With the Canadian men’s national team knocked out of World Cup qualifying last year, this is the time when head coach Octavio Zambrano can experiment with new tactics and lineups.
While there were some encouraging moments for Canada, it ended up falling short in a 1-0 loss to El Salvador in an international friendly on Sunday in Houston.
Zambrano named a relatively young side with a few experienced players in the starting lineup. Full-backs Mark Anthony Kaye and Michael Petrasso were impressive going forward, as was Scott Arfield, who created the majority of Canada’s chances during the match.
However, lapses in concentration from Kaye and captain Dejan Jakovic allowed Dennis Pineda to execute a free run in the box before connecting on a cross to bag the game’s only goal.
Canada finished the match with 53 per cent possession, but was outshot 13-6 by El Salvador, who probably should have had another goal if not for Canadian goalkeeper Simon Thomas. The shot-stopper’s best moments came against Nelson Bonilla and Arturo Alvarez in the second half as Thomas came out and shut down both players on breakaways.
The Salvadorans pressed the Canadian midfield early, but it eased up after the opening 10 minutes. Arfield took over from that point, setting up chances for Petrasso, Raheem Edwards and Keven Aleman. Canada completed some lovely passing sequences, but failed to get their forwards involved. Cyle Larin was closed down by the Salvadoran defence whenever he was on the ball and was otherwise isolated. Larin was eventually replaced by Anthony Jackson-Hamel on 52 minutes, who did not fare much better.
The average age of Canada’s lineup was 24.9 years, which included the 32-year-old Jakovic and 30-year-old Steven Vitoria. Zambrano also handed a first cap to Millwall’s Kris Twardek, one of five players who had yet to make his full senior national team debut.
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