Gold Cup: Day 9 (End of Canada)

So on Tuesday night there were two games in the Gold Cup but I trust that most of my readers watched the Canadian game.  With that in mind I am not overly going to discuss the events of the game but will instead focus on my feelings and reaction to the game, and Canada's Gold Cup effort as a whole.

The short version is that Canada needs to be better then they were the last three games.  The team that we saw against Ecuador showed potential and showed the ability to get forward but the team that showed up the last 3 matches looked completely unthreatening and at times they seemed lost for what they were doing.  The 4-5-1 seemed to me to be the root cause of the problems because when Hart was forced to make changes, mainly not playing Jackson alone up top, things picked up a bit.  It is actually a bad thing that Canada was at its very best in the second half of the US game because Ali Gerba was brought on.  If we are counting on Ali Gerba, still, to score goals then this world cup qualifying campaign is going to be a tough one.

The fact is that Canada played 3 matches in the Gold Cup and the only time that they scored was from 2 soft penalties.  They created very little from open play and maybe it was the game plan, or Atiba Hutchinson missing two matches, or maybe it is that Canada continues to lack a constant scoring threat from the striker position.  The teams leading scorer on the current roster is Dwayne De Rosario, with 15 goals, and he so often gets lost in games going long stretches without making any impact.  There is no one on this current team that you can count on to score with any regularity.  We have some decent midfielders, good enough to compete with out teams in CONCACAF I would say but the other areas need to be improved.  I have high hopes for Jackson but the truth is that he has a lot to learn and the system in place under Stephen Hart is not the right fit for him.  If you watch how Norwich use him, which works well, you can see how he is capable of being an effective attacker but for Canada he was often isolated and out matched by larger defenders.  Rob Friend and Ali Gerba on the other hand I do not have any confidence in at all.  I hear Friend can be good but have limited exposure to him for his club but again he is poorly used in Hart's tactics.  There is also Ricketts but I am going to reserve judgement on him since I have seen almost nothing of him and his few appearances for Canada have seemed decent but not enough to get a true sense.

The other issue that Canada faces is they lack that killer confidence.  They go into games against the USA overwhelmed and play like they are afraid of getting beaten and then when they do get scored on they struggle to find an answer.  Then even when we get ahead like we were against Panama there is this sense that the team are not strong enough to know how to hold on to that lead.  The best teams know that the easiest way to hold a lead is to push back against the team rather then just packing it in where you are basically just waiting for the other team to create chances and potentially score.  The goal that Canada conceded was quite unlucky but it was nothing less then Panama deserved as they had been taking the game to Canada for some time.  Would of course not have been an issue if Canada had converted some chances in the first half.  Now Canada has an average back line at best so that is never going to help and by the end of this Gold Cup they didn't have 4 players fit to play in their natural positions in the back line which is not going to help but maybe Hart should have brought another defender along for the tournament rather then someone like Pacheco just to pick a name.

The other area of the team that I was most concerned about going into this Gold Cup was in goal.  Hirschfeld has had a couple of great performances for Canada in the past but is not consistent enough to rely on in hopefully a long qualification run.  I was though pleased with what I saw from Milan Borjan.  He displayed good positioning, good judgement, and the ability to stop shots.  You can still tell that he has not been around top clubs and can use a fair bit of refinement but he has the potential and I was pleasantly surprised by that.

So Canada is now out of the Gold Cup and the next stop for the Men's National Team is World Cup qualifiers this fall.  The draw will almost certainly hand us something easy in the opening round of play but my fear is that we will win that without making the needed changes.  For me Hart needs to prove that he can get away from always using the 4-5-1 and have some tactical flexibility.  He needs to change something and get the team to the point where it is scoring goals from open play against the Panama's and Guadeloupe's of the world.  It is alright to be kept off the score sheet when you are up against a keeper like Tim Howard, who is class, but against other teams we need to find a way to manufacture goals.  I can not sit here and offer a solution, if I could I would be coaching at a high level, but I can say that in my opinion if Hart does not show the willingness and ability to mix it up this fall then it should cost him his job.  We should be winning these early qualifying games no matter what, that is not good enough though.  Canada needs to be using these games to get much better.  We have to be in the top 8 teams and CONCACAF and I would like to see us go far in qualifiers, even if the World Cup is still a distant dream, but based on the Gold Cup performance we have a long way to go to prove that we are right with the second tier of teams in the region.

