Andre Hainault traveled a long way to suit up for Canada against Belarus.
Despite the lavish surroundings and the relaxed environment in Turkey, after a week of training, the players are anxious to play some football.
The sessions have been focused and sharp, nobody here is injured, and the Canadian players are ready to test themselves against Belarus. There was one roster change that slipped in after the original 18 were announced. Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault picked up a leg injury and was replaced by Issey Nakajima-Farran. He joined the camp late last week. The final player to arrive was Houston defender Andre Hainault. (He's officially Andre by the way and not Andrew.)
At any rate, after his team's game in Seattle on Friday, Hainault jumped on a plane to New York. He then flew from New York to Istanbul, and finally Istanbul to Antalya, arriving here Sunday evening. Think about that. A trans-continental flight, a trans-Atlantic flight and one more for good measure -- all for a single training session and a match. Then two flights to get back to New York the next day where he'll stay for this weekend's game against the New York Red Bull. The mind boggles. Those of you who travel a lot know what I mean. Of course somewhere along the way his luggage disappeared. How's that for dedication?
This is a good bunch down to the last man. Monday was Simeon Jackson's 24th birthday. There were the usual shenanigans of course, (see my short video,) but it was also followed by heartfelt best wishes from his mates. Best wishes of all would come in the form of a win against Belarus. Hopefully a win would improve Canada's Concacaf ranking so Canada could get a better World Cup qualifying draw. Then again, this is Concacaf and so that's a story for another day.
Live commentary right here Tuesday. Kick off at 10 am ET. I'll post Canada's starting 11 in the morning as soon as I get it. Full post-game report with highlights on Soccercentral this Saturday as well.
