ALLISTON, Ont. -- Perched on scaffolding overlooking a practice field, Benito Floro surveys the Canadian mens soccer team alongside video co-ordinator Claudio Castro. Sunglasses and a baseball cap worn at a jaunty angle protect him from the bright sunshine. And perhaps from the breeze created by hands whirling over whats happening on the pitch below. The 62-year-old Spanish coach, who has been at the Canadian helm for a little more than a year, is passionate about his soccer. "You can see how he treats football. Its like art," said veteran Canadian midfielder Julian De Guzman, who played in Spain for Deportivo La Coruna. "Thats something Ive experienced with a lot of La Liga coaches and the culture in Spain. Its great to see that here in Canada. "I wish I had this type of training from (a) young (age). And its good to see the new generation being a part of this." De Guzman can earn his 72nd cap Tuesday as Canada entertains Jamaica in an international friendly at BMO Field. It marks Floros first game as coach on Canadian soil. Floros resume is impressive. He managed Real Madrid from 1992 to 1994 and served as director of football at the Spanish powerhouse in 2006. He has managed club sides in Spain, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico and Morocco, served as a TV analyst and was a member of FIFAs technical group at the 2012 Club World Cup. Progress with Canada is slow, however. Floro inherited a battered and bruised program with some players still scarred from the humiliating 8-1 defeat in Honduras in 2012, the Canadians last World Cup qualifying campaign. Canada entered the hostile confines of a soldout Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula knowing that a tie or win would be enough to move on to the final round of qualifying in the CONCACAF region, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. The Hondurans needed a win. And got it in spectacular style at the expense of the Canadians. Asked if he still thought of the Honduras debacle, midfielder Atiba Hutchinson grimaced. "I think about it maybe a little too much," the 67-cap veteran said with a laugh. "Its something that I think will always be in probably the back of everybodys head ... No matter how you try to not think about it, its obviously something that will be there." The challenges are immense for Floro. He took over a team ranked 88th in the world and 10th in CONCACAF. Today Canada is No. 122 and ninth in CONCACAF. Canada is mired in a 16-game winless streak that dates back to October 2012 and searching for its first win in seven games under Floros leadership. His two outings were 1-1 ties with Moldova and Bulgaria. Canadas last win was a 3-0 decision over Cuba towards the end of its failed World Cup qualifying campaign almost two years ago. Floro says his team always plays to win, but adds he has spent the last year shaping and teaching his squad. "When my team doesnt win the game, I am upset," he said in English. "Not with the players, because my players always fight a lot. (With) the result." Under Floro, Canada has lost to Mauritania, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia and tied Mauritania, Bulgaria and Moldova. The team has been outscored 9-2 with Hutchinsons goal from the penalty spot against Bulgaria in May ending a 10-game 959-minute scoring drought. Floro believes Jamaica, ranked 85th in the world, will be a good test although his task has been made more difficult by some knocks that have kept some players off the practice field. All eyes are on next summers Gold Cup, the CONCACAF championship, with the goal of improving Canadas world ranking and so escaping extra rounds of World Cup qualifying. Floro says hes optimistic and sees progress. Since taking over, Floro has essentially taken the Canadian team back to school while auditioning as much talent as possible. The team has been holding two-a-day sessions at its training camp about an hour north of Toronto, with plenty of video classroom work. Floro likes to use animated game simulations to make his point. On the field, training is precise and focused. Floro makes his point from on high, bringing individual players over to offer instruction or encouragement. "Hes almost like a perfectionist," said the 31-year-old Hutchinson, who has played under seven national team managers since making his senior debut in 2003. "He wants things done in a certain way. Hell really make sure hes get it through to the players to make sure we go out there and implement that." Floro even has hand signals for set plays like throws-in. Floro has used a 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-2 formation with Canada but looks to turn the squad into one that can change strategy as needed depending on the opposition or nature of the game. "A game is a fight," said Floro. "Sometimes we are the protagonist. Sometimes the protagonist is the other team ... we need to know what to do each time." English remains his third language, behind Spanish and French, but Floros self-taught grasp of the language has improved greatly since taking over. He conducts interviews in English, with occasional help from an interpreter. While there are occasional stumbles, he can communicate. And his charisma shines through. Floro is positive about the level of play in MLS and is impressed by the quality of coaching. "Real good," he said. He is less happy about how soccer has become a business worldwide, with agents and mega-contracts. Floro is old-school, a purist who savours the link between a soccer team and its supporters. Business gets in the way of that. He also looks at the last World Cup and sees a game that has become "stuck." In his view, coaches have come up with good defence but not very good offence with only a few top-quality players able to bring their own creativity to attack. "The World Cup, for me, (was) normal," he said. "Nothing special." "For me the conclusion is soccer is stuck because coaches dont pay attention to (a) creative, collective combined attack." A native of Valencia, Floro is now based in Toronto. He says he likes living in Canada, talking up Vancouver and Montreal as well as Toronto, although he misses friends and family. The good news is his son, Antonio Floro, serves as one of his assistant coaches. Benitos contract includes several options and could run through the next two World Cup qualifying rounds -- for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Chauncey Billups Jersey . -- Manager Bob Melvin shuffled the Athletics batting order and got the type of production he was looking for from the top of the lineup. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. 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Sebastien Bourdais and Mike Conway entered the Honda Indy Toronto overlooked in favour of a championship duel and the return of a hometown driver. They shouldnt have been. Bourdais, who hadnt won a race in six years but previously conquered the 11-turn, 2.81-kilometre track at Exhibition Place in 2004, led all but seven laps in the morning race Sunday to win from pole. He was initially angered when he thought the Saturday race was cancelled by a slippery race track. The race was merely postponed, and Bourdais returned to his car Sunday waiting for his luck to run out. It never did. "Ive got a big smile across my face and I cant seem to get rid of it. Its just really cool," said Bourdais. "The whole race I couldnt stop thinking. I was very stressed out. It felt too easy, it felt like it was too much under control and it felt like it was way going to go wrong at some point. I dont know, it didnt. I was surprised about that because thats what happened all season long so far." Conway, who only competes on road and street courses but won at Long Beach in April, didnt have the pace of his rivals. That showed in the opening race with a 15th-place finish. But Conway saw something no one else did in the second race of the doubleheader. Rain fell once again and caused multiple collisions. Yet, unlike Saturday, the weather eventually showed some mercy and Conway spotted a drying track before almost anyone else. Usually a team tells a driver when to make a tire change. Conway told Ed Carpenter Racing, however, he was coming in on Lap 43 of the 80-minute race. "I knew I had to make a call at that moment because my wet tires were kind of going off and we were only going to go slower, and I knew the slicks would be for sure quicker," said Conway. "So yeah, worked out, worked out really well." The afternoon race had been a fight for the lead between Penske teammates and championship contenders Helio Castroneves and Will Power. But both went to the pits for new tires, allowing Conway and several others to the front of the pack for the first time. Conway took the lead on Lap 51, while Castroneves dropped off the pace. Conway benefited from yet another delay when another collision collected several cars and triggered a red flag. As he waited for the race to resume with less than five minutes remaining, Conway tried not to get too excited. "For sure I sat there in pitlane, I was like, could be another win in the cards," he said. "But I couldnt tell anyone that. For surre you think it but youve got to put it in the back of your mind.ddddddddddddquot; For Bourdais, the victory was vindication. The 35-year-old Frenchman finished over three seconds ahead of Castroneves, while Tony Kanaan finished third. Bourdais wont challenge for the IndyCar championship this year, he finished the afternoon race ninth, but the comfortable win was reminiscent of his four Champ Car titles between 2004 and 2007. Champ Car and Indy Racing League merged in 2008 to form IndyCar. Bourdais took a hiatus from open-wheel racing until his return in 2011, but hes yet to find himself in the title race. He didnt seem to care after winning his first race since November 2007 in Mexico City. "To be back on the top step in the way weve done it today, pretty much like the good old days. Its very special," said Bourdais. Last year Bourdais finished second and third, respectively, at Toronto. But his weekend was marred by an embarrassing moment when he accidentally dropped his second-place trophy and smashed it. This year Bourdais held onto his trophy with both hands. James Hinchcliffe never had a chance of winning -- or dropping -- a trophy. The Oakville, Ont., native was eighth in the opening race, matching his career best in Toronto through four years in IndyCar. But he slid into a tire barrier in the afternoon race and had to settle for 18th. It all amounted to more frustration for Hinchcliffe, the lone Canadian left in IndyCar. "Its one of those things, were sitting up here, talking, saying, what do we have to do to catch a break, here or anywhere this season ...," said Hinchcliffe. "The guys gave me a solid car, Im just sorry we couldnt turn it into a result." The biggest winner of the weekend who didnt take a checkered flag was Kanaan. The Brazilian finished third in the first race and second in the afternoon. Castroneves appeared to be set for a breakthrough when he finished second in the morning while Power was ninth. Castroneves entered the weekend nine points ahead of his Penske teammate, and he started the afternoon from the pole expecting to pad that advantage as the 39-year-old chases his first series title. But IndyCar leaves Toronto with the championship still up for grabs with four races remaining. Power, also hoping to win his first title, is just 13 points back after overtaking Castroneves en route to a second-place finish. Castroneves dropped off the pace and finished 12th. "I was very determined," said Power. "Starting on the front row together, so I thought Ive got to beat him otherwise this points lead is going to get too big. Ive got to finish ahead of him. Worked very hard on that." He still has work to do. 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