In case you missed it, here are the highlights from Tuesday’s international friendly between Canada and the United States in Houston.
The result
A young and inexperienced Canadian side bunkered down and withstood pressure for most of the game against a more skilled American squad to hold on for a hard-fought and morale-boosting 0-0 draw.
The major storyline
The rebuilding process continues for Canada, slowly but surely.
And while it would be foolish to read much into or take anything significant away from this draw, it does provide a glimmer of hope for Canada, be it ever so dim and fleeting.
There’s no need to blow smoke here, No need to try to claim this result is something that it’s clearly not. Canada faces a very long road ahead, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Games like this merely represent one very small step down the path.
But it is a step.
Everybody knows that the purpose of Canada’s pair of January friendlies was to begin the rebuilding process by giving young and uncapped players a chance to get some experience and seasoning. The theory goes that in doing so now, Canada will be in a much better position by the time the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup roll around.
Forward Franke Jonke and midfielder Matt Stinson earned their first caps on Tuesday, this after six others made their national team debut on the weekend against Denmark.
What’s more, fellow youngsters Nana Attakora, Doneil Henry and Ashtone Morgan all earned valuable experience over the two games, while goalkeeper Simon Thomas earned a shutout against the Americans in only his second appearance for Canada.
It may not sound like much, and at the moment it isn’t. But you have to crawl before you walk, and patience will be required with this most important of rebuilding projects.
Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
Let’s only hope that whoever takes over from Colin Miller as Canada’s interim coach will stay the course with this youth movement.
Miller did an exemplary job over the course of these two games (the draw against the U.S. and a 4-0 loss to Denmark in Arizona on Saturday) of man management.
A case in point: in the 64th minute against the U.S., Miller subbed out Attakora and replaced him with Henry. On paper, it was risky move with the result still hanging in the balance – Attakora impressed in the middle of defence with Dejan Jakovic, and Henry had a terrible game against the Danes.
But Miller didn’t care about the score, and saw the bigger picture: that this was a learning opportunity and a chance for Henry to grow in a tense game situation against a quality opponent.
It’s this kind of forward thinking that Canada needs to continue to benefit from if it ever hopes to complete the rebuilding process.
Save of the game
Canada nearly took the lead in the sixth minute after they caught the American defence sleeping. Nik Ledgerwood broke off the wing and crossed a dangerous ball deep into the box for Dwayne De Rosario to volley. It was a powerful and stinging shot, but American goalkeeper Sean Johnson was equal to the task, palming it away.
Tweet of the game
Steve Goff of the Washington Post didn’t think the game provided much entertainment value. He was right:
All sleeping RT “@ortizkicks: Mercy me. The announced crowd tonight is 11,737.”
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 30, 2013
Burning questions
Why didn’t Colin Miller give any playing time to uncapped defender Andres Fresenga?
Will Ashtone Morgan grow into the left-back role for Canada this year? Or will he continue to be caught out of position and react slow to player switches like he did on this night?
Can Canada ever overcome its glaring inability to hold onto the ball and maintain possession for long stretches of time?
The team lines
CANADA: GK Thomas; Ledgerwood, Attakora (Henry 63′), Jakovic, Morgan; Dunfield (Stinson 51′), Bourgault, Bekker (Porter 90+); Ricketts, Teibert (James 89′), De Rosario (c) (Jonke 81′).
UNITED STATES: GK Johnson; Morrow, Beltran (Feilhaber 46′), Besler, Gonzalez; Beckerman (c) (Morales 74′), Zusi (Bedoya 64′), Evans, Davis (Agudelo 64′); Johnson (Bruin 74′), Wondolowski (Gatt 46′).
3 stars
1) Dejan Jakovic: The Canadian defender was the best player on the field by a long distance. He commanded the back line, he formed a good partnership with Nana Atakora in the centre of defence, and he made some great clearances and timely tackles
2) Dwayne De Rosario: Canada created very little on the offensive end, but what it did came courtesy of the DC United star. De Rosario had some nice touches, kept the American defence honest and nearly scored early in the match.
3) Kyle Beckerman: Few of the Americans covered themselves in glory on the night, but at least Beckerman put in a workmanlike effort.
What’s next?
Canada will play Japan in another friendly on March 22 in Doha, Qatar. Sportsnet’s Gerry Dobson has learned that the Canadian Soccer Association is trying to arrange another game for the national team in and around the match against the Japanese.