Early last week the Canadian Men’s National Team took on a solid Icelandic side in a friendly match. The match ended in a 1-1 draw with both sides tallying their only goals from their respective penalty spots. Canada’s goal from the spot came in the 30th minute from captain Dwayne De Rosario. Although, it is not the goal itself that I will be highlighting in this article, but the build up and cause of it instead.
The player I will be giving praise to is Montreal Impact’s Karl Ouimette. Ouimette was slotted in at left back for Canada and was the direct cause of the penalty being given. The Canadian fullback made a streaking run down the sideline and received the ball high up the pitch in the Iceland half.
As many may already know, the attacking mindset has definitely become a trend and even an expectation amongst fullbacks these days. Great examples of this can be seen in players such as Jordi Alba of Barcelona or Marcelo of Real Madrid (just to name a couple).
Ouimette received the ball in stride and looked up to see that Hordur Arnason, the opposing Iceland fullback, had his back towards him (a huge no-no when it comes to defending). Instead of trying to dribble or pass the ball off, Ouimette knocked the ball far ahead of himself and Arnason towards the Iceland penalty area.
The young Canadian defender took advantage of his pace and the wrong-facing Iceland player and managed to get himself towards the net with the opportunity of an attempt at goal. The Icelandic fullback was left with no option but to grab a hold of the shirt of Karl Ouimette, ultimately leading to the Canadian going to ground in the area. The referee undoubtedly blew his whistle for the penalty, Dwayne De Rosario stepped up, and the rest is history.
While Oimette did extremely well to get himself into the opposing eighteen-yard box, Icelandic defensive errors were also at play.
Firstly, as I previously mentioned, the Iceland right-back Hordur Arnason was off-balance and facing away from his man. If he had played Ouimette more side-on and closed him down quicker, the entire situation could have been averted. Secondly, Iceland’s centre-back Hallgrímur Jónasson, along with his other two defenders, were playing far too deep on the play. The Iceland backline was roughly fifteen yards too deep in their own end, giving Karl Oimette plenty of space to run into.
Here is a chalkboard layout of how Iceland’s backline and midfield should have been positioned in order to avoid sacrificing a penalty kick:
Below is a video example of defending from German and Bayern Munich player Phillip Lahm that would have mitigated the run, and stopped Oimette in his tracks:
The difference between this and the defending of Iceland’s Hordur Arnason is that Lahm is facing his opponent, keeps him extremely close and in front of him and in his sight at all times. The German uses his arm to hold off his opponent, giving him a prime opportunity to get a tackle in.
Had Arnason been able to keep Ouimette facing him, the result may have been different, but credit goes to Ouimette for recognizing the situation and taking full advantage of his opponent's poor positioning.
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