In a nod to the lack of competitive balance on offer at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, Canadian head coach John Herdman says to expect a totally different line-up tonight as the Canucks go up against the group's weakest touch Cuba.
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The important thing for us is that everyone gets a chance to play in these games, everyone gets a chance to play in front of their home nation. It's a squad, that's part of what we do. We're a family and we connect through and players will get time on the pitch here. It'll be a different team
It's a refreshing and logical approach to take. Yes, goal differential could play a role if Canada were to tie Costa Rica, but it's more than a bit defeatist to not believe you won't beat Costa Rica.
Hopefully, Christine Sinclair gets a rest tonight. As we saw last night when Ali Krieger went down with what looked to be a serious injury, bad things can happen even when you are playing minnows. You can't completely eliminate the chance of an injury, but there is no point putting your best players out every game when you are playing competition that literally can't beat you.
Make no mistake, Cuba can not beat Canada -- a good CIS team would win against Cuba. The goal of tonight should be to go out and do the job while staying healthy. Don't worry about goal differential; worry about beating Costa Rica when the time comes.