Fans of the USA will know whether their team is destined to play the winner or loser of this match, since the US U-23s take on Honduras in the opening game of CONCACAF's Olympic qualifying double-header at Rio Tinto Stadium.
As with the preceding match, the winner of this game is guaranteed a spot in the Brazil 2016 men's Olympic soccer tournament. The final on October 13 is little more than a chance for one of CONCACAF's Brazil-bound squads to pack regional bragging rights in the suitcases that head to the Olympics next summer.
It will be a big surprise if the winner of this semifinal is not Mexico, which has the right to be regarded as the best team in CONCACAF at this level. El Tri marched through the group stage unbeaten, winning all three of its games, conceding just one goal. Canada couldn't put away a defection-revaged Cuba side in its last game of its group, and lost to the USA - the one team, on paper, that looks capable of challenging Mexico's presumed regional supremacy in the U-23 age group.
Still, the Canadians have talent in their squad - not least, Michael Petrasso, who has scored against every team he's played in this tournament. There is evidence to suggest Canada's soccer program is finally recovering from the protracted sulk it entered after being drubbed out of the last World Cup qualifying cycle by Honduras. Losing to Mexico won't undo the encouraging work being done to rehabilitate North America's least-competent national team. But if Canada beats El Tri, expect to hear a lot more about the work Benito Floro and his technical staff have done to lift the program out of its prolonged depression.
