SoccerCanada must exploit its good fortune

Beginning of Story Content

Canada begins its World Cup qualifying campaign in September. (CP Photo)

If the old idiom is true, there are interesting times ahead. If, indeed 'you have to be good to be lucky', we are about to find out how good Canada is.
 
There is no question Canada has certainly struck lucky in the preliminary draw for 2014 World Cup in Brazil. If progressing to the third round of CONCACAF qualifying proves to be anymore than a formality for Stephen Hart's team, the problems are far more severe than we feared.
 
Canada's entry point for the next World Cup qualifying cycle has been modified. Gone are the random home and away playoffs, replaced by round robin play against three other hopefuls. Hope is all it should be for most. At this point of proceedings, Canada expects.
 
St. Lucia, Puerto Rico and St. Kitts & Nevis share a few things in common. The three Caribbean islands have never been to a World Cup. They have never qualified even for a Gold Cup, and they are all coming to Canada before the end of the year.
 
Canada is hardly a heavyweight in world soccer. In this scenario, however, it becomes the giant. Six matches against semi-pro international opposition should be treated with respect and dealt with in a professional manner. No excuses, get the job done and move on.
 
From a Canadian perspective the new format should be beneficial. After the recent disappointment of the Gold Cup, it is a fresh start for Hart and his players. The squad needs to reset and a 6 game schedule over the course of two and a half months should foster renewed spirit and belief.
 
Every game is there to be won or lost. Canada needs to win a few, albeit against modest opposition, to regain a sense of pride and purpose. Nobody needs to get carried away should Canada deliver and win Group D, but every player will tell you winning is a habit.
 
Canada should still be part of World Cup qualifying next summer. In June 2012 the 12 remaining contestants will kick off the third round of the process. If Hart was happy to avoid Guatemala in round 2, he must be ecstatic to have dodged both Mexico and the U.S. in the next stage.
 
Remove Jamaica and Costa Rica as well and he must be dancing a jig. Had he been able to hand pick his path through qualification, the Canadian coach couldn't have done a better job than those on stage in Rio. In simple language, this is as good as it gets.
 
It is not easy. It if was, every team would make it. But it could have been one heck of a lot harder. Honduras, World Cup finalists in 2010, should top the section. The runners-up spot in Group C, and a place in the promised land of 'The Hex', has the potential to be wide open.
 
Cuba was ranked 6th in CONCACAF for the purposes of the draw. Like Canada, the Cubans have been to the World Cup just once before - 24 years before the Cuban missile crisis. Like Canada, Cuba failed to survive the group stage of 2011 Gold Cup - leaking an embarrassing 16 goals in three games, but two months after the relevant world rankings were published.
 
Panama will, in all likelihood, be the other team chasing Honduras. Its Gold Cup record has been very respectable in recent years and the Panamanians gave the Americans a run for their money in June before Clint Dempsey settled their semi-final in Houston, avenging their group stage loss.
 
At the same tournament Panama was less than impressive against Canada. Agreed they rested some senior players having already booked a berth in the quarter-finals but in a home and away qualifying format the two nations may just cancel each other out.
 
Making 'The Hex' wouldn't make the World Cup, but it would represent Canadian progress. This country has failed to reach the final round of qualifying since 1997 and that is unacceptable. Three subsequent World Cup cycles have come and gone in which Canada failed to move the needle.
 
Forget Brazil 2014. Good can emerge from this process. If Canada got to 'The Hex' it would guarantee 22 meaningful games over the next 27 months. That would give more players more time to prove they are up to the task of international football. Canada's FIFA ranking could improve to the point where it might return to CONCACAF's top six for the following World Cup cycle.
 
For once the cards have fallen in Canada's favour. How it plays the hand remains to be seen. Hitting the World Cup jackpot is an improbable dream, but there is a chance to walk away from this table with more chips than it began.

Follow Nigel Reed on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/nigel_reed

End of Story Content