There is no more depressing time to follow the the Canadian men then in the month before a World Cup. The excitement that surrounds the roster announcements and final prep is just a reminder that we, once again, aren't invited to the dance.
It's even more painful this time as we are so far down the rankings that we don't even offer a useful pre-tournament friendly for anyone. There will be no high profile friendlies for Canadian fans to watch this time around.
Actually, there will be no friendlies for Canadians to watch, period, as what we do have scheduled isn't on television.
This must be the bottom that we are starting from, right?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Actually, according to Benito Floro, it might be. He told reporters yesterday that these two friendlies against Bulgaria and Moldova represent the end of his first cycle of rebuilding.
"We've planned in three stages," he said. "The first is finishing now with this camp."
Floro said that the second phase of the plan is to prepare for the Gold Cup. Now that the Gold Cup is also acting as a qualifier for the 2016 Copa Americas, Canada has an additional reason to be prepared for that tournament.
However, Floro stressed that the addition of the Copa to the schedule dies not change their timelines.
"We're always thinking about doing a good job at the Gold Cup and trying to get to the finals," he said.
Although the idea of Canada in the Gold Cup final a year from now may seem absurd, it's refreshing to see actual performance goals after a year of simply trying to "play well."
Getting to the Copa would be an important accomplishment heading into Canada's third stage of World Cup qualifying, says Floro.
"If there's the possibility to appear and qualify for the new American Cup it will be better for us because we could play a lot of official games which is better for us to improve our level."
But, first up is Moldova. And, hopefully a goal.
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