Europe just began World Cup qualifying play for Russia 2018 over the weekend. sa国际传媒鈥檚 hopes will likely already be over after tonight.
Defender Adam Straith of Victoria knows his and his Canadian teammates鈥� chances oscillate between slim and faint when they face El Salvador at sa国际传媒 Place (7 p.m. on TSN) in the final game of their CONCACAF semifinal group.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all obviously very aware that a lot of things have to go right for us to go through, but the mood of the team is optimistic,鈥� said the Bays United and Lower Island Metro product.
Honduras finishes today at Azteca Stadium against undefeated Mexico, which has clinched a berth into the final round of CONCACAF qualifying. Honduras is on seven points and sa国际传媒 four in the race for the second and final berth out of this group into the last round of CONCACAF qualifying. sa国际传媒 can tie Honduras with a win over El Salvador and a Mexico victory against Honduras. The problem is Honduras holds a commanding lead of plus-five in goal differential (goals-for-and-against) over sa国际传媒 in the tiebreaker. sa国际传媒 must not only win by an avalanche of goals tonight against El Salvador but also hope Mexico beats Honduras buy a truck load of goals, too.
鈥淭he only thing we can control is getting a favourable result here [sa国际传媒 Place], and then let the rest take care of itself,鈥� said Straith.
Unless that miracle happens, sa国际传媒 will be looking toward Qatar 2022 as the next chance to end a drought that stretches to this nation鈥檚 lone World Cup appearance in 1986.
Questions remain about just how motivated already-eliminated El Salvador will be tonight, which is good for sa国际传媒. But, also, how motivated will assured-passage Mexico be against Honduras? That augers less well for sa国际传媒.
Those are just hypotheticals. sa国际传媒 can only do what is within its control, which is open the throttles wide and try to score as many goals as it can against El Salvador. Straith said the vibe in camp remains upbeat, despite the long odds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to see the mood of the boys being so positive. I think it鈥檚 important to forget about all the past games and put all of our energy into scoring as many as we can; and obviously not let El Salvador get anything from the game,鈥� said Straith.
It鈥檚 a last gasp, but at least it鈥檚 still a gasp.
鈥淲e鈥檙e expecting another big crowd for the game [sa国际传媒 sold out sa国际传媒 Place for the 3-0 loss to Mexico in March] and I think the mood in the stadium will be energetic,鈥� said Straith, who has 36 caps.
The 25-year-old Islander, who plays pro in Norway, added it鈥檚 up to sa国际传媒 to ride that emotion and hope for the best.
鈥淚t鈥檚 up to us to keep the crowd [energetic] and play exciting football . . . hopefully, with a lot of goals.鈥�
While also keeping one eye on Azteca Stadium and hoping against hope.
