CANADA VS. PANAMA
Tuesday, November 18, 8 p.m. ET
Estadio Rommel Fernandez – Panama City
TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet World
Have Canada truly turned things around under head coach Benito Floro, or have the positive performances of the past two months simply been a mirage?
A showdown in Panama City against their regional rivals will provide perhaps the clearest picture yet of where the Canadians stand ahead of next summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Perhaps more importantly, the game will provide Les Rouges with an opportunity to test their mettle in Central America – an area where Canada has historically found it extremely difficult to pick up points. And while Panama City perhaps isn’t as imposing as such CONCACAF cauldrons as San Pedro Sula, the match will provide Floro’s squad with crucial experience ahead of the qualifying process for Russia 2018.
Panama, after all, is almost certainly one of the teams with whom Canada would be fighting for one of the region’s final World Cup spots – so this friendly will also be useful to both teams in establishing their relative position before the really important games get going in 2015.
HISTORY
The two sides have contested numerous important games over the past few years. Most recently, a transitional Canadian side under interim head coach Colin Miller held Panama to a 0-0 draw in the group stage at the 2013 Gold Cup. While Canada bowed out of the tournament without scoring a goal, Panama surprisingly marched all the way to the final, a slim 1-0 defeat to the USA.
Prior to that, the teams engaged in a pair of testy contests in the semifinal round of 2014 World Cup qualifying. A quickly-taken free kick led to a Dwayne De Rosario goal that gave Canada a 1-0 win at BMO Field on Sept. 7, 2012. The Canadians then headed to Panama City for the return match; they were greeted at their hotel with all-night street parties meant to disrupt their sleep.
Then at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez on Sept. 11, the lights went out during the match, and De Rosario had his leg broken by a tackle. In the end, the home side emerged from the bizarre contest with a 2-0 victory.
CANADA OUTLOOK
After a two-year-long tailspin in which the team rarely scored and never won, Canada has showed some signs of life in its last two outings. A convincing 3-1 victory at home against Jamaica in September was followed by a gutsy performance in a narrow 1-0 loss to No. 3-ranked Colombia at Red Bull Arena in October.
Suddenly, there seems to be a sense of confidence emerging from within the team and its supporters, with Floro’s influence being hailed by many as the main element. The team has a decent record in what’s been a relatively light schedule in 2014 – a win, a loss and two draws, with the Panama match being their fifth and final contest of the calendar year.
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But the underlying reality remains the same for Floro – his is a team in transition, with many members of his roster facing the same issue that’s plagued Canadian teams for decades: a lack of consistent first-team minutes. And while the development of youngsters such as Jonathan Osorio, Karl Ouimette, Maxim Tissot, Russell Teibert and Doneil Henry is encouraging, questions remain about whether they’ll be ready to face the intense pressure of World Cup qualifying.
They’ll be joined on this roster by veterans such as De Rosario, Atiba Hutchinson (returning to the squad after missing the Colombia friendly), Julian de Guzman and David Edgar. While Floro had hoped to have a firm idea of his core group by the end of this past summer, clearly he is still working to find the right mix to hopefully bring the team some measure of sustained success.
PANAMA OUTLOOK
Their run to the 2013 Gold Cup final, and a strong showing in the Hexagonal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying that summer, had Panamanian fans feeling pretty good about their team’s chances of reaching a first-ever World Cup. But on Oct. 15 a heartbreaking disaster unfolded on home soil, as Panama – just minutes away from reaching the intercontinental play-off – conceded two stoppage-time goals against the USMNT in the final game of the Hex, and saw their World Cup dreams vanish.
In the aftermath of that disappointment, the team has had mixed results in 2014. Panama have three wins, three losses and two draws so far this year, and finished third in the Copa Centroamericana in the summer. Friendlies against El Salvador (Nov. 14) and Canada will close out their schedule this year, as they – like the Canadians – turn their attention to next year’s Gold Cup, and the chance it offers at qualification for the Copa America Centenario the following summer.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Canada – Russell Teibert
After a nearly-year-long absence from the national team – amidst rumors of a row with Floro – the well-coiffed Whitecaps midfielder will be making his much-anticipated return to the Canadian side against Panama. Still just 21 years old, Teibert has become a first-team fixture in his fourth season with the 'Caps, and is likely to provide a boost to a national team that has struggled in recent years (and less-recent years) to produce scoring opportunities.
With his national-team exile seemingly behind him and the current core of Canada’s midfield not getting any younger, Teibert will be looking to show that he could very well be a linchpin of his national team for years to come.
Panama – Luis Tejada
When you think “Panamanian goalscoring threat”, you likely think of Blas Perez, who’s poured in the goals for FC Dallas and the Canaleros in the last several years. But while Perez will miss the game against Canada, Panama still has plenty of punch in the form of Tejada, the well-traveled striker who holds the all-time lead in goals scored for his national team, with 37.
ROSTERS
Canada
GOALKEEPERS: Lars Hirschfeld (Valerenga/Norway); Milan Borjan (Ludugorets Razgrad/Bulgaria); Kenny Stamatopoulos (AIK Stockholm/Sweden)
DEFENDERS: Nik Ledgerwood (Energie Cottbus/Germany); David Edgar (Birmingham City/England); Doneil Henry (Toronto FC); Adam Straith (unattached); Karl W. Ouimette (Montreal Impact); Daniel Stanese (FC Augsburg II); Nana Attakora (DC United); Maxim Tissot (Montreal Impact); Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Julian de Guzman (unattached); Issey Nakajima-Farran (Montreal Impact); Bryce Alderson (Vancouver Whitecaps); Kyle Bekker (Toronto FC); Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact); Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas/Turkey); Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC); Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps)
FORWARDS: Tosaint Ricketts (Hapoel Haifa/Israel); Marcus Haber (Crewe Alexandra/England), Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)
Panama
GOALKEEPERS: Óscar McFarlane (Pérez Zeledón/Costa Rica); José Calderón (Coatepeque/Guatemala)
DEFENDERS: Román Torres (Millonarios/Colombia); Luis Henríquez (Lech Poznan/Poland); Harold Cummings (Juan Aurich/Peru); Carlos Rodríguez (Fortaleza/Colombia); Leonel Parris (Uniautónoma/Colombia); Adolfo Machado (Saprissa/Costa Rica); Roderick Miller (Merida/Mexico)
MIDFIELDERS: Gabriel Gómez (Herediano/Costa Rica); Armando Cooper (Godoy Cruz/Argentina); Alberto Quintero (Zacatecas/Mexico); Aníbal Godoy (Honvéd/Hungary); Rolando Escobar (Deportivo Anzoátegui/Venezuela); Francisco Narbón (James Madison University)
FORWARDS: Luis Tejada (Universidad César Vallejo/Peru); Gabriel Torres (Colorado Rapids); Nicolás Muñoz (Isidro Metapán/El Salvador); Roberto Nurse (UAT/Mexico)
