OMNISPORT

Canada will hope Benito Floro can bring about success at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, starting against El Salvador, as the former Real Madrid man takes charge of his first tournament at the helm.

The veteran Spaniard was appointed in the aftermath of another disappointing Gold Cup campaign two years ago - as Colin Miller's side failed to get out of the group.

Canada have won just twice in their last two competitions - finding the net twice as they failed to get out of the group on both occasions.

However, Floro is in charge of a promising squad, with Orlando City forward Cyle Larin likely to be tasked with leading the Canadian attack in their bid to nestle behind probable group winners Costa Rica in second.

Jamaica too will pose a threat - having limited Argentina and Uruguay to 1-0 wins at the Copa America - but Floro is confident his side can grow at the tournament with the aim of qualifying for the World Cup in 2018 also in mind.

"The main aim in this Gold Cup for us is to get as far as possible," he explained after naming his 23-man squad.

"We want to get to the final and every game that we get in the tournament will increase our level of play.

"It is true that good results always help but now we are going to play against three teams that are higher ranked than us so we need to show that we are growing and developing against those teams and show that we are doing things in the right way."

While Canada boast four consecutive wins coming into their opener, Albert Roca's El Salvador side bolstered their World Cup qualification hopes with a 4-1 hammering of St Kitts and Nevis last month.

El Salvador reached the quarter-finals of the competition two years ago, the fourth time they had reached the final eight since the turn of the century.

Former Barcelona assistant Roca helped his side to a fourth-place finish at the Copa Centroamericana last year and is positive going into the Gold Cup.

"I would really like the fans to feel happy with the performance we put on," he told the El Salvador Football Federation website.

"We have no injuries, the team is mentally very strong and hopefully that will be reflected on the pitch, we are hoping to have a good cup."