Dobson on soccer: As good as it gets

Most members of the Canadian men’s national team will tell you this place is as good as it gets as far as an ideal training camp is concerned.

It’s right on the Mediterranean Sea, close to the southern Turkish city of Antalya. Call it the Turkish Riviera for lack of a better comparative term. It has row upon row of luxury resorts with everything you can imagine.

Tucked in behind is row upon row of golf courses. Eight of them in the immediate area I’m told. And full soccer practice facilities, one after the other. Dozens of Northern European teams hold base camp here during the winter break.

Canada is here for a week leading up to Tuesday night’s friendly with Belarus. Head coach Stephen Hart called in 22 players for this camp. They’re all here and no one is carrying an injury.

Some of you have been wondering why certain players have not been called in. Marcel de Jong and Iain Hume come to mind. No big mystery there. He knows what these players bring to the table.

Keep in mind coach Hart has to pick his spots when requesting players. Also keep in mind there will be another camp in the Toronto area in late May and a friendly at BMO Field June 1 leading into this summer’s Gold Cup.

While some players were not called, Ali Gerba is one who was called but declined the invitation. Perhaps he realizes he’s not fit enough at this point in the season to be of any use.

Speaking of call-ups, everyone here is asking what’s up with under-20 players Ashtone Morgan and Doneil Henry. There’s a sense of disbelief and frustration that both have been held back from the national team in Under 20 World Cup Qualifying by Toronto FC.

Back to the good news though. The sessions have been very impressive. Assistant coach Tony Fonseca told me Sunday morning that Saturday’s training session was the sharpest he had seen with Canada in five years. The players are focused and it shows. Crisp drills with plenty of energy.

The squad has been here the better part of a week now and they’re all anxious to face Belarus Tuesday. There’s also a sense among the likes of Josh Simpson and Atiba Hutchinson that their time is now. They seem to be fed up with stumbling during the early stages of World Cup Qualifying and appear determined to make things right this time around.

Aren’t we all.

We’re here gathering plenty of material for future Soccercentral programming. Watch for upcoming interviews with Simpson, Hutchinson, goalkeeper Milan Borjan and others on our show over the course of the next month.

There’ll be a full game report next Saturday as well. Also keep checking our website and of course Twitter for more content from Turkey.