Clear plan for Canada MNT ahead of Iceland friendlies

January will be a chance to impress for a number of players as Benito Floro, Head Coach of Canada’s Men’s National Team, has called in 24-players for the team’s first camp of 2015.

With most of the European-based players unavailable as the camp in Orlando, Florida, USA, doesn’t fall in a FIFA international window, Floro has called in a predominantly North American-based squad. With the North American season still a few months away, the two International Friendlies against Iceland will be a chance to further develop the team’s tactics.

“It’s true that speaking of the physical condition, the players may not be fully fit. It is for that, as I’ve said before, that we need to learn how to play to win the game using our resources,” said Floro. “It means that they won’t have a lot of energy but we need to control the situation in the game. We need to develop our plan and strategy and that’s very important.”

The first day of training is Monday 12 January and the team will get four days of training prior to the first match on Friday 16 January (kick off 16.30 local). The teams will line up again on Monday 19 January (kick off 16.00 local). Both games will take place at the University of Central Florida.

The players will be put through their paces as many of the days will feature two training sessions to prepare and the focus will be to continue to work on the team’s pressing and attacking but keeping the defensive structure will also be crucial against the 33rd-ranked Iceland team.

“We always do things in order to win the game. However, it is true in a friendly game the aim is to play well in addition to gaining a result,” said Floro. “We need to develop a good defensive structure. But it’s true to that winning games is always a happy time so our intention is to play well and to win the games.”

Fans will be able to follow the matches live on Twitter @CanadaSoccerEN and review match reports on migmultidev-canada-soccer.pantheonsite.io.

CANADA
GK- Sean Melvin | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
D- Nana Attakora | unattached / sans club
D- Kevon Black | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
D- Jonathan Grant | CAN / Sigma FC
D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
D- Manjrekar James | HUN / PMFC
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Karl W. Ouimette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
D- Adam Straith | unattached / sans club
D- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Christoper Mannella | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached / sans club
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruña
M- Daniel Stanese | GER / FC Augsburg II
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Dwayne De Rosario | unattached / sans club
F- Iain Hume | IND / Kerala Blasters
F- Kyle Porter | unattached / sans club