Game in a sentence
Canada’s road to the Hex becomes dicey after a 2-0 dismantling at the hands of Panama in a strange and disheartening affair in Panama City.
Observations
- Yes the 14 minute blackout at Estadio Rommel Fernandez was unfortunate, and the source of many clever jokes, but the first 20 minutes of this match was defined by the injury to Canadian talisman Dwyane De Rosario. Canada’s all time leading goal scorer appeared to hurt his knee after a rash challenge from Armando Cooper. Eventually the lights came on, but De Ro was gone, making way for Tosaint Rickets when play resumed. It was a double blow for Stephen Hart as you would imagine Ricketts would’ve been better suited to come on later in the game.
- Much like the Canadians at BMO field, Panama was letting it fly early. Cooper – one of four changes for Julio Dely Valdés’ side – was immense for the Panamanians. Cooper’s deflected shot in the 36th minute resulted in a corner for the home side. Rolando Blackburn capitalized on poor set piece defending to open the scoring on the ensuing kick. David Edgar found himself in no man’s land, leaving the far post unoccupied. Lars Hirschfeld has to organize his defenders better.
- Without De Rosario, coming from a goal down was going to be a tough task. Hart averted to a 4-5-1 formation that saw Ricketts basically alone up front. The absence of Olivier Occean on this night was glaring – neither Simeon Jackson or Ricketts excel at holding the all up. Faced with this reality Canada opted for long balls to the front that repeatedly failed to connect.
- More disconcerting was Canada’s passive play towards the end of the first half. You’d have thought Canada had the lead watching the back four meander about before playing a ball forward to the De Guzman and company, who failed to do much of anything all night – Canada’s midfielders as a whole had a game to forget, Will Johnson was missed.
- While Canada was poor, Panama were full value for the result. The trio of Blackburn, Cooper and Alberto Quintero was fantastic throughout. Quintero’s probing run, dismantling Edgar on the way, set up a Blas Perez goal in the 57th minute and ended Canada’s chances of leaving Panama with a point.
- Going through the motions is a horrible cliche – but tonight it was an apt description of a Canadian side that slept walk through an incredibly important fixture at this stage in World Cup Qualifying. What happened to the squad that went full throttle on Friday night? Frankly it was stunning to see Canada play so passively – even if it was away from home. The players handled the hotel theatrics on Monday night extremely well, but perhaps they really were intimidated. This loss isn’t shocking – Panama is a strong team – but it was the way in which it happened that is troubling going forward.
- The road to the Hex comes down to two fixtures in October – at home versus Cuba followed by a daunting trip to Honduras. In all likelihood that final game will decide Canada’s fate. I cannot think of a more stress inducing scenario than needing a result in San Pedro Sula. Such is life in CONCACAF. The team will regroup in one month’s time with everything on the line.
Three Stars
1. Armando Cooper
2. Alberto Quintero
3. Rolando Blackburn
will we qualify? will we become a nation that can be reckognized for soccer? i dont think so we are too focused on bs hockey and baseball and basketball ? oh well time for our talent to discover their heritage to see if they can play abroad ..Im passionate beyond belief for canadian soccer but i dont have the money or resources to grow this program and those who do….dont…
I can’t believe this.
If Hart really thinks they’re good enough to go down there with the mentality of being the “better team ” with “better players” then fine. BUT WE JUST DON’T HAVE THE QUALITY.
WE ESSENTIALLY HAVE A GOOD DEFENCE (NOT AMAZING). GOOD? YES. MIDFIELD IS LESS THAN AVERAGE COMPOSED OF ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS…WHAT THE FCK.
WE. HAVE. NO. STRIKERS. THAT. CAN. PLAY. ALONE.
RICKETTS SUCKS. OCEAN IS OK. HART MUST PLAY LUCAS CAVALLINI IN THE NEXT TWO GAMES. THIS GUY KNOWS HOW TO PLAY FOOTBALL. NONE OF THIS “OH!! HE’S GOT PACE!!!” BULLSHT. CAVALLINI KNOWS HOW TO PLAY THE GAME, WILL WORK HARD, AND WILL SCARE DEFENDERS.
MOST OF THIS SQUAD ARE AMAZING ATHLETES BUT ARE AVERAGE FOOTBALLERS AT BEST.
