Canada’s Ismael Kone, left, vies for the ball against Mexico’s Raul Jimenez, right, during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, in Inglewood, Calif.Etienne Laurent/The Associated Press
When Canada and the U.S.A. last met in major sporting competition, there was a sense that the winner could claim to be the best in the world.
Some people have since gone so far as to put that final of the 4 Nations Tournament amongst the greatest games of hockey ever played. The cultural ripples it threw out were so enormous that they swamped Wayne Gretzky. On many levels, it was a historic meeting.
The next time won’t be like that.
On Thursday, Canada advanced to Sunday’s third-place game of the CONCACAF Nations League, which is a nice way of saying they lost (2-0 to Mexico). The asterisk here is that it gives this country another sporting shot at America, who had nearly as bad a night.
Some games are played for pride. Canada-America will be contested for politics. The loser heads into the stretch run for next summer’s World Cup wearing the dunce cap.
Canada weren’t favourites against Mexico, but most felt they had a more than a fair shot. When last these teams met, it was a dreary scoreless draw. Mexico haven’t seemed much better since.
Coming into the game, the line on Mexico was that they are a nightmare to play against on their home field, and they can’t score goals.
Inglewood’s cavernous Sofi Stadium was mostly empty for the early, nominally ‘home’ game, USA vs. Panama. By the time Mexico-Canada rolled out, it was close to full. Aside from one small patch of red behind the Canadian goal, the place was awash in green.
As has become traditional, the first order of business in any Canada away game is the anthem temperature check. Last night’s emotional weather: warm.
A pro-Mexico crowd can be surly, but faced with the only country that hasn’t reneged on the USMCA, they were magnanimous. ‘O Canada’ was greeted with cheers from the opposing support. That was one cliché out the window.
Then the game started. The ball muddled up toward the Canadian goal. More than half-a-dozen Canadian players tried to head it off. All of them made the situation a little worse. Somehow, this slow-moving scrum turned into a point-blank breakaway for Mexico. They scored. Fifty seconds had not yet passed. Cliché No. 2 ejected at speed.
The rest of the evening featured a few half-chances and some wonderful amateur acting, by both sides, it must be said. If you’re casting a movie and you need someone to play a very fit corpse, I have some suggestions for you.
Canada had its chances, but usually from distance and off target. The Mexicans pulled back into their own half once they had the lead, but still had the best of it. In the 75th minute, Raul Jimenez – who scored the first goal – bagged a second through a remarkable free kick. One of his teammates stopped him afterward, got down on one knee and mimed shining his boot.
If Canada are as good as people hope they are, then Mexico are back.
By the time you got to the end of this one, America’s dispiriting loss to Panama seemed like no big deal.
As Panama coach Thomas Christiansen put it afterward, that game was “mas tactico.” That’s a soccer term of art meaning ‘bad.’
The U.S. bossed the match until the 94th minute, when they lost it. Afterward, America’s new Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino spent most of a long press conference picking his team apart. They do a lot of things differently in South America, and coaching is one of the most refreshing ones.
Looking at it from a positive point of view, maybe all the cool kids are losing games they should be winning these days.
The top line here is Canada’s run to the semi-final of the 2024 Copa America is beginning to seem like a long time ago. Will that team show up at the World Cup? Or this one?
Because this one is a bit of a mess. The talent is there, but nobody seems to quite know where they’re supposed to be when. The result is a lot of hero ball and runs to nowhere.
Once things aren’t going Canada’s way, they also have the bad North American habit of flapping their arms around instead of moving their legs.
Whatever the cause of this frustration and miscommunication, it’s down to Canadian coach Jesse Marsch to fix. He was brought in to turn this promising group into an offensive force. They’ve moved in the other direction.
Since Marsch has no truly competitive matches over the next 15 months – as co-host, Canada has automatically qualified for the World Cup – that’s a big ask.
Canada grew into its last World Cup campaign. By the time they went to Qatar 2022, they were everyone’s favourite outsider. This time around, they’ll have to claw their way back to that level. Sooner would be better. Sunday’s as good a time as any to start.
Both teams will be at pains not to talk politics beforehand. The Americans – few of them obvious fans of the current White House regime – seem more worried than Canada on that score.
Formerly so loud, the entire American sports world has been conspicuously silent since January 20th. Apparently, no one wants to be the first ones to stick their head over the top of the media trench.
Fortunately for Canada, a statement win in the consolation game will be a much bigger deal back home than a title no one’s ever heard of. They don’t even have to say anything to make an impression.
Canadian fans will assume they mean well whether they win or lose. All America has to do to complete the scene is be seen booing the Canadian anthem. Whether or not the result matters (it doesn’t), Sunday’s game promises to be a fun afternoon of international chest beating.
