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Canada 5 Nicaragua 1
Prelude to the Battle
The situation for the Canadian U20’s heading into this match was fairly straight forward. Avoid losing to Nicaragua and they would advance to the Quarterfinal stage to take on the Group A winners, which was determined from the earlier match to be USA. However, the message coming out of the Canadian camp was all about putting in a quality performance.
Coach Nick Dasovic went with a similar 4-2-3-1 formation but opted to make four changes to the side that played Cuba, as midfielders Mauro Eustáquio, Alessandro Riggi, Dylan Carreiro and forward Caleb Clarke replaced midfielders Zakaria Messoudi, Michael Petrasso, Keven Aleman and forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel.
Although the other three changes were understandable, the exclusion of Aleman came as a surprise, as he was one of the only bright spots from the tournament opener.
Post-Match Reaction: Samuel Piette
The Opening Forty-Five
Canada opened the match by keeping possession well in the early going and they had a few half chances before opening the scoring courtesy of a trademark Samuel Piette long range strike from a set piece in the 5th minute. This was followed by some early goalmouth chances for Caleb Clarke, created down the left side through Ben Fisk. It was clearly apparent that Coach Dasovic and his staff got their point across during preparation, as the work rate, organization and mental engagement was a complete 180 degree change from the Cuba match. Furthermore, the change to Caleb Clarke paid dividends, as there was a concerted effort to get crosses into the box for the tall target man.
The Vancouver Whitecaps duo of Fisk and Clarke were the standouts in this match, with the former providing width and service while the latter was active and strong with good footwork. Nicaragua had a few half chances, most notably with a strike from distance testing Maxime Crepeau in the 15th minute. However, Canada doubled their lead through another set play in the 27th minute, with Fisk playing provider with a corner kick to the near post for Clarke to tap in.
Post-Match Reaction: Caleb Clarke
Confusion ensued towards the tail end of the half, as Canada was awarded a penalty for handball in the box and were also the beneficiaries of Nicaragua’s Cristian Gutierrez picking up a subsequent second yellow card. Mauro Eustáquio converted a penalty in 38th minute to make it 3-0. This resulted in some chippy play between both sides and led to a penalty for Nicaragua, which was converted in injury time to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Second Half
The remainder of the match was completely in favour of the Canadians, as the sending off put Nicaragua at too much of a disadvantage to salvage anything from the match. Canada put the pressure on early and was getting good opportunities within seconds of the restart. This put Nicaragua on the back foot and they struggled to cope. The pressure ultimately paid off with Caleb Clarke adding his second of the night in the 55th minute, connecting on a ball into the box from Jon Dollery to make it 4-1. This was followed up by another goal set up once again by Ben Fisk, cutting the ball back to substitute Ben McKendry to make it 5-1 in the 63rd minute.
Post-Match Reaction: Dylan Carreiro
Overall, Canada displayed a complete turnaround in their mental approach to the match and played a much more focused team orientated game, staying compact and paying special attention to getting the ball into the wide positions and rewarding the very active Caleb Clarke.
Post-Match Reaction: Nick Dasovic
The Final Word: It will now be Canada vs. USA clash for a spot in U20 World Cup
One has to believe that if there were a dream scenario everyone wanted to see it would be this one: make it to the Quarterfinals and take on your most hated rivals for a spot in the U20 World Cup. On paper, if Canada had their choice of opposition between USA and Costa Rica, it would make sense that it would be the Americans from the simple standpoint of familiarity. However, judging from the two group games, it’s really difficult to know which Canada side will show up.
In fairness, both Canada and the USA come into this match with positive points and question marks surrounding them. However, in a knockout scenario, as cliché as it sounds, it all comes down to ‘who wants it more’.
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