Canada makes final preparations for Wednesday match

Canada’s men’s national team had its last day of training today in Toronto, a closed one-hour session with all 17 players. Coach Dale Mitchell and his staff practiced a number of tactics as the team makes its final preparations before tomorrow’s FIFA World Cup Qualifiers™ match against Jamaica.

The Wednesday 20 August match kicks off at 19.30 at BMO Field. The match will be broadcast live on Sportsnet Pacific and Sportsnet West.

“I think it is coming together,” said Mitchell of his preparations. “It is strange week because it is a short week. Guys are traveling different places and in different states of physical condition. That is a little bit of a concern, but we have done our best to get as well organized as we can. We have the better part of a day and a half now to further rest up and to get to as close to 100% as we can be.”

This will be the first of six matches in CONCACAF Stage III of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ Qualifiers. On the same evening, group opponents Honduras and Mexico play each other at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. All four teams play each other twice (home and away) between August and November.

Coach Mitchell will wait until 90 minutes before kickoff to announce his starting XI for the Canada-Jamaica match.

“The team is not finalized at the moment,” said Mitchell. “We are looking at a few different things, but we will clear it all up by tomorrow.”

Canada’s next home games are 6 September in Montréal and 15 October in Edmonton. Canada’s three road matches are 10 September in Mexico, 11 October in Honduras, and 19 November in Jamaica.