Adam Straith of Victoria remains in the unique position of being one of the few unattached players in the world to regularly earn caps for his national team.
Straith, without a pro club contract since playing for SV Wehen Wiesbaden of Germany in 2013-14, is among 24 players invited to the Canadian camp in Orlando for the two friendlies against world No. 33 Iceland on Friday and Monday at the University of Central Florida.
“It has been a frustrating couple of months,” said Straith, a 24-year-old defender out of the Bays United who has been capped 18 times.
“With most of the leagues either starting their preseason or getting off their winter break, January is a better time to be looking for clubs. I do have a couple of options I am in the process of deciding on, and will be most likely heading there after these two games.”
Meanwhile, Iceland is an intriguing opponent. It came within one game, a playoff loss to Croatia, of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which would have made Iceland the smallest country ever to qualify. Iceland then knocked off the Dutch in early Euro 2016 qualifying.
“These are going to be two very difficult games,” said Straith, who stayed fit by working out in Victoria.
“Iceland has never really been known as a powerhouse, but has now made a name for itself after wins against Turkey and the Netherlands. This is a chance for us to play against a team we should be trying to emulate. It will be a good test for us to start a big year.”
With most of the European-based players unavailable as the camp doesn’t fall in a FIFA international window, head coach Benito Floro has called in a predominantly North American-based squad as Canada prepares for FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers in June, as well as this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Meanwhile, defender Emily Zurrer of Crofton and her Canadian women’s teammates have already won the four-nation BaoAn Cup in Shenzhen with 2-1 victories over both South Korea and Mexico. But today’s final against host China is still important because this is the team against which Canada will open the 2015 FIFA World Cup on June 6 in Edmonton.
