Toronto FC's Andrea Lombardo, right, will lead the attack for Canada at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. (Canadian Press)
Feature
Going for gold
Qualifying for the Beijing Olympics won't be easy for the Canadian men's soccer team
Last Updated Wed., March 12, 2008
By Vijay Setlur, Special to CBCSports.ca
Nick Dasovic's first assignment as a head coach will likely be bigger than any he faced as a player for the men's national soccer side.
The coach of the Canadian men's Olympic soccer team will face his first tough test when he leads his squad against favourite Mexico on March 12 in their first group-stage match of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Carson, Calif.
The Canadian Soccer Association named Dasovic coach late last year, but the former national team defender only got his players together in a camp for the first time a couple of weeks ago.
Since then, Dasovic has had to crunch a four-year process of preparation into only 10 days of training. As a result, Canada has not played any international matches in the leadup to the tournament, save for a couple of matches against local college teams.
Mexico, however, recently completed a pre-Olympic qualifying tour that featured games against Australia in Oakland, Calif., and Finland in Frisco, Texas.
Dasovic also has to deal with a squad that is at varying levels of fitness. Most of the players are based in North America, thus, out of shape compared to those playing in the European leagues, which are deep into their seasons.
Missing David Edgar
In a media conference call Tuesday, Dasovic, a former assistant coach of Canada's U-20 men's national team, said he was also frustrated that not all eligible players were available for national team duty.
One key play player missing from Canada's lineup is towering Newcastle United defender David Edgar, a stalwart on the U-20 team. Dasovic could not secure the release of the Kitchener, Ont., native despite Edgar languishing on the English Premier League club's bench in recent matches.
"We tried very hard to get David, but they (Newcastle) said no," Dasovic said. "There's no chance for David to be a part of this team."
Notable players on the roster include strikers Andrea Lombardo and Will Johnson and defender Andre Hainault. Lombardo, who had a shaky rookie season with Major League Soccer's Toronto FC and a disappointing run at last year's U-20 World Cup, will be the main scoring threat up front.
Johnson and Hainault have seen duty with the senior national team and will provide some leadership to a squad that includes a handful of players from the U-20 national team.
Hostile crowds
On top of the many obstacles, Canada will be facing a rabid, hostile and overwhelmingly pro-Mexico crowd at the Home Depot Center, home of MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy. Support for Mexico is always strong in California, which has a large Mexican-American community.
Hugo Sanchez, who doubles as head coach of Mexico's men's national team, leads the Mexican youth side, a favourite along with the U.S. to advance to Beijing.
"I believe they'll play the same system (as the senior national team). Their ball movement is high quality and it's attractive to watch," said Dasovic. "You can shut them down, but then they'll find a second, third and fourth solution. We have to be able to adapt."
Sanchez will be without budding FC Barcelona star Giovanni Dos Santos. The youngster scored three goals for Mexico at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada last July.
His absence is a break for Canada, but "Los Tricolores" still have a potent offence that will present problems for Canada's defenders.
"Mexico is missing their top guns, but they have players that stand out that are very capable," said Dasovic. "They've got flair and technical and tactical ability and pride and passion for their country. It's going to be a good game, a tough one but one they (Canada's players) can handle."
Finalists advance to Beijing
Canada is in group B, which also includes Haiti and Guatemala.
After Mexico, Canada will have a day off before resuming the round-robin competition against Haiti on Friday. Canada will end the group stage on Sunday against Guatemala.
The U.S., Honduras, Panama and Cuba are in Group A based out of Tampa Bay. The top two teams from each group advance to the final four in Nashville with the semifinal winners representing CONCACAF in Beijing.
Olympic soccer does not have as high a profile in Canada as the FIFA World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
This may help explain Canada's inability to qualify for the Olympics in more than 20 years. Canada's last appearance in the Olympics was at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
