Canada hopeful not to be limping into quarters

Canada might not be at full strength when we take on the Hondurans on Saturday night in Philadelphia.

Due to tactical reasons ahead of the quarter final match, Hart did not specify the exact players, or extent of their injuries. But in the 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman, Ali Gerba, Mike Klukowski, Dejan Jakovic and Josh Simpson did not start. The only player that was confirmed to be dealing with an injury was Jakovic, while de Guzman, Stalteri and Klukowski were benched due to yellow card cautions.

“I had no choice,” Hart said after the final group match. “If any of the players were carded they would have been out of the quarterfinals. And we had injuries. I had no choice.”

“Yes we do (have a lot of injuries),” Hart said. “I am going to have to wait on the medical staff. We have quite a few injuries but the good sign is that they all participated in some light training on Monday.”

Whether Hart is merely using a ploy to cover up his starting squad for Saturday’s game, or in fact many players are indeed suffering minor setbacks, the squads that Hart has fielded has been anything less than impressive.

However, at full strength, Hart understands the full potential of his team, which has been the most impressive team in the tournament, passing all expectations.

“I don’t know if we can actually say we are a favourite,” Hart said when asked of the success. “I think things fell in place a lot quicker than we anticipated and that is all a credit to the players’ work ethic and concentration throughout the training and as the games went on.

“We have played progressively better and got stronger,” Hart said of the first three matches. “And now we are starting to find a rhythm.”

Hopefully they continue this rhythm on Saturday night, and hopefully a rematch of the 2007 Semi-Final awaits.