Canada doesn’t get points for beauty, but it does get maximum points against Costa Rica

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This article was published 13/11/2021 (1730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON—There are nights when a soccer match lives up to the sport’s reputation as the beautiful game.

The Canadian men’s national team’s 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Friday was not one of those nights.

From the patchy turf field at Commonwealth Stadium to a disjointed first-half performance by the Canadians to a scrappy game-winner from striker Jonathan David, little about Canada’s win will be remembered for its beauty.

None of that matters.

What matters is the three points Canada picked up as they hung on to third place in the final round of CONCACAF’s World Cup qualification schedule. Canada is now halfway through the 14-game round and has yet to be beaten. They pulled seven points ahead of Costa Rica, usually the third-best team in the region, and stayed two points ahead of fourth-place Panama.

Keep it up, hang on to at least third place until March 2022, and the team will be on its way to a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

“That was a stubborn Costa Rican team … I thought they did a good job at stifling us,” Canada coach John Herdman said. “It’s World Cup qualification, you’ll take your three points.”

A crowd of 48,806, the third largest to take in a men’s national team home game, filled Commonwealth Stadium for star Alphonso Davies’ homecoming, the first time the Edmonton-raised superstar, 21, has played here in about six years.

The crowd, and the love for Davies, was certainly a perk of playing in the city. The turf field, with markings from previous Edmonton Elks games still clear, and the cool temperatures, although not as cold as they could have been in this city at this time of year, were less advantageous than perhaps the Canadians suggested they would be in the lead-up to the game.

Canada started relatively well, maintaining decent possession early, if only creating a number of half chances for their efforts.

But trying to break a deep Costa Rica block on a turf field took a toll, and Canada got caught up in the emotion of the game, any early momentum or rhythm derailed by little fouls and scuffles. Canada’s forward line of Davies, David, Tajon Buchanan and Liam Millar seemed to be on an island of its own, with facilitator Stephen Eustáquio forced to drop deep and heave balls long in an attempt to reach them. Beside him, Mark-Anthony Kaye had a quiet night in the centre of midfield.

It was scoreless at the half, a fair reflection of the play, but the Canadians weren’t worried.

“It takes a lot to find out how we can get the best out of ourselves on the pitch. We made some changes at halftime, like normal teams do, and we were able to come out and be a little more dominant,” said defender Samuel Adekugbe, who Herdman called Canada’s man of the match.

Canada’s attackers started making better movements and connecting more effectively shortly after the restart, pushing Costa Rica’s defensive line consistently for the first time in the match.

Chances started coming their way. Davies looped a ball across the penalty spot to Millar at the back post, who just missed a header. And Buchanan almost provided a moment of beauty, when he smacked a bicycle kick off the crossbar.

But it was David who made the difference in the end, putting in a shot in from close range after Costa Rican goalkeeper Leonel Moreira dropped a cross from Eustáquio.

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Canada saw out the game from there, shoring up the midfield by bringing in veteran Atiba Hutchison, who tied Julian De Guzman’s record for most appearances with the men’s national team. Herdman took both Davies, who had a relatively quiet night, and David off in the 83rd minute, to a standing ovation.

“I think for Alphonso, coming home, it’s a tough moment,” Herdman said. “It’s not easy. He feels like he’s got to perform at levels way beyond what he really needs to do. The conversations were quite simple, that, ‘We actually don’t need anything more from you, we don’t need superstar moments. We just need to you play your maximum intensity and your maximum effort and that will be enough for us.’ And unfortunately these games people feel like they have to push that next level … I think against Mexico you’ll see a different type of performance.”

Mexico, which lost 2-0 to the United States on Friday, is here Tuesday, another difficult match for the Canadians. But, for now, they’re happy with an ugly night that worked out beautifully.

“We’re confident in our ability and we know that the next match is going to be a tough game but I think, looking back, we’re in a good situation,” Adekugbe said. “We know what our ambitions are and we just have to keep pushing for three points every game. We are happy but we’re not content.”

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