NASH AT THE GOLD CUP

May 30, 2007 - As Martin Nash prepares for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament with the Canadian national team, we hear from the Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder in Stephan Hart’s squad. In the first edition of his Gold Cup diary from Florida, the midfielder looks back at the team's first few days of preparations in Fort Lauderdale.

After playing on Friday night with the Whitecaps, I flew out early Sunday morning for Fort Lauderdale, where the team will be based during the Gold Cup. We didn’t get in until very late Sunday, so it wasn’t until Monday morning that we had the chance to formally assemble as a squad.

Although it was disappointing to leave the Whitecaps at this stage of the season, it was nice to be back with the guys in the national team again. It was the first time we had seen each other since our last trip to Bermuda back in March. Not every member of the squad is here in Florida at the moment. There are three players that are still completing their club commitments before they join up with us.

Our first training session took place on Monday morning. It was a light practice with some shooting drills and some work on ball possession. The session gave us the chance to get used to the weather here in Florida, as we will play all three of our group games at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Though the weather has not been too warm, it has been quite humid. That is probably the main thing that we will have to get used to with the climate here in the days and weeks to come.

On Tuesday, the team had a very good training session. We played a small-sided game before doing some work on team shape. As we do not have the chance to get together as a team that often, it is important that we work on such areas ahead of a major tournament like the Gold Cup, and before Friday’s game in Venezuela.

Our plan for Wednesday is to train in the morning before heading to the airport for an evening flight to the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo. We will then train for an hour in the stadium on Thursday morning in preparation for Friday’s friendly.

In the next edition of Nash’s Gold Cup diary, the midfielder looks ahead to Canada’s first-ever international encounter with Venezuela.


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