Canada provides a real issue for CONCACAF; our recognized national championship is the Voyageurs Cup. How well a Canadian club does in USL, NASL or MLS has no bearing on Champions League qualification. In the eyes of the region, the Voyageurs Cup is a more important trophy for a Canadian team to win than MLS Cup.

Post-Christmas, Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani told the media that he was “open” to the idea of a joint bid between Canada, the United States and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup.

Remember, though, FIFA has a rule about senior World Cups. All games must be played on the same surface. Either they’re all on grass, or all on artificial turf. Unless that rule changes, or the Mexicans and Americans agree to tear up a lot of grass, a joint bid would mean that Canadians would be left with the very pricy option of placing grass surfaces in stadiums.

But, just minutes after he was elected, it feels surreal. A Canadian now has the levers of power in his hands. Of course, he has a massive job; in a FIFA community that’s dogged by scandals, CONCACAF may be the most corrupt member of the family. Three previous presidents have all been caught with their hands in a very, very, large cookie jar.

“Down here in Edmonton, I can’t really say much about it!” laughed Corea after the Eddies’ training-camp session Wednesday at Commonwealth Fieldhouse. “I might get my head chopped off by the gaffer and some of the guys here. But I want my team to qualify.”

But, if Montagliani was to win the presidency — and his candidacy is backed by the Canadian Soccer Association — it would only grow to this country’s growing presence in the region. Canada’s Sonia Denoncourt has already been charged with helping improve the standard of CONCACAF refereeing; some cynics would say she’s in charge of actually creating a standard for CONCACAF refs. And Scotiabank has taken over as the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Canadian soccer followers have seen it in World Cup qualifiers and in the CONCACAF Champions League — how the standards of officiating differ between Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. But Canadian official Sonia Denoncourt has been put in charge of the region’s referees — can she create standards that make sure no one ever gets “CONCACAF-fed” again?

The U-20 team qualified for the Women’s World Cup; but was youth really served by the decision to rest key players for the final game of the CONCACAF Championship?

Advanced analytics are helping soccer managers across the world assess their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. But Canada was one of the first national programs to embrace analytics — way back in the early ‘80s

But Herdman stuck to the mantra that the gaps in women’s football are continually closing, and he said the group-stage games will present their own unique challenges. If Canada was to play one of the bigger CONCACAF nations, it could expect a more free-flowing game. But, we can expect to see a lot of parked buses in the games against Guatemala, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.