Canada coach John Herdman isn’t worried about fielding a short-handed roster in Jamaica on Sunday in the aftermath of one of the best results for the national men’s soccer team in recent history.
While he didn’t come right out and say it in an interview with Stephen Brunt and Ben Ennis of Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday, Herdman implied that the biggest game of this three-game World Cup qualifying window comes Wednesday when Canada hosts Panama at BMO Field in Toronto.
After playing to a 1-1 tie with heavily favoured Mexico at Azteca Stadium on Thursday, Canada will be missing several key players in steamy Jamaica.
You can catch the game on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet NOW at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
“We’ll get up for Jamaica for sure, but we’ll do it smartly to make sure we can give our fans a treat at home and treat them to a win,” Herdman said.
Midfielders Tajon Buchanan and Richie Laryea and defender Steven Vitoria all picked up yellow cards in Mexico and will not be eligible to play against Jamaica.
Canada was without veteran goalkeeper Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), who is recovering from COVID-19, as well as captain Atiba Hutchinson and forward Cyle Larin (both Besiktas, Turkey) and striker Lucas Cavallini (Vancouver Whitecaps) who are recovering from injury. The hope is they might be able to join the team later in the window.
Canada Soccer had previously said forward Junior Hoilett (Reading, England) and midfielder David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone, Scotland) would meet the team in Jamaica ahead of the weekend match so as to avoid the quarantine that visitors to Mexico have to undergo when returning to Britain.
Canada is third in the eight-team final qualifying stage with a win and a draw through three games. Jamaica is last with a draw and three losses, including a 2-0 away setback against the United State on Thursday.
“When you look at the way the window is structured, Game 1 we had to put our best lineup out,” Herdman said. “Game 2, we’ll manage a balance with freshness and knowing we’re going into 35 degrees of heat playing against a talented Jamaica team. It will be about freshness and that warrior mindset and those type of players that have that, that warrior spirit, I’ll play them that match.”
After the current 14-game schedule, the top three finishers in the Concacaf final qualifying will book their ticket to Qatar 2022. The fourth-place team will take part in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
Canada is riding a wave of confidence after an impressive draw at a stadium in Mexico, where the team never has won.
“The facts tell us the last game against Mexico we played (a 2-1 loss in the Gold Cup), we didn’t have all our weapons, but we more than competed against them,” Herdman said. “There’s been other matches — Costa Rica, USA — where we’ve shown we can score against any team in Concacaf. And more importantly, if they score against us, we’ve built a resilience into our DNA that we can come back. When you have these things in place, it allows you to take more risks.”
Canada already has away draws against the U.S. and Mexico, who are tied for first, two points ahead of the Canadians.
Panama and El Salvador are one point back of Canada.
Panama hosts the U.S., Costa Rica entertains El Salvador and Honduras is in Mexico in the other games on Sunday
“(There’s a small) gap in Concacaf, there are no real blowouts,” Herdman said. “It’s a really, really tight group stage. Our goal is to get in November in top two or top three. Let’s make sure we’re there so we go into the next round fully motivated to go to Qatar.”
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