casualty along the Canadian qualifying road. Veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad, unhappy with some outside criticism directed his way after conceding a sloppy goal in the opening 1-1 tie with Jamaica, has also retreated from the national team, according to Mitchell.

Controversies aside, Canada (0-2-1) will fall by the CONCACAF wayside if it loses in Honduras (2-1-0). Canada is currently third in Group 2 with one point, trailing Honduras by five points and Mexico (3-0-0) by eight. A Honduras win and Canada will be eight points in arrears with only six left on the table with two matches remaining.

A draw and Canada mathematically would still have a chance. But still realistically no hope.

The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. The top three teams in the final qualifying group advance to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa while the fourth-place team will play the fifth-place side in South America to see who joins them.

.The outlook is bleak. But Mitchell is not ready to concede anything yet. His eye is on Honduras.

"If we get three points there then I think things start to look quite a bit different," he said. "And that would certainly give us some momentum and some confidence which would help us a lot on Wednesday evening in Edmonton."

Canada has not made the finals since 1986 when it failed to win a game or score a goal.

Brennan was not on the Canadian roster announced last Friday for the games against Honduras in San Pedro Sula on Saturday (Rogers Sportsnet, check local listings) and Mexico in Edmonton on Wednesday. Mitchell has explained away the absence by saying he had plenty of left-sided talent in the squad and didn't want to keep players like Brennan from their club sides if they weren't going to see much action for the national team.

Mitchell was more definitive Wednesday when asked if he would ever summon Brennan again.

"No," he said.

Mitchell said Brennan had turned down the call-ups in the last 18 months "but when he doesn't get a call-up then we get a big song and dance about it."

"I don't know. I think with certain players in this day and age, they expect to have things their own way," he added.

Brennan did not offer specifics although he said a lot of players were "disappointed in the way things are going and are handled at the moment, tactical decisions."

He also was unhappy that no one had called him to say why he hadn't been called up.

"In fact, I found out through another player that I wasn't involved, so we all kind of had a little chuckle at that and thought, `how can that happen' sort of thing, where senior players aren't even getting notified and they don't even have the decency to pick up the phone and call you?

Said Mitchell: "I'd had several conversations with Jimmy about the situation here but I just didn't feel that we were ever getting anywhere in terms of his situation with us, at least while I'm here."

Asked if he would play for a new Canadian coach, Brennan said: "For sure, 110 per cent, I'd come back and play with Canada in a heartbeat."

Asked about the timing of Brennan's comments, Mitchell would only say: "I don't think the timing of it (Brennan's comment) helps us, but that's Jimmy's decision. That's his call."

Canada dropped three spots in the world FIFA rankings to No. 84 Wednesday, although it managed to rise to fifth among countries in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

NOTES -- Midfielder Nikolas Ledgerwood has been called up to replace de Guzman ... Lars Hirschfeld will start in the Canadian goal on Saturday.