By Canadian Press

U.S. coach talks up Canadians ahead of CONCACAF Nations League game

Oct 14, 2019 | 3:07 PM

TORONTO — Canada looks to end a 34-year, 17-match winless streak against the U.S. when the two teams meet Tuesday at BMO Field in CONCACAF Nations League play.

For the Canadian men, ranked 75th in the world compared to No. 21 for the Americans, it’s a chance to show off young attacking talent like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. Coach John Herdman is eager for another tough challenge given setbacks at this summer’s Gold Cup against No. 12 Mexico and No. 86 Haiti.

And the Canadians know a win over the Americans would help them in their bid to climb the FIFA rankings table and qualify for the six-team Hex, the most direct World Cup qualifying route out of the region.

The young Canadians drew praise from U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter before training Monday.

“It’s nice when you see a country have such young dynamic players because you know the future is going to be bright for them,” Berhalter said. “It think it’s going to be a really good team. I think it is a good team. They’ve showed that in this last year.

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“I think all across the board in all positions, they’re good. It’ll be a good challenge for us.”

The U.S. has dominated the series in recent years. It leads the overall series at 14-8-11 and has not lost to the Canadians since April 1985. The Americans have gone 9-0-8 since that 2-0 defeat in Vancouver.

Igor Vrablic scored both goals for Canada in that 1985 win. He turned 54 in July.

But the U.S. edge is only 7-6-4 in competitive matches against Canada, and is 3-6-2 in away matches.

BMO Field has been a fortress for Canada. The Canadian men are 10-1-7 there since the venue opened in 2007 and is currently riding an eight-year, 15-match unbeaten run there. Canada has posted six straight shutouts and conceded just once in its last 13 matches there.

The Americans are undergoing a transition of their own under Berhalter, who was named coach in December 2018.

“We have a lot of good young players … who have been given their first opportunities and experiences with the national team over the last year or two and have done very well,” said veteran U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley. “It’s a good group, it’s a group that comes every day ready to work and ready to try and improve.

“It’s a nice mix of guys in terms of some veterans, some younger guys and some guys in between. We’re not in a totally dissimilar boat in terms of a new team with a new coach trying to still figure out our best group, our best way to move forward. But we feel good about it.”

Canada’s 23-man roster, including the uncapped Amer Didic, Stephen Eustaquio and Liam Fraser, totals just 319 caps — an average of 13.9 per player. The U.S. roster averages 24 caps.

Canada and the U.S. have only met four times in the last 12 years with the U.S. winning twice with two draws. The last three meetings have produced just one goal, last time out in a 1-0 U.S. win in February 2016 in Carson, Calif.

“I think they’ll be very excited, very motivated,” Bradley said of the Canadians. “I think they’ll want to start in an aggressive way.”

BMO Field is Bradley’s home field as captain of Toronto FC. As such, he is likely to get a mixed reception Tuesday from the crowd. Canada Soccer said more than 15,000 tickets had already been sold with most of the lower bowl accounted for.

U.S. Soccer says Bradley, who has 150 caps to his credit, can become the first U.S. national team player to appear in an away match at his current home club stadium.

The two teams will meet again Nov. 15 in Orlando. The U.S. will face Cuba four days later in the Cayman Islands capital of Georgetown.

Both teams have already clobbered Cuba in CONCACAF Nations League Group A play.

Canada won 6-0 and 1-0 when the two met last month and the U.S., with Schalke 04 midfielder Weston McKennie completing his hat trick in the first 13 minutes, thrashing Cuba 7-0 in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

Cuban defender Yonaidis Garcia reportedly left the team after its arrival in the U.S. Another five players were said to have quit the squad on its trip to Canada last month.

The U.S. win means Canada can finish no lower than second in Group A, which means a berth in the next Gold Cup. The group winner advances to the CONCACAF Nations League final four in June.

U.S. at CANADA

Tuesday at BMO Field

NOTCHING WINS: A win over Canada would be Gregg Berhalter’s 10th in 16 games as U.S. coach (his current record is 9-4-2). That would be second-fastest among U.S. coaches behind Bob Bradley, who notched his 10th win in 11 matches in 2007. Canada is 9-2-0 under John Herdman.

UNAVAILABLE: The U.S. roster was reduced to 24 players after Atlanta defender Miles Robinson left with a hamstring strain. Teams are allowed to dress 23 players for CONCACAF Nations League games.

IN TORONTO: The U.S. is 0-2-1 all-time in Toronto, playing to a 0-0 draw most recently in June 2012.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2019.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press