THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada’s men’s soccer team will have a familiar face patrolling the sidelines at this summer’s Gold Cup tournament, and Stephen Hart is all too familiar with the difficulties the squad is facing.
Hart, who’s already the Canadian Soccer Association’s technical director, has been named interim head coach for the team through 2009, marking the second time he’s acted as interim boss for the CONCACAF tournament.
With little chance to gather players to prepare for the 10th edition of the tournament, Hart expects tough times ahead.
"Putting together an international team is very difficult, especially a Canadian team," Hart said in a conference call Friday. "It’s not like we have groups of players playing together in one club.
"The last time, in 2007, leading up to it, I had six games to get ideas across, get relationships working together… We’re not going to have that this time, so it’s going to be quite a challenge for the players and the staff to put something together."
Hart was the interim coach at the 2007 Gold Cup when Dale Mitchell was tied up with the under-20 team at the world championships, and led the Canadians to a spot in the semifinals.
Mitchell was fired March 27, more than five months after the Canadians bowed out in World Cup qualifying with a dismal 0-4-2 record.
Hart said he hasn’t considered whether he’ll pursue the permanent head-coaching job.
"I have not thought of that at all, this happened pretty quickly," Hart said. "I have to prepare the team as quickly as possible for the Gold Cup, and as far as I am concerned at the moment that’s my task at hand."
Canada will warm up for the tournament with a May 30 friendly in Cyprus — certainly not as much preparation as Hart would like.
"It’s not going to be much, to be honest," Hart said. "Everybody is in their seasons, so I’m guessing most of the players are just going to be sort of coming in, we’ll get together once if we’re lucky, and then play the game against Cyprus. Then I’m going to have to sit down with the staff that I put together and see what kind of camp we can have.
"The logistics are always difficult, some people need to rest while some people have been off for a long while and need to train… we’ll deal with that as we start to iron things out."
Several Canadian veterans, such as Dwayne De Rosario, Jim Brennan, Greg Sutton and Julian de Guzman, have been outspoken in their complaints of the Canadian men’s program.
Hart said he hasn’t spoken to the more disgruntled of the bunch, but definitely plans to.
"I haven’t had a lot of leeway going into this, so I have not spoken to anybody," Hart said. "I will try my best to speak to them, I would prefer to do it in person.
"I will speak to them, find out what their thoughts are, give them my point of view on the whole scenario, and we can make decisions from that."
Canada, ranked 94th in the world, has been drawn in Group A at the Gold Cup with No. 32 Costa Rica, No. 70 Jamaica and No. 106 El Salvador.
"It’s a tough group, but if we’re going to improve at all internationally we’ve got to play tough opposition," Hart said. "It’s an interesting draw and quite a challenge."
Canada and Jamaica were in the same World Cup qualifying group last year, with Canada tying 1-1 at home and losing 3-0 away.
The Canadians will kick off the tournament, which is being held at a record 13 venues across the U.S., against Jamaica on July 3 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. They continue with games against El Salvador on July 7 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and Costa Rica on July 10 at Florida International University Stadium in Miami.
Group B of the Gold Cup has Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, and the U.S., while Group C comprises Guadeloupe, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.
Eight of the 12 teams will advance to the quarter-final stage in Philadelphia and Dallas. The semifinals are in Chicago, while the final will be played in New York.
The 49-year-old Hart played professionally in his native Trinidad and Tobago, and was selected to Trinidad’s national team in 1980. He moved to Canada later that year to attend Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
He’s held several positions with the CSA including head coach of the under-17 team.