Bruce Wilson can still remember the rumble of the crowd increasing ominously with every footstep as he led sa国际传媒, as captain, through the tunnel to the pitch at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
鈥淚t is intimidating,鈥� said the 28-season University of Victoria Vikes head coach.
鈥淵ou walk out and you can鈥檛 believe how high the bowl goes almost straight up all around you. And the crowd is about 100,000 and crazy as hell. It鈥檚 nuts. It鈥檚 very hard on our team. It鈥檚 made harder by the fact elevation [7,200 feet] is a factor and the Mexican team is a factor.鈥�
Tonight a new generation of Canadian players, including Bays United and Lower Island Metro graduates Adam Straith and Simon Thomas of Victoria, will get the full-blast Azteca experience, where sa国际传媒 is 0-5-1 all-time and has been outscored 21-2 by regional soccer power Mexico.
sa国际传媒 is 1-1-1 and Mexico 3-0 heading into the CONCACAF Group A World Cup qualifier for Russia 2018 (7:30 p.m. on TSN2).
sa国际传媒 goes in a remarkably buoyant and optimistic team despite a 3-17-7 all-time record against Mexico, including the 3-0 drubbing on Friday night before a record 54,798 fans at sa国际传媒 Place Stadium.
鈥淸Tonight] is a chance for a number of us to gain valuable experience in such a hostile environment. These are the special games to play in, and there would be no better feeling to have a positive experience down here,鈥� said Straith, from Mexico City.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us to try and get a positive result down here. We have analyzed what went wrong in Vancouver and feel confident we can put forth a better performance, even with all the factors going against us in Mexico,鈥� added Straith, who is expected to earn his 35th cap tonight by again starting on the Canadian back line, while fellow Islander Thomas again backs up starting goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
鈥淲e all know it is a challenge to come down here and get points. But it鈥檚 not something that is impossible. We have the belief within the squad.鈥�
sa国际传媒 had two very good chances to score in the first 22 minutes Friday through Junior Hoilett and Cyle Larin.
Straith said the game might have turned out differently if sa国际传媒 had converted some of those good early chances, which would have better allowed it to go into a defensive posture against the free-flowing Mexicans.
鈥淚f sa国际传媒 scored early Friday, or does [tonight], it鈥檚 a totally different game,鈥� agreed Wilson, although he doesn鈥檛 recommend again trying to play an open run-gun style against Mexico, as it tried Friday with disastrous results.
鈥淥ur attacking players are good. But still, those were ridiculous tactics. We simply did not realize the pressure the Mexican team can exert on the counter. Our back line was suspect. We need to be compact and determined. When our team played [Wilson was capped 51 times and captained the only Canadian side to qualify for the World Cup in 1986], we created nothing up front but we gave away nothing at the back. On Friday, the Canadians wanted to show the large home crowd and TV audience how good we are, when it鈥檚 actually only about getting results. That鈥檚 the only thing that counts.鈥�
Even if sa国际传媒 is unable to hold Mexico to a tie tonight, it is also imperative not to lose by too much because it could come down to goal differential in Group A.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 sell the farm [tonight] and give up a ton of goals,鈥� said the former defender Wilson, who played for sa国际传媒 from 1975 to 1986, and was the only Canadian player named to the CONCACAF Team of the Century selected in 1998.
Wilson remembers a rum bottle thrown from the stands and smashing off the goal post next to his head as he lined up for a corner kick in a qualifier against Mexico played in Toluca.
鈥淭hose experiences were invaluable as we moved up the CONCACAF rankings,鈥� he added.
They will be, too, for Straith, Thomas and this generation.
鈥淚n a stadium where communication is almost impossible, it will mean that we will all have to be more concentrated than normal,鈥� said Straith. 鈥淲e will have to be much more organized in order to be successful.鈥�
World No. 22 Mexico has the full nine points in Group A, No. 87 sa国际传媒 four points, third-place El Salvador two points at 0-1-2 and last-place Honduras one point at 0-2-1.
The top two teams in Group A will advance to next year鈥檚 six-team final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, from which the top-three will advance to Russia 2018, and the fourth-place finisher will play Asia No. 5.
