Piette wears the armband, Shome gets first cap in win over Barbados
Canada’s return to action on Tuesday was special for a few Impact players. Samuel Piette, the CanMNT veteran making his 47th appearance for the national team, wore the captain’s armband for the first time with the Reds.
He would be replaced in the 57th minute by Impact midfielder Shamit Shome, making his first appearance for the Canadian Men’s National Team. James Pantemis, on his end, was also called up and part of the squad, but did not feature.
Canada cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Barbados in its first game of the new year. John Herdman’s men will take on Barbados one more time on January 10, before facing Iceland on January 15.
The Canadian national team is in a race to finish in the top six Concacaf teams in FIFA’s official rankings before the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying officially starts, which would give them a chance to be a part of the Hex, the main way for Concacaf teams to qualify for the tournament.
These international games, although they are considered friendlies, gives the team an opportunity to gain some valuable FIFA points, while introducing some of the younger players to the renewed program under John Herdman.
