Benito Floro hasn’t rebuilt Canada into a winner just yet.
But just over a year on the job, the Spaniard has begun to significantly change the culture within the Canadian men’s team.
Progress has been slow since Floro, who once managed Real Madrid, took over the managerial reins last summer. Positive results on the field have been few and far between—a victory over Jamaica in Toronto in September ended a 16-game winless slide that started long before he was named coach.
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In an attempt to rebuild the program after that infamous 8-1 loss to Honduras, Floro has focused on giving the country’s young prospects a chance to prove themselves, all with an eye towards expanding the player pool for the 2015 Gold Cup and the next round of World Cup qualifying. This youth movement has gone over well with the team’s youngsters—obviously—but it’s also won the approval of many veterans who believe the program needs an infusion of new blood.
The Spaniard has also earned plaudits from his staff regarding his attention to detail in training sessions, and his off-the-field preparations hasn’t gone unnoticed by his players.
Canada will attempt to put Floro’s teachings into practise on Tuesday night when it faces Panama in an international friendly in Panama City.
“I’ve been blown away by how organized he is. Everything, be it a training session or a meeting among the coaches, has been organized down to the exact minute,” Paul Dolan, who serves as Canada’s goalkeeper coach, recently told Sportsnet.
Floro’s time in charge has been marked by his strenuous and labour intensive training sessions, lengthy video sessions breaking specific game situations, and his attempts to give Canada a clear tactical identity.
“It’s been really interesting under Benito. He communicates and gets his point across in a unique way. You learn from him, he provides a different perspective and he’s very derailed oriented—very focused and he tries to instil that in his players,” 20-year-old midfielder Bryce Alderson told Sportsnet. ”You learn from him.”
Defender Nana Attakora echoed Alderson’s sentiments.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this under any Canadian coach. It’s been incredible. I find it so useful, especially how he goes over set pieces and what he expects from each player. There’s no guessing what he wants from us; he makes it very clear,” Attakora told Sportsnet.
Even the veterans have bought in to Floro’s detailed approach.
“He’s very detailed and I think the players are really starting to see the results of buying into his ideas,” forward Dwayne De Rosario said during a Monday afternoon conference call.
Panama is 56th in the current FIFA world rankings. Canada is 122nd, stuck between Niger and Liberia.
“I think it’s fair,” Floro said of Canada’s low ranking. “We’re trying to improve and to get more games to try to improve in the rankings.”
Canada leads the all-time series against Panama with three wins and five draws in nine meetings. The last time Canada and Panama met was at the 2013 Gold Cup when both sides battled to a 0-0 draw.
Tuesday’s game will be Canada’s fifth international friendly of the year, with the Reds earning one win (against Jamaica) and a pair of draws. The Reds’ lone loss came to Colombia, ranked third in the world and coming off an impressive showing at the World Cup, last month in New Jersey. Even in defeat, Canada played the South Americans very close.
Panama is coming off a 3-1 win over El Salvador in a friendly last Friday.