TORONTO — There's no love lost between Samuel Piette and the U.S. men's national team.

Piette, the defensive midfielder who has been a stalwart for Canada's national team since making his debut as a 17-year-old in an exhibition match against the Americans in Toronto back in 2012, has a lot of familiarity with the U.S. player pool thanks to his time in Major League Soccer. Now 24, Piette will have a chance to come full circle in the same stadium that he first played for the national team as Canada hosts the Americans in a crucial CONCACAF Nations League group stage match on Oct. 15 at BMO Field.

Now a veteran of 44 international appearances, Piette says things have completely changed for Canada since he made his debut as an amateur seven years ago, and he hopes that the improvements will show in his first match against the Americans since his late cameo as a fresh-faced teenager early in the decade.

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"It's a totally different scenario right now. Seven years ago — I would love to see who is still with the team today compared to the team that we had in 2012," Piette told reporters in a conference call. "The players that we have now — the group is a lot younger than before. We have players that are playing at a high level with their clubs. Before it wasn't always that case; we had some players that were in between clubs or had to make a decision [professionally]. That right now is not the case. If you don't have a club, you have no chance to make the national team. So I think this is a totally different scenario.

"And I mean, obviously, we're really excited for this game and for what's coming with the player pool that we have."

Piette's not exaggerating when he says the team is completely different than the last time Canada hosted the U.S. From the squad who played in the 2012 game, only Piette remains. Veteran Will Johnson took part in 2012 and was originally named to the team for the Oct. 15 encounter, but he pulled out due to personal reasons.

With a new roster of players comes new expectations, and the current Canada team is seen as one that is bursting with talent. From European-based teenagers Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David to MLS All-Star Mark-Anthony Kaye, the Canadians have enjoyed an injection of talent that has translated to the field of play as the team has won nine games and lost just twice since head coach John Herdman took the reins at the beginning of 2018. Granted, most of those victories have come against nations ranked below Canada, but part of becoming a regional power is taking care of business against teams that should be beaten.

The other part is punching up at the bigger dogs of the region, of which the U.S. definitely qualifies.

That the Canadians see their American counterparts as rivals — who haven't lost to Canada since 1985 — is icing on the cake.

Walking into day 1 of camp with a little extra bounce in our step.



Take a look inside #CANMNT's first session in Toronto ahead of 🇨🇦 v 🇺🇸 on October 15th. pic.twitter.com/sTCByqrS9b — Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) October 9, 2019

"It's been a long time that we [have] played a competitive game [against the U.S.], that means so much for all the players, for the association, but even for the fans," Piette said. "The hate that we have toward the Americans is just natural — even if you don't like soccer or anything."

Perhaps Piette's use of the word "hate" is strong, as it's much more of a friendly rivalry in comparison to others in world soccer, but the competition is definitely personal.

Aside from being next-door neighbours geographically, there are 34 players on the combined rosters (13 Canadian, 21 American) who currently or used to ply their trade in MLS. U.S. captain Michael Bradley plays professionally for Toronto FC and counts Canada's Jonathan Osorio, Liam Fraser, Richie Laryea and Doneil Henry as current or former club teammates.

There are other similar connections between the two sides, not the least of which is the Montreal Impact link between Piette and American full back Daniel Lovitz. It's these types of interpersonal relationships that Piette says will give the match an added edge.

"It's gonna be special to play against one of my [Impact] teammates," Piette said. "Lovitz is my neighbour in the locker room, he's the guy seated right next to me, so we talk a lot and now I'll have the chance to play against him. So it's going to be weird, but special, I think. It's going to add a certain value to this game, because you want to go back to your club and you want to talk about it, and you want to be on the positive side of this. So it's going to be special to play against this guy, because he's one of my good friends.

"But when it comes to the game time, he won't really be my friend."