TORONTO, Canada — The 8-0 humiliation by France aside, head coach Winfried Schaefer is hoping that his Reggae Boyz band pick up from where they left off in the summer when they take on Canada here at the BMO Field at 7:30 pm (6:30 pm Jamaica time) today.

The Jamaicans were destroyed by a buoyant France aggregation inside the Stade Pierrre Mauroy in Lille in early June in the last game of a highly competitive four-match, two-week tour of North America and Europe.

Prior to the France debacle, the Boyz had lost 1-2 to Serba at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, 0-1 to Switzerland in Luzerne, before drawing 2-2 with Egypt in London in highly competitive and encouraging encounters.

Now Schaefer wants his charges to continue on the path of progress, even as he takes the opportunity to examine a few players in today’s contest against the FIFA Coca-Cola 122nd ranked Canadians.

A handful of those players, including regular captain Rodolph Austin, Adrian Mariappa, Joel Grant, Lloyd Doyley, Michael Seaton among others, are forced to sit out today’s contest due to injuries and or other problems, and the German coach sees this as an opportunity to test the readiness of other players as he puts the pieces together to identify players with the requisite qualities to compete at the highest level.

“We need to see which players have the quality for Japan and beyond,” Schaefer told the media yesterday. The Boyz are set to face Japan in their next international friendly in Niigata on October 10, before hosting the Caribbean Cup in Montego Bay from November 10-17.

The Boyz are also specially invited guests for next year’s Copa Amierca in Chile where they could rub shoulders with the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, etc, and also the possibility of participating in the CONCACAF Gold Cup next year.

“I know of these players (Austin, Mariappa, Doyley, etc), but I want to see what others have to offer. If they are not good enough, no problem, then I move on to others. I can play the same players every time, but I wouldn’t know what the others have to offer, and I wouldn’t be able to build a quality pool of players,” he explained.

For today’s game, the coach wants to continue to assess the capabilities of Upston Edwards, whom he believes is the only central defender in the current pool of players with the ability to use his left foot efficiently; he wants to see Evan Taylor in central midfield, and Jamar Loza of Norwich City in attack. He also plans to introduce 2011 Under-17 World Cup captain Omar Holness, of the University of North Carolina, at some stage to examine how well he has matured for senior international football.

The German will welcome back Bristol City central defender Nyron Nosworthy, who sustained an Achilles injury during the semi-final phase of the last World Cup qualifying campaign, but the veteran defender might have to watch from the bench as Edwards’ examination continues, depending on the formation employed by Schaefer.

Up to press time last evening the coach was tinkering with either a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2 formation, with the only certainty being that Leicester City captain and central defender Wesley Morgan will captain the side in search of its first victory over Canada on Canadian soil.

For the Boyz, Andre Blake will start in goal with captain Morgan and Edwards in central defence, flanked by Kemar Lawrence on the left and Alvas Powell on the right; Je-Vaughan Watson and Taylor will marshal central midfield, with Loza and Simon Dawkins on the left and right wings, supported by Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson and Deshorn Brown in attack.

That’s the team in a 4-4-2 formation, but if Schaefer and his technical staff opt for the 3-5 2 formation, then Loza will give way to the veteran Nosworthy, who will slot in at central defence to accompany Morgan and Edwards, while Dawkins will slip in behind the two strikers.

The Jamaica squad is completed by Ryan Thompson, Nicholy Finlayson, Keithy Simpson, Kenardo Forbes, Omar Holness. Coach Schaefer wants his charges to employ a ‘high-press’ strategy, though he acknowledges that it requires hours of training on the pitch, a luxury he was not afforded, given that some of his players only joined the group late Sunday night into early yesterday morning.

In fact, striker Darren Mattocks was ruled out of his 18-man squad after his Vancouver White Caps club medical staff advised the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) late Saturday that the player suffered an injury.

And even though the player suggested otherwise, and his club later agreed for him to travel and have the JFF medical staff assess his injury, Schaefer preferred to let it be, as he thought it best for the player to recover fully with his club than risk aggravating the injury.

“We have enough strikers in this group, we will need him for Japan and the Caribbean Cup,” argued Schaefer.

On the other hand, Benito Floro’s 23-man squad has been in camp for the past week in Alliston, Ontario, before camping in Toronto a few days ago. It will be the first game on home soil for the new coach, who has included a mix of local as well as overseas-based players.

“As you can imagine, for me, this is a very special game because it’s a chance to correspond with the supporters,” Floro told his Canadian Soccer Federation website.

“So I would like a very good game — not only to pick up a win, but to also get a good performance.”