de Guzman out for today’s game against Panama
Still coming down from Saturday’s Brazil high in Seattle and I can’t even imagine what the Canadian players are going through today. From playing Brazil in front of 50,000 fans in Seattle, to playing in front of no one in a closed Friendly against Panama in Florida at 5:00pm EST today. I am not sure why the game is closed, but it’s certainly going to be a different atmosphere than Saturday’s tilt at Qwest.
Both sides were originally scheduled to meet in Panama City, but the match was moved to Florida since both sides were already in the US. There is no television coverage of the game.
In addition, this will be a different Canadian squad than Saturday. First off, Julian de Guzman is out with a knock to the knee. Reports are that it isn’t serious, but it looks like he will miss today’s game against Panama, but be back for Canada’s first WCQ match against St. Vincent and the Grenadines June 15 in Kingstown. Toronto FC medical staff are treating de Guzman back in Toronto.
Also out for today’s game are midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad both heading back to the Houston Dynamo, meaning Greg Sutton should get the call today
Going into the lineup is TFC defender Jim Brennan and forward Ali Gerba, who plays for German club FC Ingolstadt.
Canadian coach Dale Mitchell has said he is going to name the final 18 for the SVG match after tonight;’s game, so expect there to be a lot of other changes in the lineup from Saturday’s game as he takes one final look at all the talent at his disposal before making his final decision.
“I want to see some of the guys I didn’t see for very long against Brazil,” Mitchell said. “We’ve seen these guys in training. We want to give them an international game because that’s the best way to judge.
Reading into Mitchell’s words here, I suspect we’ll see more of Tam Nsaliwa, Jamie Peters and Patrice Bernier than their brief appearances against Brazil. I also suspect Ali Gerba may get the call up front over Rob Friend, if Mitchell’s intent is to see what his other options are.
Panama is right there with us in the CONCACAF rankings (tied for 60) and had a decent run at the Gold Cup last year, making it to the Quarter Finals before being defeated by the US. The Panama game won’t be televised, which means we probably won’t be seeing any highlights from either this game or the first game of the WCQ against SVG, which is also not being televised.
