MEXICO CITY — Canada will be without newcomer Scott Arfield as the team enters into the cauldron that is Estadio Azteca looking to salvage something from its pair of World Cup qualifiers against Mexico on Tuesday night.
Arfield was the notable absence as the team arrived at its hotel on Sunday evening in Mexico’s capital and it was later confirmed that he wasn’t on the plane dealing with a back injury. He had come into the game for the second half in Friday’s 3-0 loss to Mexico and made an instant impact. But he went down under a challenge after being played in on goal in one of Canada’s better scoring chances on the night.
“(Arfield) suffered a pain in the back and it was not possible to play for him. In this case, it will be better to send the player to the club,” head coach Benito Floro confirmed on Monday prior to the team’s evening training session.
The team will be looking to bounce back after a 3-0 loss dampened the mood after what was a record crowd that nearly reached 55,000 at BC Place in Vancouver.
Putting it mildly, however, it’s a tough place for a team to rebound considering the legends that have circulated about how the fans welcome their opponents at Azteca. The most famous of those stories involves urine and plastic bags, which only makes things even more difficult considering the capacity is listed at 95,000.
The altitude further adds to the mystique of playing in this facility, so many people aren’t counting on Canada to come away with any points and are hoping just for an improved performance that the team can build on when two massive qualifiers (against Honduras and El Salvador) come around in September.
“We have to mentally put ourselves in the mindset where we can’t let the environment have an effect on us,” said captain Julian de Guzman. “We can’t find ourselves overwhelmed and lose focus of our plans. We have qualities that’s effective in these type of games and we have to stick to it and be disciplined.”
“Tactically, we really have to get back in shape and find some type of rhythm in the game and commit as a team in the 90 minutes.”
Well aware of the odds and the limited expectations that they have for this encounter, the Canadians will be coming in with something to prove and feel that if they get a better performance tactically, they have the pieces to trouble a Mexican side that has been unflappable through three games in this group stage so far.
Results have been an impossibility in this stadium for Canada as it has never even picked up a draw, but last cycle some other teams proved that the Mexicans are human after all and they believe that on their day, there’s something on the table for them.
“Getting a result here is not a myth. It’s an actual fact,” said de Guzman. “For us, it’s important that we continue to believe in ourselves. It was a hard defeat to swallow but these CONCACAF qualifier games, there’s not much time to sit there and dwell on a defeat. So we get ourselves together and it starts from tomorrow.”
