Stephen Hart is as laid-back as they come.

The Trinidadian-born head coach of Canada’s men’s national soccer team is soft-spoken, thoughtful and measured in dealing with his players and media.

So, ahead of what he’s quick to call “the biggest” game of his coaching career, Hart, 52, eschewed a rousing speech in favour of a sports video.

On golf.

“Last night, he showed us a non-soccer video of Tiger Woods making a shot at the Masters, chipping the ball in,” captain Kevin McKenna said Thursday after the final training session ahead of Canada’s key World Cup qualifying match against Cuba at BMO Field on Friday night. “It was a good video.”

Woods’ miraculous shot at the 16th hole en route to winning the 2005 Masters hardly seems the best way to motivate 21 professional soccer players. Then again, neither does cracking jokes in team meetings.

“He comes with a different approach and I think everyone responds to it,” McKenna, a central defender, said of the coaching style of Hart, who was interim head coach of the team twice before being named boss in late 2009.

With two games remaining in this semifinal stage of qualifying for Brazil 2014, Canada has a chance to reach the final leg for the first time since 1998. The top two sides in a four-team group advance to that so-called Hex.

Panama (3-1-0) leads the group with nine points. Honduras and Canada (both 2-1-1) are tied with seven points, but Honduras has the edge with a plus-2 goal differential to zero for Canada. Cuba (0-4-0) is in last place.

While the tendency might be to look beyond the winless Cubans to a decisive match next Tuesday in Honduras, Hart’s focus is Friday.

“The players are all well aware that the Cuba game is the most important thing,” Hart told reporters. “We have to go out and play the game that needs to be played first and not worry about all the trappings around everything else, which is the Honduras game.”

While the Cubans have lost all four matches, including a 1-0 game at home to Canada in June to open group play, they have played particularly well on the road, being competitive in 1-0 losses in Panama and Honduras.

“You have to win games like this at home, otherwise we’ve got no hope in accomplishing our goals,” said midfielder Will Johnson. “So, we’ve just got to settle down, use our experience and take care of business tomorrow.”

If Canada not only wins on Friday but runs up the score to improve their goal differential, then a tie, or even a narrow loss, in Honduras might be enough to advance to the final round, which will take place in 2013.

With that in mind, Johnson said the Canadians, who have scored just two goals in the four matches of this round, will likely keep pushing forward.

“If we score a goal, I think you’ll see us run and grab the ball out of the back of the net and run back to the midfield as quick as possible,” Johnson said. “We’re well aware we need to score goals but you can’t score the third goal until you score the first one first, and the second one second.

“It sounds cliché and stupid but the reality of it is you have to get that first goal and you have to make sure you win the game because if you don’t do those two things first we’re going to find ourselves on the outside looking in.”

Canada has two games remaining in the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Here are the scenarios for the team to advance to the final stage, or Hex, for the first time since 1998. There are a multitude of possibilities but here are the four likeliest. To advance, Canada needs …

Wins over Cuba on Friday at BMO Field and in Honduras Tuesday.

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A win by at least three goals over Cuba and a tie in Honduras, if the Hondurans lose in Panama on Friday night.

A win by any score against Cuba and a tie in Honduras if Honduras and Panama tie Friday.

A win over Cuba and a tie in Honduras if Panama loses both of its final two matches — at home to Honduras and in Cuba.

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