The Footie Fool

The last time Canada went undefeated in Gold Cup group play was 2000. Just saying.

What a strange feeling going into a game knowing you have already secured a spot in the knockout. It’s not something I am used to and I have to say it actually took a bit of an edge off watching it. Still, any time we get a result against Costa Rica it is good. But getting a result with the majority of our starters sitting out? Priceless.

A very smart move by Stephen Hart sitting out JDG, Mike Klukowski and Paul Stalteri, who were all on yellow cards. Ali Gerba also did not start, but came on as a late sub.

The status of Dejan Jackovic and why he did not start is a bit concerning. Word has it he picked up an injury. Hopefully nothing serious because the back line is nowhere near as solid without him.

The first goal was a groaner, with Greg Sutton showing some poor judgement coming off his line to challenge and getting caught. Then, ohhhhh, he fell over (which sounds funny in my head because I am hearing Austin Powers say it). Had he not flopped he might have made it back in time.

But what’s this? An immediate reply by Canada? A lovely cross by Josh “I’ll-show-you-I-can-do-more-than-run-fast” Simpson that was slotted home by Patrice Bernier, who seemed to have a bit extra in the tank against the Ticos. Bernier is usually a pretty solid, if unspectacular, performer but last night Bernier seemed to stand out a bit more than he usually does.

Marcel De Jong pinged a second for Canada a few minutes later on a long range shot that benefited from the artificial turf and picked up some speed on the hop.

Costa Rica came back on a questionable foul, but a fantastic free kick that just eluded Sutton’s outstretched fingers. We went into the half tied at 2. From the choppy play and defensive miscues in the first, I was expecting another 4 goals in the second.

Canada came back after the half and showed some nice control and possession for the first 20 minutes or so before Costa Rica started pouring on the heat, and we benefited more from poor finishing but the Costa Ricans than strong Canuck defending on more than one occasion.

What we were really missing from the game last night (and some would argue, what we have been missing this tournament), is some real killer instinct in the attacking third of the pitch. We can calmly play the ball out of our own end, move it nicely up the midfield, but when we get into the attacking third it all seems to fizzle. This is where I think we miss the unpredictability of DeRo. So far we haven’t seen much of this on display on the Canadian side.

Still, we ground out a result and gave some bench players time on the pitch to see what they could do as a unit. Jamie Peters, Andre Hainault, Issey Nakajima-Ferron and Adrian Cann all saw time in the game.

But more importantly, we finished first in our group with the result. For the first time in a long time, Canada controlled it’s own destiny in a tournament, and we head into a clash with either the US or Honduras on Saturday with a fully rested A squad.

From other Canuck bloggers:

• Canadian Stretford End picks Marcel De Jong as MOTM.
• Some Canadian Guys have their hubris alarms going after the match.
• Seeing Red is bemoaning the lack of FULL television coverage of the festivities. I am with you, my friend, although watching Spanish coverage does have some fun moments as you so nicely illustrate.
• Gian-Luca points out that for all the guff we give Sutton for his distribution, the comeback goal after his flub was started by Sutton’s distribution.
• I hear you, Joe Ross at The Score. It is a weird feeling for Canuck footie fans to know we are going into a game that we don’t have to win.