Game in a sentence
- Canada failed to create enough scoring opportunities despite dominating possession and it caught up with them in the dying moments as Panama scored in injury time to earn a 1-1 draw.
Observations
- It appeared Canada were going to win another 1-0 game through a questionable penalty but in the end the talk will now be about their wasted chances rather than the one chance they took.
- It was a crushing way to concede a goal but Canada simply should never have been in a position where they were able to concede one goal and get knocked out. They had the majority of the ball throughout, but once again their passing and lack of creativity in the final third was very poor.
- As the clock ticked towards 90:00 they still led 1-0 but that’s when it all went wrong.
- 89:35 – Armando Cooper easily got by substitiute Pedro Pacheco and Terry Dunfield has to come over and give away a corner.
- 90:05 – Milan Borjan unneccessarily came off his line for the corner which was headed away by Kevin McKenna but was immediately sent back into the box.
- 90:08 Borjan was now out of position and the defending from Canada was poor as a shot hit the bar and fell out to Anibal Godoy whose tame shot towards goal went underneath Borjan and into the back of the net. It was the second major error by a ‘keeper for Canada and led to pandemonium everywhere- Canada couldn’t believe it, Borjan rolled on the floor in pain, Panama celebrated a goal that gave them top spot in Group C and the public address announcer and television director thought Blas Perez had scored when he was nowhere near the ball.
- The confusion summed up Canada’s night. It wasn’t pretty or by any means impressive yet Canada found a way to be three minutes away from the quarter finals of the Gold Cup courtesy of Dwayne De Rosario’s penalty in the second half.
- You could say that it was again a dubious call but quite honestly I am not even sure what is a legitimate penalty in this game anymore. What I do know is I have never seen so many given across the world and although the foul called in this game looked generous, you wouldn’t be surprised to see it called in the Premier League, for example.
- Fifteen seconds prior to the decision, Canada’s best player Julian De Guzman sent a good cross into the box that found Will Johnson’s head and the Real Salt Lake man smartly guided it into the direction of Dwayne De Rosario, who suddenly fell under a collision by Eybir Bonaga.
- It was a pity that Canada could only find the back of the net through a penalty and ultimately the fact that they couldn’t score from open play (or from anything other than a spot kick) in three matches cost them.
- Canada should have been ahead inside five minutes when De Guzman intercepted a Panama attack and immediately countered with a through ball to Simeon Jackson that put the Norwich striker clean through, but unfortunately he blasted the ball high and wide.
- It was one of many good moments early from De Guzman who won three crucial tackles inside 15 minutes and connected the midfield well with his team-mates in the final third.
- Unfortunately, as the game wore on the midfield central three of De Guzman, Terry Dunfield and Will Johnson all sat too deep and didn’t create enough. Just like against Guadeloupe, this put the emphasis on the two wide players, Josh Simpson and Dwayne De Rosario, to create and feed Simeon Jackson, but neither of them played very well.
- And so now the diagnosis of this team’s performance at this tournament will start and the results will not be good. Is the 4-5-1 too defensive? How can they get spark in the middle of the park? Should De Rosario play for Canada again? Can they find a right back with a Canadian passport anywhere?
- It is one thing to start slow in a tournament and do enough to get through but margins are fine in sports and Canada ultimately fell short of their goal, which was to at least reach the knock out stages of the Gold Cup. Against the USA they were outplayed by a better team but their performances against Guadeloupe and Panama were quite simply not good enough. It is true that the team didn’t have Atiba Hutchinson for those games but it is also true that they had a Premier League striker, an MLS DP and someone who thinks himself as an MLS DP. This team simply underperformed at this tournament and Head Coach Stephen Hart now needs to watch all three games over and over again before September.
- Hart always said he would have one eye on World Cup qualifying throughout this competition and now he will have both eyes on it. It is time to learn from the mistakes of these past three games and move forward. Canada simply has to find a way of creating more. Their movement improved as the tournament went on but they were still too predictable with the ball and didn’t bring opponents out of position enough, and therefore the space wasn’t found that can lead to goals. Nothing is more difficult in this game than scoring goals but that’s a challenge that Canada must overcome quickly if they want to make a reasonable run at qualifying for Brazil 2014.
Three Stars
- Julian De Guzman
- Felipe Baloy
- Will Johnson
Kristian Jack
Tough match to watch. It never felt safe at 1-0 and well…sigh.
Canada needs to do something … anything to start developing more creating players who can play from the middle of the field in a #10 type of role.
Watching us force feed the ball down the flanks continuously was predictable and painful.
Can we just do like the UAE and flow some Brazilians a few fast passports?
Well i think the jury’s out.. De Guzman is too good for tfc and mls.. he cannot work with the players he has at club level.. i think he should look for another contract in a higher league next year
^^^that would be best for De Guzman, TFC and the Canadian National Team.
Canada would have advanced if they had an easier group. It’s too bad that they didn’t have a Cuba or Grenada to beat up on. Instead they had Guadeloupe who always put up a fight against the big teams.
That being said, they still need to drastically improve if they have any hope of reaching even the final group in World Cup qualifying.
It is absolutely time to phase De Rosario out of the team. He is not a #10 type that people claim he is and I suspect he really never was. He has never and will never be on the level that De Guzman and Hutchinson are on. Pretty much everyone born before 1980 should be gone.
