Canada prepares for El Salvador

Canada’s men’s national team will face El Salvador on Tuesday 7 July at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. It is match-day two for Group A, with Costa Rica facing Jamaica at 19.00 ET and Canada facing El Salvador at 21.00 ET. Both games will be played at the Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH.



Canada’s matches at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup are broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet. Tuesday’s match will be played live on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, and Sportsnet West. All other CONCACAF Gold Cup matches are broadcast on GolTV in Canada.



Both Canada and El Salvador picked up three points on 3 July, the opening day of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada won 1:0 over Jamaica while El Salvador won 2:1 over Costa Rica. A win by either team will qualify that team for the quarter-final stage; a draw by both teams may very well be enough to do the same.



Since defeating Jamaica, Canada has switched its focus to El Salvador. On Monday, the team had its second day of training at the Obetz Memorial Park in Columbus.



“With all the travel, there is not a lot of preparation time,” says coach Stephen Hart. “We are more focused on what we need to do well to be successful.”



Canada has an all-time record of six wins, two draws and four losses against El Salvador. The two sides, however, have not faced each other since 8 October 1999 in a Gold Cup Qualifiers match (a 2:1 Canada win). After qualifying for that 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada went on to win its second confederation championship in February 2000.



The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup runs 3-26 July in 13 cities across USA. The competition features three groups of four teams. The top eight teams from the group phases (three top-two teams plus two third-place teams) advance to the quarter-final stage. Canada’s three group games are 3 July against Jamaica (1:0 win in Los Angeles), 7 July against El Salvador (Tuesday night in Columbus), and 10 July against Costa Rica (Friday night in Miami).