Canadian men’s national squad falls flat

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This article was published 15/11/2019 (2477 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fairytale lasted exactly a month.

Between Oct. 15, when Canada beat the United States in Toronto, and Friday night’s rematch of the same sides in Orlando, fans of this country’s men’s national team dared to dream impossible dreams of World Cup qualification, CONCACAF Nations League contention and a first home-and-away triumph over the Americans since 1957.

How harshly reality can interrupt our fantasies; how suddenly enchantment is shattered by the breaking of morning.

The wake-up call came less than two minutes after kickoff at Exploria Stadium when Jordan Morris, fresh off winning the MLS Cup with Seattle Sounders, bundled the ball into the Canadian net following a short corner. Barely 20 minutes later, the United States led 2-0 courtesy of a Gyasi Zardes header, and 11 minutes after that, the game was over as a contest when Aaron Long nodded Tim Ream’s free-kick into goal.

The two teams, jostling for position in Nations League Group A, traded goals in the second half, but at the final whistle, the hosts’ 4-1 win all but ended Canada’s run in that competition and also dented their chances of participating in the main group of 2022 World Cup qualifying.

If this was, as Canada head coach John Herdman had said, “another cup final,” then his team had not only been thoroughly defeated but beaten on aggregate as well. Yes, they had prevailed 2-0 at BMO Field, and deservedly so, but Friday’s result was a stinging pinch to the arm, a bucket of cold water splashed on the face of the pleasantly sleeping. “Wake up!”

All Canada needed in Florida was to not lose. A draw would have sealed Group A, contributed points toward World Cup qualifying and consolidated last month’s win. It would have capped a calendar year in which the men’s national team showed considerable promise. Instead, it raises questions about this group’s ability to perform in big games, especially given the capitulation to Haiti in the quarter-final round of the 2019 Gold Cup.

Herdman’s tactics were largely blamed for throwing away a 2-0 lead on that occasion, and he’ll have some answering to do again after this one.

Why did he drop Derek Cornelius for Doneil Henry? Why didn’t he keep the faith in Kamal Miller? What was the logic behind switching out half the defence that had helped keep a clean sheet in Toronto? Was deploying Alphonso Davies as a left-back, and then right-back, the best use of the 19-year-old’s attacking talent? Could he not have started either of Jonathan David or Lucas Cavallini up top rather than both?

It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Canada struggled to defend set-pieces and were embarrassingly vulnerable on the counterattack, what with a needlessly adjusted back line. And while they often looked comfortable in possession, their striking tandem didn’t seem to know how to work as a pair. In other words, they sacrificed their previous effectiveness in two thirds of the park.

As a match, there wasn’t a single positive to take from Friday’s encounter. That said, the disappointment among the fan base speaks to a new belief that this team is capable of accomplishing some once-in-a-generation things, that mediocrity isn’t a given, that the 2-0 win on Oct. 15 wasn’t a one-off.

This squad has already allowed the country to dream, to reasonably hope. But there remains considerable work to do to ensure such reveries do not becomes nightmares at the Magic Kingdom.

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● With a 3-0 win over New Zealand on Sunday, Canada’s national women’s team ended a four-match losing streak dating back to the World Cup group stage in which they were outscored a combined 11-1. Christine Sinclair’s goal at the four-team Yongchuan International Tournament took her to within one of Abby Wambach’s all-time record, and head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller used the event to experiment with his squad. To that end, the two-time Olympic bronze medallists need to hasten a much-needed generational shift and bring through a new core if they’re to be even somewhat competitive at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

● Jessie Fleming has earned a fourth All-Pac-12 first-team honour with the UCLA Bruins. United States internationals Lauren Cheney and Abby Dahlkemper are the only other Bruins players to have been named to the first team in all four years of college eligibility. Fleming, 21, has played 70 games for Canada, scoring nine goals.

● “Un immense coup,” proclaimed Le Journal de Montreal at news Thierry Henry would be unveiled as the new Impact manager. After a disastrous managerial debut with Ligue 1’s Monaco, the legendary striker will surely be looking to regain his footing in a division with which he’s quite familiar. The 42-year-old former France international played 4½ seasons with the New York Red Bulls, for whom he scored more against Montreal than any other Major League Soccer opponent.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter: @JerradPeters