TORONTO - Ray Clark admits it's tough not to be intimidated any time players step on the pitch against soccer powerhouse Argentina.
Clark will coach Canada's under-20 men's team Sunday in an international friendly against world champion Argentina, marking the one year anniversary of the first game played at BMO Field.
"It's always going to be a struggle playing against a top team," Clark said in a conference call Thursday. "But when you walk out there on the field it starts nil-nil, as long as you don't give anything silly away, you've always got a chance of pulling something off, so that's the way we're going to approach it."
Canada lost 2-1 to Argentina in a friendly on May 11 of last year, the official opening of BMO Field. Argentina went on to capture the FIFA U-20 World Cup - the Gauchos' sixth title in 12 appearances - beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in the final.
Canada, meanwhile, failed to win a game or score a goal and was dispatched in three games.
Sunday's game, said Clark, will be the first step in evaluating the team that will try to qualify for the 2009 U-20 World Cup in Egypt.
"A game like Argentina against a top team, gives us a very, very good indication as to the players we have out on Sunday, whether they can handle it or they need to go back to the drawing board a little bit," Clark said.
Nana Attakora-Gyan of Orangeville, Ont., Gabe Gala of Brampton, Ont., and Marcus Haber of Vancouver are among the'-player roster as the only three back from last year's under-20 squad, which featured players born in'87 and later.
This year's roster features players born in'89 or later. Clark says there's a pool of about 30 players being considered for next year's under-20 World Cup.
Clark had his first look at his players Thursday morning, as the Canadians beat a mixed Toronto FC squad of reserve and first-team players 2-1 in a closed scrimmage.
The match was the first time this age group had been together since a couple of exhibition games two years ago against Scotland.
"The boys did quite well," Clark said. "They were a little nervous at first, the first time they'd played together for awhile, and it worked out reasonably well. We've seen some good things, and we still have a couple of things to work on before the weekend."
Clark said he didn't know a lot about the squad the Canadians will face Sunday as he hadn't seen it play. Argentina cancelled its news conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon due to a scheduling conflict, which didn't help.
But the Canadian coach does know the Argentines will be tough to beat.
"They're going to be highly technical players and they have a very, very strong national league so whether they're playing in Europe or at home in Argentina, you know you're going to get a very good player to deal with," Clark said. "We expect them to be on the ball quite a lot and to put us under a good deal of pressure tactically and we've now got to prepare ourselves to deal with that."
Despite the disappointment of Canada's showing at last year's U-20 World Cup, Clark said there is a strong crop of young Canadian players coming up, including the 12 from Sunday's roster that play in Europe.
And now with development programs such as Toronto FC's academy program, there are more opportunities for young players to take the pitch alongside older, more experienced players.
"I think that's a must, we have been missing that in Canada over the last number of years and it's something that our European, south American opponents get on a day-to-day basis," Clark said.
Former national team player Nick Dasovic, who coached Canada's under-23 men's team at the recent Olympic qualifying tournament, was named as head coach of the Toronto FC Academy.
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