The Canadian men make a point in Azteca, and they could have come away with more against Mexico

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This article was published 07/10/2021 (1822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The jeers were audible at Azteca Stadium as the Canadian and Mexican men’s national teams disappeared down the tunnel at halftime of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier.

The 1-1 score line at the break, which would not change by the final whistle, was hardly acceptable to the relatively sparse crowd of supporters in Mexico City. Mexico was the regional powerhouse competing on its turf, after all. The Canadian men’s soccer team, historically anyway, far from it.

But it wasn’t just the score line that would have been unsatisfactory to the pro-Mexican crowd. It was the fact that things could have been a whole lot worse.

“We wanted to open this game up tonight,” Canada manager John Herdman said. “I said that right at the beginning, we had to be brave, we had to dare to lose to win … It’s easy to come here and park the bus but we want to show that we’re stepping forward, we want to show that there’s more to come.”

Herdman’s men went into Thursday’s match, the first of three in this international window, tied for second among the eight teams competing in CONCACAF’s final round of qualification for next year’s World Cup in Qatar. The only team ahead of Canada outright was Mexico, a country the Canadians had never beat in a road match.

But this much improved Canadian team arrived in Mexico City apparently unfazed by the regional giants, and proved as much in the 21st minute of the match, when they fell behind 1-0. The goal came against the run of play, a momentary lapse by the Canadians who watched the Mexicans play the ball from the backline to the back of the net in three passes. It was defender Jorge Sánchez who got ahead of Canadian wingback Richie Laryea to score, just kept onside by Canadian defender Alistair Johnston.

It was a moment of relief for every Mexican in the building. Canada had dominated possession to that point and had the first clear-cut chance of the game, a give-and-go up the left wing between Alphonso Davies and Laryea that ended with Laryea’s shot needing to be parried away by Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Canadian striker Tajon Buchanan skied the rebound.

The solace would only last so long. Being a goal down didn’t rattle Canada. Herdman made a tactical switch shortly after the goal that saw Buchanan drop deeper, and a better balance in the midfield open doors for the Canadians. Buchanan produced the next chance for the visitors, a sizzling ball across the box to Davies in the 31st minute, metres away from a tap-in at the back post. A free kick by Canadian midfielder Steven Eustáquio nearly tied things up nine minutes later, when he found teammate Steven Vitoria at the back post, but the defender couldn’t get his header past Ochoa.

In the end, it would take just two touches from two Canadian stalwarts to find the equalizer. Davies received a ball yards outside the top of the box. A touch to take, a touch to thread a pass through the Mexican defence to Jonathan Osorio inside the top of the box. A touch to take by Osorio, a touch to calmly slot home past Ochoa.

The goal would eventually mark a momentous road point for Canada on its quest to reach Qatar 2022. Mexico inflicted the bulk of the pressure in the second half, finishing with 11 shots to Canada’s eight, but the Canadian defence stood tall in the face of increased pressure, increased emotion and hateful chanting from the crowd, who caused a stoppage in the 59th minute when it broke out into homophobic slurs. It was another despicable display from a Mexican crowd at Azteca, which has previously been punished by FIFA for such chanting, and a stain on an another otherwise well-played and well-refereed match.

But the fact that the Canadians will be disappointed they didn’t walk away with all three points, and justifiably so, is representative of the inroads the team has made in international soccer.

“I’m content with the point but at the same time I think there was an opportunity to take three,” Herdman said. “I think we’ll walk away from this looking at this in time thinking, ‘We could have took three points.’ ”

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At the outset of this window, Sunday’s away match at Jamaica, who lost 2-0 to the United States on Thursday, and next Wednesday’s home match against Panama, who lost 1-0 to El Salvador, were the games Canada was more likely to win.

The result against Mexico doesn’t change that, though Canada is now sitting alone in third place in the standings after Panama dropped points. But if the dominant performance from the outset of this window, the kind of performance that had hometown fans jeering their own team, sets the tone for the next two games, they are certainly Canada’s matches to lose.

Still, Canada won’t get too high on the result, Herdman said.

“I still think there’s another step with this team.”

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy