The Canadian men’s national team will face Macedonia on 14 November in Skopje, Macedonia. The international friendly will be Canada’s first match following their strong run to the quarter-finals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
At the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada finished first in its group with two wins and one draw before falling 0:1 to Honduras in the quarter-final stage. Following the completion of the tournament, Canada’s Julian de Guzman and Mike Klukowski were named to the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team. Klukowski was selected as one of six defenders while de Guzman was selected as one of six midfielders.
The Macedonian national team, currently ranked 66th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, are coming off a UEFA World Cup Qualifying cycle in which they failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Macedonia finished fourth in Group 9 behind the Netherlands, Norway, and Scotland.
Canada and Macedonia share a short competitive history. The two sides have faced each other only once before in international play. The lone match took place on 18 May, 1998 in Toronto. A Niall Thompson goal was the difference on the day as Canada won 1:0.
The friendly will be Canada’s second European based match of 2009 following their 1:0 defeat of Cyprus in May. Canada’s Simeon Jackson scored the lone goal in the match.
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