Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis — The memories of Puerto Rico still hound the Canadian national team.
Canada takes on St. Kitts and Nevis Friday in the opener of a home-and-away, World Cup qualifying series between the two nations. The return leg is next Tuesday in Toronto, and all Canada needs is a single point from these two games in order to advance to the next round of the qualifiers.
On paper, this is a mismatch. St. Kitts is ranked 109th in the world by FIFA, and doesn’t have the quality of players or bench depth to compete against the 83rd-ranked Canadians. But Canada has a history of struggling against soccer’s minnows.
The latest example came in early October when Canada was held to a dire 0-0 draw by Puerto Rico in Toronto, unable to break down the ultra-defensive islanders who put all 10 outfield players behind the ball. Even with stars the calibre of forward Simeon Jackson, who plays professionally in the English Premiership with Norwich City, the Canadians couldn’t find a way to brush aside the Puerto Ricans.
International soccer On Sportsnet:
Friday, Nov. 11
— Cyprus vs. Scotland, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (Sportsnet World)
— Netherlands vs. Switzerland, 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
— France vs. USA, 3 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet World)
— Canada vs. St. Kitts, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT (Live on sportsnet.ca)
Saturday, Nov. 12
— England vs. Spain, 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
Ever since, questions have been asked about the Reds’ offensive strength, this despite the fact they have outscored their opponents 14-1 and have won three of their four matches in the second round on CONCACAF qualifying.
Coach Stephen Hart doesn’t think Canada will face similar problems like it did against Puerto Rico, mostly because St. Kitts needs a win to keep its World Cup hopes alive, and they can’t afford to play conservatively.
“They need three points and I think they are going to take advantage of being at home,” Hart told Sportsnet.
Hart wants his players to be aggressive going forward but also be cautious, especially because St. Kitts has great speed down the wings, and he feels they could use that to catch Canada out on the counter-attack.
“We’ve been preaching to the players to hold onto the ball, make [St. Kitts] run and chase the game in the second half,” Hart explained. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to go for it. That’s not my style. We just have to be careful because we don’t want to see the game open up.”
Patience is the key to mounting an effective attack against St. Kitts, according to attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who needs one more goal to tie Dale Mitchell (19) as Canada’s all-time leading scorer
“We can’t go out there thinking we’re going to put it away in the first 10 or 15 minutes. We still have to play our game, be patient and pick our moments,” De Rosario said.
Jackson netted a hat trick in Canada’s 7-0 win over St. Lucia on Oct. 7, but like the rest of Canada’s forwards he was comfortably contained by Puerto Rico four days later. Jackson feels that game was a “good lesson” for the team, and he and his teammates will use that experience to their advantage in the future.
“Ever since, we’ve been working on the little things, the tempo of when we attack and picking the right moments when to move forward,” Jackson said. “Hopefully we learned from that game and it will help us [Friday] if it’s that type of game it is.”
Defender David Edgar is eager for the opportunity for Canada to redeem itself after its flat offensive effort the last time out.
“That’s the best thing about football: you always get another chance. This is our chance to make things right and get some goals,” Edgar said. “I don’t think our performance was bad against Puerto Rico; I just think we didn’t create too many opportunities. … That’s in the past and we’re here to get the job done.”
As for his line-up for Friday’s game, Hart hinted that there could be “some subtle changes” to his usual starting formation.