Canadian men鈥檚 national soccer team coach Benito Floro continues to find favour with Adam Straith of the Victoria.
The defender/midfielder from the Island is pegged for his potential 27th and 28th caps with the announcement Thursday that Straith has been named to Floro鈥檚 22-player roster for the third-round CONCACAF qualifying set against Belize beginning Sept. 4 at BMO Field in Toronto. The second leg is scheduled for Sept. 8 in Belmopan, the capital of the only Commonwealth country in Central America.
It gets serious after that, with the winner advancing to a fourth-round CONCACAF qualifier group in November that includes Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador.
sa国际传媒 dominated 8-0 on the aggregate in the last two-game set it played against Belize in 2004. But Floro warned about complacency and looking past any opponent when a mis-step could cause an embarrassing early elimination from World Cup 2018 Russia.
鈥淲e need to maintain our concentration against Belize,鈥� said Floro, in a statement.
鈥淲e must treat them with respect, because in eliminatory games like this, there are no small teams.鈥�
Pouring it on with goals galore at home in the first game at BMO will be imperative.
The 24-year-old Straith, the Bays United and Lower Island Metro product who plays pro with Fredrikstad of the Norwegian Premiership and who has been a favorite of Floro鈥檚, was part of the campaign in the second round that saw sa国际传媒, ranked No. 101 in the world, dispatch Dominica in June. No. 123-ranked Belize defeated the Dominican Republic in the second round.
Straith and veteran Marcus Haber from Vancouver are the only two sa国际传媒 players selected for the Belize set, although Niagara Falls鈥� Russell Teibert plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Floro鈥檚 roster features nine MLS players but none from Toronto FC. The Montreal Impact are represented by goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and midfielder Kyle Bekker, while Teibert and defender Samuel Adekugbe carry the Whitecaps colours.