The American team also played last night and to be fair they were terrible.  They have been poor all the way through the group stage and seem to be a long way from hitting their stride.  For me, and I have heard a few others saying this, they have only made it out of the group stage because of their natural talent and having some of the best players in the tournament.  If you look at how Mexico has preformed and look at the States then they have a lot of work to do if they want to overcome Mexico at some point and potentially win this thing.  Clint Dempsey was at the centre of the Americans bad play in the group stage as he seemed to just not be sharp at all and wasted chance after chance after chance with him being at his worst last night.  Dempsey should have had a hat trick and put the game beyond a doubt for the US but instead he got nothing.  Canada may be the team going home but the Americans have underachieved just as much and could be joining Canada in the coming days.


So with no more Gold Cup for Canada what do you have to look forward to?  Well Canada is about to enter in to two more competitions in including the U-17's and then the Women's World Cup later this month.  Personally I am very excited for the WWC and think that Canada are a team that can turn some heads.
I will try to cover that tournament and preview it in the coming weeks as well as continuing with some Gold Cup coverage and TFC coverage.  Going to be a great summer for soccer in this country!

The Canadian Conundrum

What I am going to attempt to do in this post is lay out the possible outcomes for Group C in the simplest and most straightforward way that I can which will likely result in everyone be confused and in that case the best thing to do is hope that Canada wins tonight as that will be enough to advance no matter what, got that down?  Good cause now we can get into the fun that such a stupid tournament format can create.  This whole best 2 third place teams moving on concept is just useless and for the first time in my life I found myself agreeing with a City fan last night while I was listening to Duane Rollins thoughts on the dumb format on last nights edition of Itscalledfootball (check out the podcast for some good stuff!)

So lets get down to the match and set out a couple of scenarios:

1.  If Canada wins the game, regardless of the margin, they advance but could finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd

2. If Canada losses, regardless of the margin, they are going home

3.  If Canada draws the game then they need to hope that the US losses their game against Guadeloupe

So that is the very basic outline of what can happen.  The scenarios get a lot more complex if you try to include all of the different outcomes from both of tonights games.  For example if Canada were to win by 4 or more then they would be able to claim top spot in the group and if they want a shot at second in the group then Canada needs to at least win by 2 so that they can go above Panama based on head to head.  I am not in the mood to hurt my brain trying to lay it all out for you when Duane of The 24th Minute has already done such a good job over here: http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1831-Group-C-breakdown

The other thing that is worth knowing is that if Canada wins the game by less than 2 then they are heading to a quarterfinals date with Mexico.  So if you are hoping for Canada to avoid Mexico then a 2 goal win is the magic number.  To do that Canada is going to need a great effort as they are likely going to have to overcome a depleted back line, with only 3 out and out defenders left fit on the team, and likely the absence of Atiba Hutchinson for the second straight match as reports are suggesting that his club PSV are suggesting that it would be wise for Hart not to play him tonight.  If PSV really are saying that then we won't be seeing Atiba tonight since Hart will want to be careful not to burn bridges with them before World Cup qualifying begins as Hutchinson will be a key part of any success that Canada is going to have.

Gold Cup: Day 6 (Canada's back!)

The 6th round of play in the 2011 Gold Cup saw group C get back in to the action.  That means that Canada was taking to the field for their second match and this time they were down in Tampa to take on Guadeloupe.  The second game of the nights would see Panama and the United States battling for control over the group. 

Coming into this game I heard a lot of Canadian fans feeling like this should be an easy win for the team because Guadeloupe are an unranked nation but that ignores the fact that most of their players are professionals in the French League system with a fair few of them playing for good teams in the Ligue 2.  With that said they were not a team that Canada would be able to get away with taking lightly which they proved by making Panama work so hard to win in the first round despite having gone down to 9 men.  The second game was no different as Canada were going to have to work for everything despite Guadeloupe again going down a man.  This time the sending off game in the 4th minute when Will Johnson was hit by a two footed tackle from Jean-Luc Lambourde.  It may not have been the worst tackle I have ever seen but I have also seen red cards being given out for less and Guadeloupe cant really feel that hard done by this one.  So Canada were taking on 10 men for basically the entire game now and they must certainly have been the clear favorites, right?

The first chance of note in the game would go the way of Guadeloupe as Borjan was forced to get down to his right quickly and did well to turn aside the low shot.  Before the first half was over Canadian striker Ali Gerba got what was clearly the best chance of the half as he found himself unmarked in the box but when he hit the cross first time he was unable to get it on target.  The first half would end without much else happening and the sending off was the only real talking point.

