Canada plays Ghana on Tuesday night in an international friendly from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The game against the Black Stars is the Reds’ final tune-up before playing a pair of World Cup qualifying matches in November.
Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s contest.
Hoilett set for his debut
After years of being coy about his international future and turning down invites to play for Canada, Junior Hoilett is expected to make his debut for the Reds against Ghana.
Hoilett, a 25-year-old native of Brampton, Ont., who plays his club soccer for Queens Park Rangers in England’s second tier, recently accepted a call-up by Canada for this game.
Hoilett was eligible to play for Jamaica through his father. England was also a possibility by virtue of his time spent there. Hoilett claims that despite appearances, it was actually an “easy” decision to play for Canada.
“I’m Canadian and I wanted to help the national team move forward,” Hoilett told Sportsnet. “I spoke to [Canadian coach Benito] Floro and you can tell he’s ambitious. I’m happy with my decision.”
He later added: “I always had Canada in mind, to play for them. It was an easy decision.”
Aird to suit up Canada
Would he play for Canada or Scotland? For the longest time, that was the question surrounding Toronto-born Fraser Aird, a 20-year old winger with Scottish club Rangers.
One of this country’s brightest soccer prospects (he signed with Rangers at 16), Aird was part of a Canadian under-15 camp in 2010 and played in a U-15 friendly against the U.S. But he also represented Scotland (he qualifies through his parents) at the under-17 level in 2011, and went on to play for the Scottish under-19 side.
When he turned down a call up to play for Canada’s senior team at the 2013 Gold Cup, it looked as though he decided to pledge his international allegiance to Scotland. But then he accepted an invite to participate in a Canadian under-20 training camp in 2014, and the tide turned in Canada’s favour. Then earlier this month, Aird was named to the Canadian senior team roster for the friendly against Ghana
“I did have that choice [to play for Scotland] and it was tough, but I just thought that maybe I had a better chance to play for Canada—making more appearances and getting into the first team quicker. Hopefully this is my foot in the door, and I can establish myself and do well enough for Canada that I can contribute for years to come,” Aird told Sportsnet.
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Other newcomers, returnees
Aside from Hoilett and Aird, other newcomers to this Canadian roster include Marco Bustos and Wandrille Lefevre.
And then there’s Charlie Trafford, who was fast asleep in his bed in Finland last Monday when his phone rang at 1:00 am.
It was Canada Soccer on the line. Montreal Impact midfielder Kyle Bekker picked up an injury and pulled out of the team’s training camp in Orlando. They wanted to see if Trafford, a midfielder with Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) in the Finnish first division, would be interested in taking Bekker’s place.
Trafford quickly threw some things together in a bag and headed for the airport later that morning, boarding a plane for Florida where he arrived and began training with his new Canadian teammates.
The timing of the call caught him off-guard. But Trafford wasn’t entirely surprised about earning his first Canadian call-up.
“I’ve had a few talks with them before, so I knew I was on their radar. You can’t predict something like this. I wasn’t sitting at home in Finland saying they’re going to call me now. But it was still a pretty big shock, even though I knew I was getting close because you never know how and when it will happen. I wasn’t trying to think about it too much, and just letting it take care of itself. In the end it did,” Trafford told Sportsnet.
Returning to the Canadian team for the first time this year as part of this roster are Manuel Aparicio, Lucas Cavallini, Jordan Hamilton, Kianz Froese, and Simon Thomas.
Veteran defender David Edgar was also on the original roster, but he had to pull out because of an injury. He was not replaced.
Where’s Benito?
Don’t be surprised if Benito Floro isn’t on the sidelines.
The Canadian men’s senior team coach also doubles as coach of Canada’s under-23 side currently involved in CONCACAF’s Olympic qualifying tournament. It just so happens that Tuesday’s tilt in Washington coincides with the third-place game in the Olympic qualifiers between Canada and the U.S. in Sandy, Utah. The winner of the third-place game will go on to meet Colombia next March with an Olympic berth at stake.
It’s expected that Floro will remain with the under-23 team in Utah, while senior team assistant coach Michael Findlay will oversee the Ghana game.
Canada vs. Ghana: Head to head
Ghana is the third-best African nation in the latest FIFA world rankings, coming in at No. 25 overall, between Ukraine and Russia. Canada is ranked 104th in the world, sandwiched between Latvia and Azerbaijan.
Canada and Ghana have met only once before, in 1985 when the Reds earned a 2-1 win in Seoul, South Korea as part of the President’s Cup tournament. Dale Mitchell and David Norman scored for Canada.
Next up for Canada
Canada returns to action next month for a pair of World Cup qualifying matches.
The Canadians open the fourth round of the CONCACAF qualifiers with a home date vs. Honduras on Nov. 13. Four days later they travel to Central America to take on El Salvador.
Canada defeated Dominica and Belize in the previous qualifying rounds to advance this far.
Ghana keeping busy
Although it doesn’t begin its World Cup qualifying campaign until next month, Ghana has kept very busy this year—the Black Stars lost to Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations in February, and has played five friendlies since (with two wins)
Among the players on coach Avram Grant’s 18-man roster for this game are Lloyd Sam and Kwadwo Poku, two players making names for themselves in MLS this season.
Ghana will be missing key players in Andre Ayew and captain Asamoah Gyan.