In case you missed it, here are the highlights from Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup match between Canada and Martinique at Pasadena, Calif.
The result
Fabrice Reuperne’s injury-time winner propelled Martinique to a shocking 1-0 upset win over Canada, putting the Reds in serious danger of not getting out of the group stage of the tournament.
The main talking points
1. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse: Simply put, this was an embarrassing result – perhaps one of the most embarrassing in the history of the Canadian men’s team. There is no way to sugar coat it, put a positive spin on it, or look for silver linings. This was dire. We all knew that with Canada in rebuilding mode and interim coach Colin Miller fielding a young side that it wouldn’t be all smooth sailing at the Gold Cup. But this – losing to a tiny Caribbean island that isn’t even a member of FIFA – is totally unacceptable. Even more distressing than the result was the performance by Canada. It lacked urgency and inspiration, as most of the players appeared to be sleeping-walking for 90 minutes. Remember the 8-1 loss against Honduras? That’s what this effort from the Canadian boys looked like. The lack of hunger by the Canadians was distressing, a fact acknowledged by Julian de Guzman after the game when he said: “We just didn’t want it … you can’t come out here and embarrass the country like that.” Quite why the Canadian players felt they were somehow entitled to a result without putting in the required work remains a mystery. What must Benito Floro be thinking?
2. Miller’s questionable tactics: The players looked lethargic against Martinique and most of the blame rests on their shoulders. But Miller also shoulders some of the responsibility for this debacle. His roster selections, formation and substitutions were highly questionable. De Guzman was very poor in his distribution on the night, while Samuel Piette hardly covered himself in glory as he looked lost in midfield and was somewhat at fault for the goal. Both players should have been replaced. For some reason, Miller waited until the final minutes to introduce Jonathan Osorio, when he should have subbed in the Toronto FC livewire much sooner. His team needed a goal and the game was crying out for Osorio or Keven Aleman to come on and influence the game with their dynamic play. But Miller didn’t react quickly enough. Russell Teibert proved menacing at times down the left flank, but Miller’s side didn’t attack down the wings nearly as much as it should, trying instead to hoof long balls forward down the middle. Any why play with a 4-2-3-1 formation (with two holding midfielders) when a more attacking 4-4-2 set-up was appropriate against a Martinique side that was there for the taking?
3. An uphill battle: This was the match that Canada had to win. With contests against Mexico and Panama still to come, the Canadians really had to take three points off Martinique in order to have a good chance to move on to the next round. As only the top two finishers in the group advance, Canada was resting its knockout round hopes on being one of the tournament’s two-best third-place finishers. Three points is the bare minimum Canada would need to finish third, and the victory would seem more likely to come against Martinique. But now Canada’s hopes of making it to the quarter-finals seem pretty dim. Beating either Mexico or Panama (even their respective B teams) was always going to be tough task. After Canada’s dire effort against Martinique, it seems even less likely.
4. Missing Hutchinson: This match, perhaps more than any other, underlined just how much Atiba Hutchinson means to Canada. It was unfortunate, but perfectly understandable, that the out-of-contract midfielder turned down the invitation to play at the Gold Cup so as not to jeopardize any potential club deal his agent is working on. But how the Reds missed him on Sunday. Canada is a completely different side without Hutchinson, lacking creativity, midfield drive and urgency. Without him pulling the strings, Canada resorted to uninspired route one football, hopelessly hoofing the ball forward in vain attempts to create chances. Canada doesn’t have another player that comes close to matching Hutchinson’s creativity and touch on the ball. Their lack of depth was badly exposed by modest Martinique.
Goal of the game
Only one to chose from, but it was worthy of the honour. Canada failed to clear its lines off a Martinique corner kick deep into injury time. The ball fell to Fabrice Reuperne, who unleashed a screaming shot from outside the box past Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
Save of the game
Milan Borjan came up with what at the time appeared to be a point-salvaging draw in the 89th minute when he expertly palmed away a blistering shot from a Martinique forward that seemed destined for the near post.
Tweet of the day
The Toronto Sun’s Kurt Larson invokes the memory of Canada’s 8-1 loss in San Pedro Sula:
Not sure what’s more embarrassing. This one… or the one I no longer speak of. #CANMNT
— Kurtis Larson (@KurtLarSUN) July 7, 2013
What’s next
Canada takes on Mexico on July 11, while Martinique faces Panama on the same day. Both games are in Seattle.
Canada’s 3 stars
1) Russell Teibert: The Vancouver Whitecaps youngster looked lively in attack, especially down the left wing where he effectively used his pace and touch on the ball.
2) David Edgar: Did his best to marshal a young defence that looked shaky and uneasy, and got forward a few times on set pieces.
3) Marcus Haber: The young forward put in an industrious shift, and played some dangerous headers inside the Martinique penalty area.