Canada gets back into the swing of world cup qualifying with it's 3rd of 6 games, and after hitting a home run in Puerto Rico's converted baseball stadium this time they get to play on a cricket pitch, can they hit St Lucia for six?(I'm sorry). Will Canada get a chance to 'cap-tie' some of the younger players in the squad, and will old man De Rosario get the goal he needs to become Canada's all time leading international scorer?
I'm fairly certain that Canada can come away from this one with a convincing win, before the game at BMO field in September, there was always the chance that St Lucia might spring a surprise and be better than their ranking and pretty much every expert opinion suggested, but no more. They were exposed as a team that isn't even fit enough, never mind skilled enough to keep up with Canada, their best player was goalie Iran Cassius, but he looked like the erratic genius type of goalkeeper rather than a steady pair of hands, so I'd say he's just as likely to have a nightmare as he is a repeat performance.
So yes, there's no such thing as an easy game at this level, especially away from home in the heat with Concacaf referees, but there's really no excuse for even a Canada side without Atiba Hutchinson and most of it's first choice defence to not get a win. After a poor first half in that game against St Lucia, a good second half was followed by a very good away game in Puerto Rico so hopefully that momentum can be continued to enable Canada to increase it's strangehold on the group. I'd like to think Canada will at least start with their strongest possible lineup to secure the win and Stephen Hart definitely gives the impression he's thinking of the three points as well.
For a full preview from Dave, go here, and here's a whole bunch of articles, interviews and videos as well. I just discovered the game's at 6 last night, so haven't taken the appropriate precautions to get home from work on time, but Dave will be here to take you through the early proceedings and I'll join in from about 6:30 onwards. Should be a strange one as all we've got to go on is a promised audio feed, but join us anyway.