In a game that saw Canada entering as an obvious underdog against an underachieving yet potent Costa Rican side, Canada could really not settle for anything but a win in order to advance to the next round of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada would need no less than a draw at one to hold the mere possibility of moving ahead as one of two best third place finishers from round one.
Unfortunately, a 0 – 0 tie was the outcome as Canada disappointedly bowed out of the tournament. After two scoreless draws and a 1 – 0 loss, there is no other way to describe the outcome. Unable to score a single goal over their three games in the tournament, the performance was simply not good enough.
CONCACAF Gold Cup: Canada Bows Out With Draw Against Costa Rica
Changes to the lineup by Benito Floro saw Jonathan Osorio, Karl Ouimette, and Maxim Tissot added. Samuel Piette and Nick Ledgerwood were forced to sit due to yellow cards. Tesho Akindele and Cyle Larin were sat as substitutes.
Canada began with great pace and managed to generate a presence in the Costa Rican end. Marcus Haber, starting as the lone striker, received good service from an energetic Julian de Guzman. At one point, after a neatly headed ball from de Guzman, he was one on one with the goaltender, Alvarez, deep in the Costa Rican box but was stopped point blank. A second touch went wide. Haber’s presence was obviously designed for capitalization on set pieces. By all accounts, Floro was planning to continue with a tight, defensive, and if need be, conservative, opportunistic approach.
Costa Rica had several opportunities to score from distance during the first half. Ramirez nearly scored for Costa Rica with a shot from the left side. Vega also nearly put Costa Rica on the board in the 45th minute with a shot from just outside the box that was deflected just wide, within inches of the far post by Canadian goaltender Kenny Stamatopoulos.
As the second half wore on, Canada appeared to fade, with less desperation and presence going forward. Costa Rica continued to test Kenny Stamatopoulos with long drives that were ever so close.
In the 67th minute Floro replaced Tossaint Ricketts with Russell Teibert and Maxime Tissot with Cyle Larin. A minute later, after a Marcus Haber goal was called back, Floro sent on Andre Haineault for Jonathan Osorio. By the 75th minute, Costa Rica had brought on defender Roy Miller and forward Joel Campbell.
Canada followed up with a flurry of activity in the Costa Rican end but was unable to score despite several free kicks, corners and shots from distance. A late charge saw Andre Haineault hit the post on a scramble deep in the box, only to have a desperate clearance take the chance away.
In the end, it was just not enough and the under capacity crowd at BMO Field in Toronto left in disappointment. Canada will now look ahead to World Cup qualification which begins in September.
