The Canadians needed a late second-half goal from FC Dallas draft pick Adonijah Reid to save them some serious blushes — Canada got out of the match with a narrow 2-1 win over Guadeloupe.

Eddy Viator, who had been previously on trial with the NASL’s Montreal Impact, has signed with Toronto FC. The defender, who played in Guadeloupe’s 1-0 loss to Canada at the recently completed Gold Cup, is eligible to appear in Wednesday night’s matchup against FC Dallas.

As the Montreal Impact prepares to face the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Stade Saputo Wednesday night, the team has brought another familiar face back into the fold. The club announced Tuesday that Canadian striker Marco Terminesi, a deal that lasts until the end of the 2011 season.

Now that Group A has completed its schedule, the picture for Canada and what it needs to do to qualify out of Group C has become crystal clear. If Canada beats Panama on Tuesday evening — even by a single goal — it will get through to the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup. And, barring a miracle result Monday night from Grenada, a draw will likely see the Canadian side going home early.

Canada knows that it must go to Kansas City and beat Panama, which leads the group with six points. (The U.S. and Canada have three each). If Canada beats Panama, and the U.S., as expected, beats Guadeloupe, we would have a three-way tie for first. And this is where it gets interesting. The Gold Cup tiebreakers — when more than two teams finish even on points, that is — is the goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question. In real English: The goals in the Guadeloupe games won’t count.

Canadian men’s national team coach Stephen Hart took some time Friday to chat with the media ahead of Saturday’s Gold Cup match against Guadeloupe in Tampa, Fla. After losing 2-0 to the U.S. in the opener of the regional championship, Canada looks to bounce back against the non-FIFA member island nation.

The time for talking is over — in just over 24 hours, Canada will look to upstage its rivals from the Unites States as both teams begin their Gold Cup campaigns in Detroit. Whenever the U.S. and Canada play each other it’s a big game, but when the neighbours take to the pitch on Tuesday night, the Red and White will also have revenge on its mind.

With the CONCACAF Gold Cup less than eight weeks away, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart was in Toronto on Thursday morning to discuss Canada’s preparation for the tournament as well as its June 1 friendly with Ecuador at BMO Field.

Russell Teibert’s inspired second-half performance helped save Canada from an embarrassing opening to the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. The Vancouver Whitecaps’ winger set up both second-half goal as Canada rallied to beat Guadeloupe 2-1. Guadaloupe is so tiny, it’s not a FIFA member — so it can’t qualify for the U-20 World Cup even if, by some great upset, got to the semis of this tournament in Guatemala.