Canadian soccer fans will be glued to their television tonight as Big Red (that’s the Canadian women’s national team in case you weren’t aware) takes to the pitch in front of what will surely be a packed house of screaming fans at BC Place in Vancouver to open the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament against Haiti.

That’s the official line anyway. Media coverage in the lead-up to the tournament has focused on the importance of the event and the opportunity it provides for redemption from the disaster that was the 2011 Women’s World Cup. From there it only stands to reason that a “real” soccer fan should be all over this thing.

That narrative doesn’t correspond with the likely reality tonight – TV numbers in five-figures (if we’re lucky) and a sea of empty orange seats cheering the women on. Here in politically-correct Canada, the unspoken truth about the tournament is rarely said in public. If you were to suggest that the tournament is a glorified two-and-a half-team match-up featuring some truly dreadful football on the undercard, you’ll be labelled a “hater,” or worse.

When the Canadian men took part in the second round of World Cup qualifying last year against a collection of Caribbean minnows, the public rightly demanded not only results, but total domination. Yet, beating Haiti tonight will provide the women with a chance at “redemption?”

Um, no. Despite claims to the contrary, the Canadian women’s program is financially one the best supported in the world. The budget for a single training camp would likely eclipse the amount Haiti has spent on women’s soccer over the past decade. Redemption shouldn’t be on the table tonight, but expectation. Like the men against St. Kitts and Nevis, only a blow out will do.

Any “redemption” will have to wait until London. There, Canada will be faced with the same level of competition it faced in Germany last summer and it will have an opportunity to prove that the capitulation we saw last summer was a one-off rather than a reflection of the program as a whole.

Let’s be clear: there is no excuse for the women not to qualify. Outside of the United States, only Mexico can possibly compete with Canada and even they are still miles behind. If Canada fails to go to London it would be an unqualified disaster of far greater proportions than the three and out performance at the 2011 World Cup.

Although the women’s game has improved a great deal over the last decade, it’s still a dramatically uneven playing field. Games between top ten teams are compelling sporting events, but the truth is that games between a top ten team and one ranked even just a few spots tend to be dreadful. You could likely head down to your local soccer bubble and find more compelling beer league games to watch tonight than what you’ll find on display in Vancouver.

Despite the breathless reports telling the Canadian soccer fan how much they need to care tonight, most fans are more sophisticated. Some will support the women – and that’s great – but most will take a wake-me-up-when-they-play-the-USA approach. So, don’t blame the Vancouver fans that don’t show up tonight, or the fans at home that decide to re-watch last night’s Modern Family instead.

Playing Haiti is a necessary formality and hopefully one day it will provide a true test for the powers in CONCACAF. However, pretending it’s even remotely compelling now defies any rational evaluation. Feel free to skip it – it won’t mean you’re a bad person.