Canada ready to face Venezuela in Merida

Just five days removed from Argentina, Canada’s men’s national soccer team will play Venezuela in completely different conditions this Saturday 29 May in Merida, Venezuela. Canada’s second international friendly match on this South American trip will kickoff at 19.00 local time and will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific at 19.30 ET / 16.30 PT.

Just five days removed from Argentina, Canada’s men’s national soccer team will play Venezuela in completely different conditions this Saturday 29 May in Merida, Venezuela. Canada’s second international friendly match on this South American trip will kickoff at 19.00 local time and will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific at 19.30 ET / 16.30 PT.



Saturday’s match will be played at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano de Mérida, at roughly 1,600 metres altitude and in the heat, compared to the relatively cool May temperature of Buenos Aires from last week. Along with the live broacast on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, the match will be replayed on Sunday 30 May on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario at 10.00 ET / 07.00 PT. Fans can also follow the match via Twitter at www.twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN.



On Friday, the full Canadian squad had its first full practice at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano de Mérida. The team had had a split session on Thursday at a training field as players arrived at different times during the day.



“It was a good exercise to go through the challenges of travel these past days,” said Canadian national head coach Stephen Hart. “These are typical challenges that we will face in the CONCACAF region. We look forward to the match on Saturday night with great anticipation.”



This will be Canada’s first meeting with Venezuela since 1 June 2007. Venezuela has an improving squad, one which came close to qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.



Off the field in Venezuela, Canada’s assistant coach Tony Fonseca made a presentation on physical education while director of business development Sandra Gage made a presentation on the state of soccer in Canada.



Saturday’s Canada-Venezuela match will be Canada’s third international match of the 2010 season. After the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Canada will play a pair of international matches in Canada: 4 September against Peru at BMO Field in Toronto and 7 September against Honduras at Stade Saputo in Montréal.