In international sport, there usually isn鈥檛 a next year. Only a next four years. Or six years, in the case of the Canadian men鈥檚 soccer team, which must now set its sights on Qatar World Cup 2022.
Dreams of Russia World Cup 2018 ended Tuesday night inside sa国际传媒 Place for defender Adam Straith of Victoria and his Canadian teammates, who failed to advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for Russia 2018 despite beating El Salvador 3-1 in their final semifinal group qualifying game.
鈥淲e are devastated to not be moving on, but I honestly think there are a big number of positive things to take away from this campaign,鈥� said Straith, a product of Bays United and Lower Island Metro.
Straith will be 31 by the time Qatar 2022 rolls around, although CONCACAF qualifying will begin in 2019. He said he hopes to be a part of that campaign, as he started eight of the 10 Canadian games in the Russia 2018 qualifying campaign, and subbing into the two other games.
The future of Canadian head coach Benito Floro must certainly be in doubt. The goal was to at least reach the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, also known as the Hexagonal, for the first time since 1998 and take it from there. The Spaniard Floro failed in that quest and will likely face the consequences.
Floro displayed great faith in Straith.
The Islander said he believes things are pointed in the right path, despite falling short for Russia 2018, which continues the drought in which sa国际传媒 has failed to reach the World Cup since its lone appearance in 1986.
鈥淭here are still things that have to be addressed, from an overall perspective, in moving the entire program forward,鈥� said Straith.
鈥淲e are by no means perfect, but I think the steps everyone involved has taken these last few years, has put us in the right direction.鈥�
If there was one game sa国际传媒 wishes it could have back, it鈥檚 the scoreless draw last November in El Salvador. sa国际传媒 finished one point behind Honduras for the second and last berth out of the group into the final round. Regional power Mexico won the group.
鈥淚t鈥檚 honestly hard to try and pin it down to one thing. I do think that the game away in El Salvador was our best chance at getting an away win,鈥� said Straith.
鈥淲e did have chances in that game to get three points. That is something we, as a team, have to get better at, especially away in these countries. These are very difficult places to go and get a result. So in the future if we get opportunities like that, we have to take them.鈥�
Look for Dario Zanatta of Victoria, a rising sa国际传媒 U-20 forward who plays in the Scottish Premiership for Hearts, to take a role up front for sa国际传媒 in Qatar 2022 qualifying. Norwegian Premiership goalkeeper Simon Thomas of Victoria, No. 3 on the Canadian depth chart, should see more minutes in the Canuck crease in the years ahead.
Straith plans to be there, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always been an honour playing for my country. It is something I hope I can do for the rest of my career, and one day be a part of bringing this program to where I think it deserves to be,鈥� said the 37-time capped Islander.
鈥淚t is sad for me this campaign is over. But I鈥檓 also excited to pass on my experiences to the younger generations that are coming through in future campaigns.鈥�
Straith said he will return to finish his pro season in the Norwegian second division.
鈥淚 am heading back to Norway right away as we have another league game this weekend, and we are on the final push of our season which ends at the end of October,鈥� said Straith, who has also played pro in Germany.
鈥淢y contract is up at the end of this year. So I will take some time to address what is the best possible move for my career going forward.鈥�
