For Canada’s men’s national soccer team, away games in Central America have never been easy. Hot, humid weather, officiating that at times has appeared quite harsh, and even intensely loud masses of fans have all served to make countries such as Panama and Honduras challenging venues for any visiting squad. In fact, the last time Canada visited the region, the result was a devastating 8 – 1 World Cup qualifier loss to Honduras in San Pedro Sula. Needless to say, this put an end to Canada’s World Cup hopes for Brazil. It also appeared to set the program back quite a ways and left both players and staff demoralized.
With the hiring of Benito Floro, there came a new focus and a new style of play. As the team has progressed since the summer of 2013, a number of increasingly solid performances have helped lift spirits somewhat. A recent, respectable 1 – 0 loss to powerhouse Colombia was seen as a victory in many ways, considering the work that Floro has done. And so it was with renewed hopes that the Canada took on Panama in Panama City on Tuesday, November 18th.
The game ended as a stalemate, with a 0 – 0 draw that saw very few scoring opportunities. It was Panama who was able to come closest to scoring with at least 3 quick strikes that Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan had to be very alert on. Panama was able to put Canada on the back foot at times and Borjan was called upon. Borjan’s acrobatics were of “man of the match” quality, and served Canada with a couple of outright game savers.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for this game to take on a chippy and frustrating style that neither team could break out of. The early going was particularly sloppy and neither team was able to establish any flow and string multiple passes together. Both teams were highly efficient at taking away passing lanes and generally interrupting play. Quite a number of fouls were handed out, with the majority going to the home side.
Canada was unable to generate much pressure in the early going and it was Panama that was able to push forward. Not only did they and frustrate Canada at times, but they were also able to gain possession deep in the offensive end. The 32nd minute actually saw Panama threaten goal first, with a quick shot from Anibal Godoy from just outside the 18-yard box. The ball was set for the top right corner until Borjan tipped it over the crossbar.
The first half ended with little to speak of, other than rampant fouls and a Canadian attack that was nowhere near the pressing and fluid style the team had come to play thus far under Floro. Julian De Guzman was unable to control the midfield and create the kind of solid, quality distribution and direction he had in previous games. Canada was essentially unable to play Floro’s style.
Indeed Floro did not look happy with the situation and sought a remedy. Almost halfway through the second half, he substituted in Russell Teibert and Jonathan Osorio, taking off Patrice Bernier and Issey Nakajima-Farran. There seemed to be some renewed vigor in Canada’s attack as forward movement looked more creative. Marcus Haber coming on for Dwayne De Rosario seemed to bolster the situation as well, as Canada gained more of the offensive zone and were able to at least generate some corners.
The game ended uneventfully with the draw as final result. Things did not seem encouraging as Canada actually played with a man advantage for the final 16 minutes after Godoy was sent off for his second yellow. For some, Canada would have to consider this a positive outcome; a draw on the road against a team that has been troubling in the past. In other ways, looking back on improvements under Floro, there will be disappointment in such a flat performance. Canada is now 1 – 5 – 4 under Floro, but actually 1 – 1 – 4 for this calendar year. The recent past has really seen the most improvement and in light of renewed vigour, this was an opportunity to do much better. Ranked 122nd globally, and 16th in CONCACAF, Canada has to consider the pressing need to move forward under Floro (and play his preferred pressing style) as World Cup qualifying lies ahead in 2015.
Perhaps it was the more veteran line up that Floro started with that may have contributed to the lack of pace. The second half substitutions seemed to change Canada’s pace a bit and it may well give even more credibility to Floro’s willingness to build through a youth movement right from the start.
Starting Doneil Henry at right back as opposed to center, did not really work to any advantage. Henry was clearly out of his comfort zone. Late challenges, one of which could easily have been a red card, were the result as he struggled to win the ball and was frustrated moving forward. De Guzman as well could have easily been called for similar late challenges. Had it not been for Borjan, the result would have been far worse.
Overall, this was not an entertaining game to watch. At times, it was desperately ugly. Floro will no doubt return to his overall plan and evaluate his combinations moving into the next phase. Some success has been achieved in 2014 and it is really critical that the momentum that has recently been built is not lost amid relapses into the former cautious, conservative, and essentially lacklustre play that the pre-Floro Canada has been known for.
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