The second half began with Guadeloupe creating the first chance as once again Borjan was forced to get down quick to make a save right by his post.  Borjan continued his solid play tracking down crosses and making easy work of any shots that did come his way making Hart look like a genius for deciding to start him in this match.  Canada generated a half chance a few minutes later with a speculative shot from range by De Rosario but on the 50th minute De Rosario sent a cross into the box that was aimed towards Ali Gerba but Gerba went down under contact from the defender and the referee awarded Canada a penalty.  De Ro would step up to the spot and after sending the keeper the wrong way he slotted home the opening goal of the game.  The penalty was by no means cut and dry and when I said that Gerba went down under contact it really was slight contact and he went down rather easily as he had no chance of getting to the ball.  The decision is one that Canada have often been on the other end of and it has often angered Canadian fans to see teams going down so softly against us so it is no surprise that the reaction to this has been rather mixed even among Canadian fans.  Gerba going down softly does raise the question though of whether this is the kind of thing Canada needs to do if they want to gain an edge against their opponents in the Gold Cup and later in World Cup qualifying.  I personally do not like the idea of our players diving but if you are under contact and start to fall why not go down and just see what happens.  No point busting your butt to state on your feet when at the other end of the field the opposing team might just go down and win the game as a result.

The game would continue on with both teams looking to create chances but to be honest there was a real lack of offensive talent on display in this one.  The best chances the rest of the game came from long range efforts which were all turned away by the keepers.  In the end it was that penalty decision that proved to be the difference as Canada escaped with a 1-0 win.  For Canada I am sure they would have liked to score a couple more goals to try and improve the goal difference and their chances of finishing higher up after the group stage ends.  For Guadeloupe on the other hand they will feel that once again the ref has cost them a chance to win the game with that sending off and then the penalty decision.  Things will not get any easier for Guadeloupe though as they finish off the group against the United States and they will need to not only win the match but will need to win it by a comfortable margin.  That basically means that come the last match day Guadeloupe will be only playing for pride.  Canada on the other hand will have everything to play for when they round off their group schedule against Panama in a match where a positive result could see them finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in group C.

The second game of the evening in the group was another exciting one and surely left a lot of fans scratching their hands.  Panama was taking on the United States and with the US being one of the favorites for this Gold Cup you would have expected them to have a fairly easy time disposing of Panama.  The match was nothing like that though as Panama came out flying and really took it to the US.  Throughout the first half the Americans were kept on the back heel an Panama's hard work was rewarded in 18th minute when Luis Tejada scored to give them a lead that surprised all of the American fans watching the match in Tampa.  Things only got worse for the Americans though as defender Tim Ream brought down Perez in the box handing Panama a penalty in the 35th minute.  The spot kick was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a shock 2-0 lead which they would hold until the half.

The Americans would fight back in the second half but Panama put up a solid resistance.  Panama would manage to hold back the powerful attack until the 67th minute when Clarence Goodson scored to give the States hope.  In the end though they were unable to find the second goal that they needed to salvage any sort of result.  Panama's early onslaught combined with resolute defending and some strong keeping from Cano were enough to hand them their second win in the group.

So with 2 rounds in the book now Panama find themselves sitting on top of the group with 6 points and if they get a result against Canada on the last day they will be going through in first place.  The Americans will be looking to extract some revenge for this loss on Guadeloupe in their final match as they need a comfortable win to try and finish as high up the group as they can.  A win could see them finish 1st or 2nd.  There really is almost everything to play for on the final match day in this group and teams will be fighting hard for better positions to ensure they get the easier quarter finals.

Gold Cup: Day 3 (Canada Day)

June 7th was setting up to be a very big day for Canadian Soccer but in the end the results were not quite we would have all liked to see.  The afternoon kicked off with the Women's National team playing their final warmup friendly in Budapest against the Hungarian team.  The women would have been hoping to rediscover their scoring touches and hopefully fire a few past the Hungarians but that was not to be.  In the end they got the win that they wanted thanks to an 88th minute goal from Matheson which was enough for the 1-0 win.  The win set the stage well for a great day for Canada with the mens team preparing to play in the evening and it also ensured that the Women's team would be going into the World Cup feeling pretty good about themselves.  The match was also the 100th cap for captain Brittany Timko making her only the 7th Canadian woman to reach that mark.  (Women's World Cup preview coming later this month)