I’d like to see De Guzman take the spot as a attacking midfielder. The top of the triangle of the three central midfielders I suppose. I know he is predominantly a more defensive midfielder, but from what we have seen in the past from him, he is more than capable of creation. Way more than just about everyone else on the team. And Canada has more than enough holding midfielders. Perhaps the triangle could be De Guzman in front of Hutchinson and Johnson, with the idea that there is fluid movement between the three, allowing them to switch positions whenever needed.
But unfortunately, as Kosta said, neither TFC or the Canadian team really has the quality that De Guzman or Hutchinson are used to and know how to play with. I can think of several instances in the three games where De Guzman had the ball, waiting for someone to find space and make themselves available and not a single player moved. So he is forced to try to make something happen, something that usually isn’t there.
That being said, there is a lot of attacking potential within this national team. Someone just has to teach them how to move on the ball. Only once or twice in this game did I see them actually try to make runs into space, and when they did, they were able to find each other and actually cause trouble for the Panamanian defence. No reason why they can’t do that more often.
Wasn’t this more a problem of finishing? I saw no shortage of chances in that game. Just no finish. If Jackson wants to make it as a premiership striker he needs to learn not to lash the cover off the ball on every shot. Sidefoot it low FFS!
How totally unsurprising…
Well what can we learn or take as positives ?
* JDG finally found a little form, lets hope it continues back to the level before he landed at TFC.
* De Ro is over rated and done.
* Hart doesnt get it – sorry may be a nice guy , but after two games where the formation wasnt producing goals what shall we do….oh yes …PLAY IT AGAIN ! I dodnt do that with my U11 boys team.
* Canada needs a striker of real command…balls into the box are meat and drink for the opposition center backs and we never rattle them.
* The defending leading to the goal was awful.
Simply put , as much as it pains me, average players , average coach, average results !
Agree with KJ more than John – there was a dearth of chances created by Canada in this series. Honestly, the back 4 had the ball for far too much of the time, and 3 of them I think showed they’e very uncomfortable with the ball at their feet. Dunfield looked like he was forbidden from dribbling or passing the ball forwards at any point. Simpson looked like he was under express orders not to cut in and shoot under any circumstances. Simeon Jackson was miles too deep one minute, miles too far back the next.
The US played a more direct, attacking ball in the first 45 seconds of the Guadaloupe game last night that I saw Canada play in their last 2 games. Sure, it was into traffic, but at least it showed ambition, and faith in the guy on the end of the pass.
I feel for Borjan, though. I thought he was Canada’s best and brightest player by a fair ways, and it was a cruel ending for him.
Let’s face it folks, Canada is what it is. We’re always going to struggle against minnows.
As KJ said, the most telling stat is no goals from open play in three games and just two penalties scored. Playing a 10-man Guadeloupe for 85 minutes and not scoring more than once was pitiful….that is what cost them. Hart seemed so intent on not conceding he forgot that goals win games!! Unfortunately, the tournament result accurately reflects where Canada is right now….some adequate players but a serious lack of creative talent. And the future doesn’t look bright. Cannot see any young, smart players on the horizon.
If Canada wants to achieve any success in WCQ they must do the following:
1) Dive, cheat, flop… play the concacaf way. Listen, I hate this part of the game, but every country in Concacaf does it. Unless Canada has an American official for a game, it’ll be a latin american/carribean referee who is accustomed to diving and will generally allow it.
Canada does not have the quality to win fairly, so we play like the rest
2) Never let Milan Borjan play in goal again. He looked like an absolute amateur out there. I dont care if he’s like 45… Pat Onstad is a better choice.
3) De Rosario does not start. He is far too slow and does nothing off the ball. He’s always had an inflated ego and thinking he’s better than he actually is… but now that he’s 32 or so.. its a joke. Somebody else can score the PKs.
4) Do whatever it takes to get Hoilett and Jonathan De Guzman on board. Pay them off, offer them tax free living for life… I don’t care. We need them. Both players are holding out for a career with England and Holland, and neither will ever come. We need these guys on board.
5) Julian De Guzman needs to go back to Europe. He’s flopped with TFC, and his confidence and overall quality have nosedived since joining the MLS. He needs to be playing back in europe with a better quality standard so he can raise his game to levels it was before.
A few suggestions that will help the CMNT in the future.
1- Make Stephen Hart the technical director of the team and have him hire his own coach. Two jobs may be too much for him and this move allows him to travel for scouting and recruiting. This is not a knock on him as a coach but two heads are better than one issue.
2-Hire someone that can create a program for training that all academies that aren’t associated with pro teams will have to implement.
3-Have a two mandatory camps during the year running 10-14 days for the national team. A summer one for European based players and a winter one for NA based players. Bring in more players to expand depth.
4-Create a 8 team Canadian league (Div 2 level) that will give more players an opportunity to play which will help create more depth. Make sure the league is fiscally responsible with a cap and has quotas on number of Canadians on team. We have decent talent on youth teams and this gives them a place to play if they don’t want to go overseas. European based Canadian will also have a place to go if they get released by their club. The league will also help late developers stay in the game and contribute late in their career.
5-Establish an academy for strikers only. No explanation needed
JDG had a game game, but his performance in a more attacking position was much the same as Bernier’s play two years ago at the same tournament. Based on his age, his recent club performances, and that apparently he was blackballed in Spain, I don’t see him getting back to La Liga any time soon. And the fact that he needs better players around him to get the best out of him means that he’s a role player. I don’t see his next contract (whichever club he’s at) being anywhere the digits he’s currently receiving in Toronto.