Gerry Dobson

It's an interesting set of circumstances here at the National Team training camp in Sunrise Florida.

This is a team mostly made up of North American based players. Once upon a time that idea would have been a non-starter as there simply weren't enough warm bodies to pull it off. Now that isn't a problem. Well, not as big a problem.

There was a time when goalkeeping was a strength in this country. (It continues to make me want to puke whenever I see one-time Canadian and now Bosnian Asmir Begovic in an EPL match.) Head coach Stephen Hart was hoping to test a couple of youngsters here, but for a variety of reasons only Brampton, Ontario's David Monsalve was still in camp at the Monday afternoon training session.

So there was the long retired Paul Dolan tending one goal until the ageless Pat Onstad was to arrive later in the evening. I wonder about motivation here as well. There's nothing much to play for until the Gold Cup in 2011. You would hope the MLS players would use this camp as a way to kick start their club camps which are due to get underway next week. But I get a feeling the players have a sense of foreboding about the status of the negotiations and so perhaps it's hard to get into the right frame of mind.

I saw a few ice packs as well, with plenty of tight muscles and general soreness all around. And they've been here a week already.

Don't get me wrong. The players look lively on the pitch and the sessions are spirited. Even so, Hart has a big job keeping everyone interested.

But watch them put their hands up when he asks for volunteers to play Argentina. There's the key. High profile friendlies. Easier said than done however. The FIFA calendar doesn't leave much room.

Elsewhere, as I tweeted earlier yesterday, or is it tweetered, or twittered or twitted? I don't know the difference. Portuguese veteran defender Jorge Andrade might show up in camp with TFC next week. More likely he would hook up with the team when they get to Florida Feb. 8. Who knows what he's got left, as he's only 31 but with a lot of tough miles on a pair of wonky knees.

I also had a good chat with Will Johnson. He's looking forward to another season with MLS Cup winners Real Salt Lake. He figures the key to that team's success was not so much individual talent as it was teamwork. He says they all got along well, meshed together and worked their butts off for each other. Sounds exactly like what TFC needs this year if we believe the message coming out of the locker room at the end of the 2009 season.

Watch for TFC and National team stories from this camp on Soccercentral Thursday and Saturday.