John Molinaro | January 17, 2012 Sportsnet.ca The Canadian men's national team will play Armenia in an international friendly on Feb. 29 in Cyprus. The match, announced by the Canadian Soccer Association on Tuesday, takes place on the first FIFA International Date of the 2012 calendar year. The neutral site match will be the first meeting between the two nations. Canada coach Stephen Hart revealed the Armenia game was arranged after plans to play New Zealand in London, England fell through. "Armenia (was) an option presented to us. I did some quick homework on them (and) saw that they were a very effective attacking team, and I thought they would be a really good (opponent) for us," Hart told reporters during a conference call. Although it failed to earn a tournament berth, Armenia posted an impressive 5-2-3 record in Euro 2012 qualifying, finishing third in its group behind Russia and Ireland. Armenia currently sits 46th in the FIFA world rankings, compared to 72nd-place Canada. Hart believes Armenia presents a stiff challenge for Canada in terms of its preparation ahead of the next round of World Cup qualifiers in June. "If you look at their individual players, they have a lot of attack-minded players that are at top clubs who have Champions League and Europa League experience," Hart stated. "Those players are very tricky, very dynamic, and I thought it would be healthy for our players to get some one-on-one match-ups against them." Because MLS teams will be in pre-season training camps in February, Hart expects to rely heavily on European-based players for the match in Cyprus. Some European-based national team members may not be available, so Hart didn't rule out calling up MLS players. One player who likely won't be in Cyprus is Atiba Hutchinson, Canada's star midfielder with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Hutchinson aggravated a knee injury while playing for Canada during a World Cup qualifier against St. Lucia last September, and has only recently returned to training with PSV. "He played about 10 minutes in a reserve game (so) I don't think he'll be ready for this game," Hart admitted. The Canadian coach revealed there are maybe one or two players who have not appeared for the national before that he is considering for this match, but the Canadian coach declined to offer any names. Hart's Canadian side played three friendlies last year: a 1-0 loss to Greece (Feb. 9), a 1-0 win over Belarus (March 9), and a 2-2 draw with Ecuador in Toronto (June 1). Canada has made it through to third round of the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Reds will compete in a round-robin group with Cuba, Honduras and Panama where the top two teams will advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualification. The Reds' first match is on the road against Cuba on June 8, followed by a home game (at an as-of-yet to be determined host city) against Honduras on June 12. Hart said he hopes to gather his squad together in a training camp once the European club season is over and organize another exhibition match in late May or early June as a tune-up for the Cuba match. Canada's only previous World Cup appearance came in 1986 in Mexico where it bowed out if the first round after suffering three shutout losses.

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