Canada will face a depleted Haiti at the Gold Cup on Thursday with seven Haitian players sidelined by COVID-19.
Haiti dressed just 17 players Sunday in a 1-0 loss to the U.S. after five players and one assistant coach returned positive test results.
Coach Jean-Jacques Pierre said Wednesday that two more players were unavailable.
鈥淲e took the measures necessary every time we learn something to protect the rest of the group and continue to prepare (for) this competition,鈥� Pierre said through an interpreter in a virtual availability.
Canada coach John Herdman was sympathetic to Haiti鈥檚 plight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to actually live those (COVID) protocols 鈥� It鈥檚 difficult for players,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd again, once the virus is in an environment, it鈥檚 very hard to contain. We鈥檙e fortunate here. We have a lot of medical staff, people that are focused on it. But I know some teams, they just don鈥檛 have the depth of resources.
鈥淚 do feel for Haiti. They鈥檝e lost some good players 鈥� One thing I know about Haiti is they always show up. It doesn鈥檛 matter who鈥檚 on the pitch. The passion, the pride, the battle always comes. The critical part for us is the mentality of not falling into that trap of taking this Haitian team lightly. I don鈥檛 think you can take any Haitian team lightly.鈥�
Haiti captain Ricardo Ade showed that defiance.
鈥淭here are people affected by COVID but we remain concentrated and motivated,鈥� he said through an interpreter.
鈥淲e will fight (Thursday) 鈥� With a victory we will make the people of Haiti smile again,鈥� he added.
Herdman said all of his players will be available Thursday with the exception of Ross County midfielder Harry Paton, who is still working his way through COVID protocols arising from time with his Scottish club.
The 70th-ranked Canadian men defeated No. 83 Haiti 4-0 on aggregate when they met in a two-legged CONCACAF World Cup qualifying series last month. Canada is 9-2-2 all-time against Haiti, with one of the losses a 3-2 defeat in the 2019 Gold Cup quarterfinals 鈥� a game that saw the Canadians blow a 2-0 lead.
Canada, which downed unranked Martinique 4-1 in its opening match Sunday, wraps up Group B play Sunday against the 20th-ranked Americans. All of Canada鈥檚 group matches are at Children鈥檚 Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
While Canada showed composure in recovering from conceding a 10th-minute goal to Martinique, it received six cautions along the way. A second yellow against Haiti would force the likes of Stephen Eustaquio, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Steven Vitoria, Liam Fraser, Lucas Cavallini and Alistair Johnston out of the U.S. game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a tricky situation,鈥� said Herdman. 鈥淏ut I think (Thursday) it鈥檚 a game we must win. You know if you win that second game, it puts you in complete control. Typically it puts you in the quarterfinal and it allows you to make those considerations in Game 3, although Game 3 is the U.S., which I鈥檓 sure every man will want to play in that.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檒l put the best team out there tactically to win the game and 鈥榪ue sera, sera鈥� 鈥� whatever happens in that match will happen,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e need to make sure we get the result and we鈥檙e comfortable before we can start thinking about yellow cards and rotating.鈥�
Frantzdy Pierrot, who scored three goals in 11 minutes in Haiti鈥檚 preliminary-round 4-1 win over Bermuda, was among those who did not dress against the U.S. Pierrot, who plays for Guingamp in France鈥檚 second-tier, has four goals already at the tournament.
Haiti鈥檚 Duckens Nazon, whose last club was Belgium鈥檚 Sint-Truiden, did play against the Americans. Canada will remember Nazon, who scored the opening goal and set up the third in Haiti鈥檚 comeback win against Canada in 2019. He has three goals at this tournament.
The Canadians did not help their own cause in the 2019 loss. The first goal conceded came from a poor back pass while the second was from the penalty spot. Alphonso Davies lost the man he was marking on the third goal.
A potential late tying goal by Atiba Hutchinson, off a Davies free kick, was called offside.
Former Vancouver Whitecap Bryan Silvestre, now with the USL鈥檚 Miami FC, helped keep Haiti in the game against the U.S. with several big saves. The six-foot-five keeper, a former U.S. youth international, is a product of the Whitecaps residency program.
The CONCACAF championship, which features 16 teams including 2022 World Cup host Qatar as a guest entry, runs through Aug. 1 across the U.S. Haiti had to survive the tournament鈥檚 preliminary round, defeating St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Bermuda, to reach the main field.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
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