Puerto Rico v Canada: Haber targets more momentum

Marcus Haber has called on Canada to build momentum in Monday’s friendly against Puerto Rico as Benito Floro’s men continue preparations for World Cup qualifying and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Haber scored his second senior international goal when he headed in Kyle Bekker’s corner in last Friday’s 1-0 victory over Guatemala in Florida.

That result ended Canada’s four-match winless run and followed January’s promising 1-1 draw against Iceland.

Canada face sterner challenges in the coming months with a World Cup qualifying tie against British Virgin Islands or Dominica in June, followed by the Gold Cup that starts in July.

And Haber is in optimistic mood ahead of those tests due to the strength of Canada’s squad.

“We’re getting up to the real thing with the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifiers so it’s important we get some results and everyone’s happy for sure,” Haber told the official website for Canada’s national team.

“This gives us confidence. We feel good as a team and we’ve got good depth and players that can contribute all over the park and the players that came off the bench [against Guatemala] gave us a lift.”

Team-mate David Edgar believes that Canada are continuing to improve under experienced former Real Madrid coach Floro.

“He’s [Floro] very interesting, he’s got his quirks he’s a funny guy,” he added. 

“But he’s serious about what he does and it rubs off on us and we just need to keep listening to him and learning from the coaching staff I think we’ll be fine.”

Puerto Rico are ranked some 44 spots below Canada in the official FIFA world rankings and have not won a match since battering Saint Martin 9-0 in September 2012.

But head coach Carlos Avedissian believes the current crop are capable of achieving big things.

“[It is] a young group with a lot of motivation,” he said. “In the group to play the Canadian team, 80 per cent of the team has experience in Olympic tournaments.”

The match also offers Puerto Rico the ideal opportunity to prepare for their own World Cup qualifying tie against Grenada and midfielder Alexis Rivera is eager for the team to test themselves.

“We know we are facing a strong challenge,” he said. “We know that we can measure where we are at this time. It is important to know where we are to continue working in view of qualifying for the World Cup.”