Canadian men to face Macedonia in Skopje

Canada’s men’s national team announced today that it will face Macedonia on 14 November in Skopje, Macedonia. The international friendly will be Canada’s first match following their strong run to the quarter-final stage of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.



At the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada finished first in its group with two wins and one draw before falling 0:1 to Honduras in the quarter-final stage. Following the completion of the tournament, Canada’s Julian de Guzman and Mike Klukowski were named to the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team. Klukowski was selected as one of six defenders while de Guzman was selected as one of six midfielders.



The Macedonian national team is coming off a UEFA World Cup Qualifying cycle in which they failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. It finished fourth in Group 9 behind the Netherlands, Norway, and Scotland. Macedonia recently was ranked 66th on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings,



Canada and Macedonia share a short competitive history. The two sides have faced each other only once before in international play. The lone match took place on 18 May 1998 in Toronto. A Niall Thompson goal was the difference on the day as Canada won 1:0. That match happened to feature the international debut of Dwayne De Rosario.



The friendly will be Canada’s second European-based match of 2009 following its 1:0 victory over Cyprus in May. Canada’s Simeon Jackson scored the lone goal – his first with the national team – in the match.