PREVIEW – A day before facing their biggest challenge so far the Canada men’s soccer team put in the final touches for their game against Uruguay on Tuesday.
Canada men’s soccer team prepares for a tough Uruguay team
We ain't taking days off on this mission. 🇨🇦📈
The hard work continues for #CANMNT in Europe in advance of Tuesday's clash with Uruguay. #WeCAN pic.twitter.com/HgV4L71WkV
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) September 25, 2022
Tajon Buchanan and his injury status
Training once again at their practice site the MOL Soccer Academy, we got an update on Tajon Buchanan who we should see on Tuesday night albeit playing limited minutes. He met the media on Sunday to talk about his recovery from a quad injury.
“It is good because I have been injured for two months and it has been a tough process but now that I feel good again and I can start training again and hopefully get some games in and I am happy.”
Buchanan explains how the injury came to be and mentioned it was the most difficult time of his career so far dealing with his first serious injury.
“It was just in warmups in the first cup game of the season which was the Super Cup and I took a shot in warmups and I felt my quad and since then it has been an up and down journey and I tried to come back in training and hurt it again and it was a tough period and I am happy that I am fit now and can play some games.”
He also gave his thoughts on playing one of the best countries in the world and gave his expectations for the matchup.
“It is nice to test ourselves against a top side and they have really good players and obviously go out there and show our quality and focus on ourselves and we treat the game like every other and hopefully come out with a win.”
John Herdman on facing Uruguay
John Herdman who has been busy at work trying to find the perfect game plan to counter the strong side from Uruguay spoke to the media and gave his final sense on the game.
“I think you have a genuine experience, international experience as a starting point with Luis Suarez and you have the athleticism and the youth of Darwin Nunez and you have a lot of qualities that our boys have to embrace and it is a good opportunity and they will learn in each moment.”
Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller on facing Uruguay
Alistair Johnston also spoke about the opportunity to play against a team he admits he watched as a kid and was a big fan of Edison Cavani.
“We can only beat the teams that are in front of us and in the past 12-24 months I think we have done a good job of that but at the same time ramp up going into a World Cup this is a team you are looking at and obviously Qatar another quality opponent but you look at Uruguay as a football historian when it comes to World Cups.”
Johnston outlined some keys to the game as well as what he thinks he can take from this big game against the South American powerhouse.
“I think the biggest takeaway is getting through those first five minutes and realizing it is still football and it is nothing different and thinking that you do not need to be overwhelmed and we belong in this game and that is a strong moment and that is the biggest thing that we want to take out of these games.”
Kamal Miller echoed Johnston’s thoughts as he gave his sense of the game on Tuesday night at National Stadium in Bratislava.
“It provides a massive test for the group and probably one of our best games to this day, it is a team that has a lot of experience and played a lot of major tournaments with very experienced veteran players like Suarez and Nunez who are playing at top clubs so overall it is just a good test, it is a different look than Qatar and we know they are very physical.”
The Canada men’s soccer game against a tough Uruguay side
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ preparation continues Tuesday as #CANMNT take on Uruguay in Bratislava, Slovakia.
📅: Tuesday 27 September
⏰: 12pm ET / 9am PT
🆚: 🇺🇾 Uruguay
🏟️: Stadion Tehelné Pole, Slovakia 🇸🇰
📺: @onesoccer
#️⃣: #WeCAN pic.twitter.com/FXfHEXvYy7— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) September 26, 2022
Canada will face Uruguay at the Stadion Tehelne Pole or National Football Stadium with the kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. local or 12:00 p.m. ET and the game can be seen live on OneSoccer. Canada will look to make it two wins this month as they won against Qatar last Friday.
Photo Credit: Canada Soccer’s Twitter Account on September 25, 2022.