ATIBA HUTCHINSON AND DE ROSARIO ARE THE ONLY PLAYERS THAT I WOULD BE SCARED OF.
Hart should’ve went in there with a 4-5-1 with Atiba up top, four fullbacks, 1 defensive midfielder and 2 central midfielders. WE’RE TOO EASY TO PLAY AGAINST AWAY FROM HOME. NO ONE IN CANADA AT THIS POINT GIVES A CRAP ABOUT BEING “THE BETTER TEAM AGAINST THESE MINNOWS” AND “PLAYING PROPERLY”.
Panama have shown that they don’t have many athletes, BUT THEY HAVE FOOTBALLERS WHICH IN THIS CONTEXT IS QUITE HELPFUL.
Canada need to destroy Cuba then park the biggest fcking bus in honduras.
Canada has improved at home but away, we’re still shite. PARK THE BUS, HART. IT’S THE ONLY WAY.
Because you can be sure. If they really, really wanted/needed a draw in Canada, they would’ve gotten it. No strikers. 4-6-0.
2 glaring things about the game:
1. David Edgar did not have a good day. He was consistently beaten by the Panamanian left winger, and when he had the ball, it generally ended up back with the Panamanian midfield or out of play.
2. The number of lateral midfield passes that went straight to Panamanian players was astonishing, especially the number of said giveaways that came from Hutchinson.
I do wonder if some of the team were affected by the street party. If that is the case, and our team’s quality is not good enough to overcome the sleep deprivation / intimidation / whatever, then perhaps the CSA should find a way to not let it be known where the team is staying. Or is that impracticable?
I agree with point 1 on Edgar. The problem is he’s a central defender being played out of position and it showed tonight.
Well, I’m not going to use caps-lock so frequently, but I will say in a word that, yes this team really struggles to get things going up front. I think this is pretty similar to what we’ve seen in other games so far, just that the shoe is on the other foot.
A team that struggles to score can normally find one at home or nick one away against a weak squad, but in a tough away fixture it’s always going to be a huge uphill battle.
The squad is what it is though. Not much that can be done with it, other than keep positional stability.
Aside from the lethargy, you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone in the case of Occean and Dero. Occean’s hold up play and Dero’s creativity were sorely missing.
Johnson’s defensive, box to box midfield engine room work was also sorely missed.
Ricketts looks like a one trick pony (i.e. speed) and was illsuited for the target man role.
Can you explain the 14 minute blackout for those that didn’t see the match? Cheers
A section of lights at Estadio Rommel Fernandez went out about 7 minutes into the game. Play was suspended and finally resumed after a 14 minute delay.
GREAT JOB by Lars and Julian both covering the same near post on the corner that lead to the first Panama goal!!
Can we call up Christine Sinclair for the next games? At least she would show some heart and hustle this was a disgusting display the players are much better than they showed…if we do not make the Hex its time to get rid of Heart and start with a fresh approach
It’s interesting to read responses that express their love of their heritage and the game and how skill is important, and yet how angry everyone gets and expresses how we need people to work harder and that will get us through, like we are digging the puck from the corner.
Footy is not hockey, gentleman (and ladies). You can’t have it both ways. You can’t just say Canada has more passion and heart than other countries and then bitch when they lose to skill.
The fact is we don’t raise our kids to play this game. Or any game for that matter, other than hockey. In the Niagara Region alone, it is embarassing the state of kids’ baseball and soccer because none of the coaches have a clue what to do, but because they are our only people raised on the game, they think they know what they are doing. It is a terrible state. My stepson does baseball and his coaches tell him the wrong things to do all the time. You hop over to the USA and you watch the coaching and you can tell that no matter the sport, they got people in the ‘know’ and run their programs properly.
You want things to change? Start by raising the kids instead of bitching at the men.
Amen brother. =)
You get what you pay for … Soccer has SAAC now … Baseball … who knows … look into it instead of complaining … better yet … sign up for a baseball clinic in Buffalo … drive over and do something … you’re a Taxi Dad … drive !
I’m pretty sure I just said that so I hope you don’t mean I’m the one complaining. I just said people are better off paying for US coaches.
If you don’t mean me, then cool. If you do mean me, learn to read.