

Posted by

Steve Bottjer ,

March 31, 2015 Email

Steve Bottjer

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With two straight victories over Guatemala and Puerto Rico this week, the Canadian Men’s National Team looks like it is rounding into form at just the right time.



After a successful March camp and two wins to kick off 2015, Head Coach Benito Floro’s squad will next come together in June for a home-and-away series against Dominica in June.



The Canadian Team will enter those matches buoyed by the fact that earned victories over CONCACAF opposition, kept clean sheets in both matches and scored four goals.



“We are happy but we are professionals and we knew the opponent had a lot of under-23 players with about four experienced players,” Floro said after Monday’s match. “But it doesn’t matter because our intention was to develop the same tactical subjects like pressing and maintaining a good formation. The victory and performance, we consider those to be good.”



“There are two things in which we can focus,” Floro added. “First, we are going to play Dominica (in World Cup qualifying in June) on a pitch similar to this one tonight in these conditions so it has been a good test. Considering that Puerto Rico is a young team but with three or four good players, we consider this game is a good practice to play against Dominica. We have a lot of respect for Dominica because the most important thing is to win the qualification game.”



With Floro in charge, Canada remains unbeaten against CONCACAF opposition with two wins and a draw in three games played.



Canada 1 Guatemala 0



Match Highlights: Canada 3-0 Puerto Rico



Marcus Haber’s second goal for Canada at the senior level was the difference against Guatemala on Friday as he headed in a Kyle Bekker corner kick in the 11th minute. The goal not only saw the Canadian National Team earn their first victory over 2015, it also reinforced the improvement that the Canadian squad has delivered on set pieces since their Spanish Head Coach took over at the helm of the team.



According to Floro, gusting winds and less than ideal conditions prevented Canada from delivering their best. However, the former Real Madrid gaffer was happy with the manner in which his team pulled out the victory.



“It was a very good game for us because the wind favoured us in the first half and the players really didn’t know how to handle that,” Floro said after the game. “So we got the goal on a corner kick but we didn’t play well except for only 10 minutes in the first half. In the second half, when we were going into the wind, I think the team played very well.”



“We had four important players out,” Floro added. “The majority of them are in the middle of our defence and midfield. This game was important for us with the victory and how we played.”



Post Match Reaction: Marcus Haber



“It feels good (to score),” Haber said after the game. “Coming in we knew we might have an advantage on set-pieces with some good height in the squad. It was a great ball and I got away from my marker and luckily it went in.”



With key players such as Atiba Hutchinson unavailable to take part in Canada’s two March fixtures, Haber stressed the importance of Canada’s depth players showing they could get the job done while churning out a result.



“This gives us confidence,” Haber explained. “We feel good as a team and we’ve got good depth and players that can contribute all over the park and the players that came off the bench gave us a lift in these conditions. We know that playing in CONCACAF it’s going to be hot weather a lot of the time and we’re going to need everyone.”



Canada 3 Puerto Rico 0



Tosaint Ricketts, Randy Edwini-Bonsu, and Cyle Larin had the goals on Monday evening as Canada beat Puerto Rico decisively at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.



Canadian National Team supporters will be hoping the fact that the scoring success of Canada’s trio of goalscorers against Puerto Rico will be bode well for the future matches of a Canadian team that defended resolutely but sometimes struggled to score during the last round of World Cup qualifying.



For Edwini-Bonsu and Larin, Monday was a special night as both young forwards scored their first goals for Canada at the senior level. Both players were introduced in the second half with both scoring not long after being introduced.



“I felt good in that game and I felt good about going in and scoring my first goal and I’m happy I scored my first goal for my country,” Larin said. “Scoring gives you a lot of confidence and I think that’s important for me to go back to Orlando with a lot of confidence so I can go and start scoring for them.”



Post Match Reaction: Cyle Larin



“The first goal came late in the first half and I think it gave us the confidence to get more in the second half,” Defender Maxim Tissot explained. “We finished off the last few minutes of the first half well to have the lead into the second half and we did good work to keep the lead and go get more goals.”



“The group feels good and it feels good to have two victories,” Tissot added. “It gives us a lot of confidence. The next games are still a few months away but we need a foundation from these two games and we built it with these two wins.”