“I was talking to my mom last week, and she told me that John might not be coming back,” said national-team keeper Erin McLeod, who was in Calgary Thursday for the launch of the elite women’s team. “I almost had a heart attack. He’s been so phenomenal for this group. For me, especially, I can’t imagine playing for anyone else.”

“It’s not a penalty. I’m biting my lips here as hard as I possibly can,” Miller said, sporting a wry smile. “What I’m saying and what I’m feeling are two totally different things, I can assure you.”

Luckily for Canada, the game against Mexico takes place in Seattle, which offers Canadian fans the best chance to cross the border and see the match, as it’s a nice short jaunt from Vancouver. As well, Canada avoids playing Mexico in Los Angeles, a venue which basically gives El Tri a home game. As well, no team would want to face Mexico in the altitude in Denver, which would again be a major advantage for the team in green — as most of its players are accustomed to playing in the thinner air.

As part of the 100th-issue celebration, I was tasked to find current and former members of the Canadian men's national team, and to simply ask them to talk about their favourite moments in international football.

On Tuesday, Dasovic named his preliminary 23-man roster for the CONCACAF U-209 Championship. The team will gather Feb. 11 in Mexico City for a pre-tournament camp. And, right before the team plays its Feb. 18 opener in Puebla against Cuba, Dasovic will need to pare the roster down to 20 players.

The Canadian Soccer Association announced Monday that the men’s national team will play a friendly against Denmark on Jan. 27.

Mexico is the devil we know. Maybe it’s time to do a deal with that devil, and bring some of those guts, and that know-how, to the politically correct Canadian soccer landscape

“You can plan to play the Mexicans, you can talk about what you have to do against the Mexicans, but it’s nothing like when you actually have to play them, the way they pass and move,” said Gardner.

"A couple of weeks ago we had some clubs ask us about his services," Cochrane said. "We've toyed with the idea and continued to kind of think about whether to loan him out. Quito was one of those clubs, and a couple of clubs in Mexico also."

At halftime, TFC defied critics by being tied 2-2 with a team that hasn’t lost at home this season. But, by the 64-minute mark of the game, it was all but over.