Canada Set to Kick Off 2018 Season

Today marks the beginning of the 2018 season for Canada. The men in red are kicking off their season against New Zealand in a friendly match today in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain. This match will be the first game under the new coach John Herdman. John Herdman has had his share of success with the women’s team in recent years and hopefully he can help the men’s team progress in the same way.

Canada will take part of the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying starting in September. Friendlies, like such, will be detrimental in helping the Canadian men establish a chemistry with each other and their new coaching staff which includes ex-Impact coach Mauro Biello.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Canada has been developing a more impressive program showing a little more success in recent years but a lot of improvements need to made to even consider qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. They have a lot of fight in them but a lack of cohesion and outstanding talent is limiting their progression. It will be interesting to see Herdman and company establish themselves by getting players like Ballou Tabla to commit to Canada or calling up the right players to fill the lineup.

To catch the first friendly and game of the 2018 season you can tune in via CanadaSoccer.com 11:00 ET. Look forward to seeing Impact players Samuel Piette, Michael Petrasso and Raheem Edwards.