Now we get to the Gold Cup.  The first match last night opened up play in Group C with Panama taking on Guadeloupe in Detroit.  In the early stages this match looked like it was going to be yet another lopsided score as Panama took a 2-0 lead in the first half only to see Guadeloupe have a player sent off to the second questionable red card in as many nights.  Having been reduced to 10 men Guadeloupe could have folded but they were ready to put up a fight.  Things only got worse for them though when they opened the second half by conceding a penalty which was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a 3-0 lead.  Even though Panama was up by 3 the game had seemed a lot closer then that based on run of play.  Both sides were creating chances and it was fairly balances but everything seemed to be going in Panama's favour in the first hour.  After the 60th minute Guadeloupe began an impressive fight back led by Brice Jovial who plays for Le Havre in France.  Jovial would net goals in the 64th and 78th minute to hand Guadeloupe a lifeline but it was all to little to late as time ran out on them before they could salvage anything.  To the other teams in the group it should now be clear that Guadeloupe are not a team that you can take lightly as they will never give a game up and it also showed that both they and Panama possess the kind of quality needed to give Canada and USA tough games.

The second match was the one that we have all be waiting for basically since June of 2007.  Ever since the last meeting between Canada and the United States ended so badly Canadian soccer fans have been left with a really bad taste in their mouth.  The Canadian supporters would have been hoping to get a measure of revenge in Detroit for the recent struggles that we have had against the Americans.  I for one was hoping that for the first time in my life Canada would get a win over the United States in a competitive match.  With all the hope among Canadian fans I almost forgot that Canada was still the major underdogs for this match.  Spend enough time around passionate fans and they might just have you believing that Canada can hold their own against anyone in the world.  That is a good thing though since fans really should have an almost blind faith in the teams that they support.

The game itself went nothing like we had all hoped.  Canada's Josh Simpson made a promising run down the wings to start the game off but his cross was over hit and after that the run of play became all USA.  The Americans were dominant in possession and creating all sorts of chances in the early minutes.  The breakthrough came on 14 minutes when a play that seemed like it was no real danger.  Jozy Altidore picked up the ball in the book and he was held out wide but his low shot was hard enough that it snuck under Lars Hirschfeld before he could get down to stop it.  Hirschfeld probably should have done a lot better with the strike as he was in position to make the save and the shot came from a poor angle.

Following the opening goal Canada seemed to be rather stunned.  The players were all passing off the ball like they didn't want it.  Other then a bending effort from De Rosario just past the half hour mark that barely missed bending into Howard's top corner there was little to be excited about for the Canadian fans.  It appeared that the choice to go with only Jackson up front left Canada without a really threat in attack as their buildup play was not good enough to provide Jackson any support and Jackson was not big enough to serve as a target man against the American centre backs.  The second half of the game began with more of the same as the Americans controlled the run of play and were the only ones really generating any chances.  They were rewarded for that dominance in the 61st minute when Clint Dempsey got in at the back post to tuck home a low cross from Altidore.

Having gone down 2-0 and not shown much in terms of being able to get forward and attack Canada were forced to make some changes.  The moves that Hart did make gave Canada much more of an edge with Ali Gerba being able to generate probably the two best chances of the game for Canada.  Gerba first forced Howard to deal with a powerful effort which would have been heading into the top corner until Howard got his hand on the ball and forced it over.  Gerba's second chance was probably even better as the ball fell to him in close after a scramble in the American box but a great reaction save from Howard kept Canada off the board.

Based on the late surge from Canada they were probably a bit unlucky to not get a goal for their efforts.  I think that in the end the Americans showed that they are still the better team and that they have the quality to control the pace of matches like this one.  Canada showed that they have more questions then answers at this point as they need to find a way to generate more and play with a bit more edge in their attacks.  The game might have been a lot different if say Tim Howard was in Canada's net since it may just have ended up 2-1 Canada but we can only work with what we have and despite the early mistake that led to Altidore's goal Hirschfeld put in a solid effort.

The real highlight of the match for me was seeing the excited and loud bunch of Canadians that had travelled down to Detroit for the match.  Section 118 of Ford Field was filled with a bunch of familiar faces from the game at BMO and folks that came down made the best of their trip.  Despite Canada giving them very little to cheer about they were in full voice for more then 90 minutes and deserve to be considered the man of the match for this one.  Well done to the Voyageurs and anyone else who made the trip down, I wish I could have joined you.

Up next for Canada is a trip down to Tampa Bay where they will play Guadeloupe on Saturday at 6 PM EST.  The team will likely feature a few changes from the group that started against the Americans.  I can see Peters, De Guzman, Gerba, and Borjan all getting starts in this one in hopes of improving the teams attack as well as tying down Borjan as a Canadian international.  I more complete preview of the next game will be up in the coming days!