On the hot seat

All eyes will be on Canadian coach Dale Mitchell

By John F. Molinaro, CBCSports.ca

Imagine for a minute the weight of expectations sitting on Dale Mitchell's shoulders.

Mitchell, the current coach of the Canadian under-20 team, was given the enormous responsibility of helping Canada qualify for the 2010 World Cup when he was named the new coach of the men's senior team last month.

Mitchell has been in charge of Canada's under-20 side since 2002 and he's guided the team to the world youth championships in 2003 (when Canada reached the quarter-finals) and 2005 (when it bowed out in the first round).

Mitchell, 49, is generally regarded as one of the best forwards Canada has ever produced. Aside from stints with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League, the Canadian Soccer Hall of Famer also played 55 games for the Canadian national team from 1980 to 1993, including one game at the 1986 World Cup, and still ranks as Canada's all-time leading scorer with 19 goals.

Before taking over the reigns of Canada's senior team, Mitchell will lead Canada's youth team into battle on home soil this summer at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Dale Mitchell has been in charge of Canada's under-20 side since 2002. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Despite the home-field advantage, Mitchell maintains reasonable expectations.

"You always have to be realistic when you set goals," Mitchell told CBCSports.ca. "I think, considering we have had a good preparation and we're playing at home, we'd be very disappointed if we didn't make it out of our group.

"If we were a team that reached the quarter-finals like the 2003 team, I think that would have to be considered a pretty good performance this year, simply because we know the level of the teams, like Brazil and Argentina, and when you get to the last eight teams."

Mitchell believes that all three teams in its opening-round group will give Canada "a tough time."

"I don't think you would look at our group and say it's drop dead difficult, but every team there can give us a problem. I think Chile was on the same level as Brazil and Argentina in South American qualifying. I think they have an excellent team," Mitchell said.

"Austria came out of Europe, and any team that comes out of Europe, it might not be a France or an Italy, but they're a good side.

"Congo won the Africa Youth Championship and Africa now is producing a lot of good young players. When you watch the Champions League, all of the teams have quality African players."

Mitchell cited the return of six veterans - goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, defender David Edgar, midfielders Jaime Peters and Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault, and forwards Andrea Lombardo and Will Johnson - as the major difference between this Canadian team and the one that crashed out at the 2005 tournament.

"This team has more experience. This team has had good preparation, they've played against a lot of teams that will be in the tournament. We have six guys that were on the team last time and we have more guys with professional clubs than we have ever had," Mitchell explained.

Preparation has been the key for Canada.

Mitchell's team has played a series of high-profile friendlies in the last year and recorded wins over Brazil, Scotland, the Czech Republic and the United States, four teams that will be competing at the U-20 World Cup.

"Preparation-wise and experience-wise, we're in good shape," Mitchell said.

Mitchell also feels the fact that so many of his players are tied to European pro clubs bodes well for Canada.

"The good thing for us is that when they are with European club they're getting good training, they're getting good games, and when they come back to us, they're a little bit more developed and more mature," Mitchell said.