Hart looks forward to Wednesday’s Canada-Armenia match

Canadian national head coach Stephen Hart spoke to media on 28 February on the eve of his Men’s International Friendly match against Armenia in Limassol, Cyprus. Hart spoke to media in the morning after training and in the evening via a conference call with national media back home in Canada. Hart had good things to stay about his team’s 28 February training session and underlined again the importance of playing on FIFA International Dates in 2012.

“It is always important to play the games,” said head coach Hart, whose side is preparing for CONCACAF Round 3 of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers this summer. “It is important to get everyone together and it is most important to play the games.”

Players were given but a short 48-hour window of release from their professional clubs in Europe. Some players played with their clubs as recently as Sunday 26 February and only arrived into Canadian uniform on Tuesday 28 February.

Also on Tuesday 28 February, head coach Hart had the opportunity to watch Armenia in action in a Men’s International Friendly match against Serbia. With 31 players in camp, Armenia’s head coach Vardan Minasyan is expected to feature different players in each of the back-to-back matches against Serbia (28 February) and Canada (29 February).

“Armenia is an attacking-oriented team and they love to come forward,” said Hart. “That is good for us because that is the (style) we will face when we are away from home. I don’t expect them to play any different against us.”

The Armenia side lost 0:2 to Serbia on 28 February.

“It was a bit of a game of two halves, as Armenia put Serbia under lots of pressure in the second half. They came forward lots… They were very dynamic. They play on the ground, they play quickly and they play very similar to a latin style of play.”

Canada’s 29 February international match falls on the first FIFA International Date of the 2012 calendar season. It will kick off a busy summer for Canada, which continues with a special centennial match against USA on 3 June and then six FIFA World Cup Qualifiers from 8 June to 16 October. Canada faces Cuba, Honduras and Panama in CONCACAF Round 3 of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. It must finish either first or second in its group (after six matches) to advance to the CONCACAF Final Round in 2013.

Ticket packages to Canada’s four home matches in Toronto will go on sale this Friday 13 April at 10.00 ET / 07.00 PT via Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.ca / 416.872.5000).

Fans will be able to track the progress of Canada’s national teams throughout the 2012 season via CanadaSoccer.com, as well as social media platforms on Twitter @CanadaSoccerEN, Facebook, Flickr and CanadaSoccerTV.

More than a place just for lounging in the sun, there’s lots of things happening in Cyprus all the year round. From cultural performance with big name stars, sports events to participate in or watch, to informative conferences where you can meet like minds. You’ll be surprised at what you can enjoy here. Visit the official website of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation for more details.