Hart readies Canada for FYR Macedonia

The Canadian men’s national team will go looking for its second consecutive win on European soil when they take on FYR Macedonia in an international friendly this Saturday, 14 November. The match will kick off at 13.00 local time (07.00 ET / 04.00 PT), from the Mladost Stadium in Strumica, Macedonia.



For full match information please visit the match link here.



“Macedonia are a very technical team and feature a world class striker in Goran Pandev,” commented Hart. “They like to play off the counterattack and are very aggressive offensively when they play at home. It will be a difficult match, as it is always when you play teams away from home. For us, we will do our best not to be intimidated by playing away or let it dictate our style of play. We have specifically addressed our game-plan for Macedonia in our last two training sessions.”



Canada completed its final training session on Friday at the Phillip II Arena in Skopje under bright sunshine. After suffering through several days of rain earlier in the camp, Canada has enjoyed excellent conditions for their past three training sessions. Following the training session in Skopje, the Canadian squad boarded the team bus and travelled to Strumica where they will spend the night ahead of the match on Saturday.



Iain Hume and Rob Friend have been welcomed back to squad after missing an extended period of time through injury. Both Hume and Friend will be looking to make their first appearance for Canada in 2009. Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault meanwhile, will be looking to make the first senior appearance of his career for Canada.



Canada won its only other European match in 2009, a 1:0 victory over Cyprus on 30 May in Larnaka. Canada has compiled 4-1-1 overall record in 2009 under Hart.



FYR Macedonia has released their roster for the match which can be found on the CanadaSoccer.com Match Tracker here. Macedonian head coach Misrad Jonuz has selected a roster which features a mix of domestic and European professionals. Germany (3), Austria (2), and Ukraine (2) supply the most players after Macedonia (5).



An all Bulgarian crew will handle the officiating duties for Saturday’s friendly.



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.



Canada will return to Skopje following Saturday’s match before heading to Poland on Sunday morning to begin preparations for their match against Poland. That match will be played on Wednesday, 18 November at the Stadiom Miejeski in Bydgoszcz and kicks off at 17.00 local time (11.00 ET / 08.00 PT).