VANCOUVER, B.C - Canada will not be advancing to the 'Hex' and the 5th round of 2018 World Cup Qualifying. The road to Russia ends at BC Place following a 3-1 victory over El Salvador. Cyle Larin, Nik Ledgerwood, and David Edgar scored for Canada, but it wasn't enough to overturn a negative five goal differential. Mexico and Honduras played to a 0-0 draw at the Azteca which means that Honduras finishes second in Group A with 8 points, while Canada sits third with 7 points. A crowd of 20, 726 saw an entertaining match from start to finish, but goals were hard to come by for Canada as they squandered far too many chances.
Canadian midfielder Atiba Hutchinson was emotional following Canada's qualification exit. Canada had plenty of chances to pile up the goals vs El Salvador, but luck just wasn't in the cards for the Canadians. The skipper shared his thoughts on the match.
"We just wanted to come into this game with right mentality," said Hutchinson, "Go for a win and hope to get as many goals as we could. 3-1 was an ok result, but in the end it wasn't enough. All you can really ask for is that the boys go out there and that's what we did."
The 33 year-old veteran sees a positive and bright future for Canada. The skill level and heart is certainly there, but the end results have been harder to find. Canada must start to pick up wins outside of Canada. Hutchinson likes what the future could bring.
“It’s a bright future, there’s a lot of talent here,” admitted Hutchinson. “We just have to continue to build on what we’ve been doing. We've been very strong at home and we have to continue that away. Making sure that we protect our home field wherever we play in the country, that's important for us. It's not only the home games, but we have to start to find ways to win away from home."
Hutchinson will take some time to ponder his own future as he may have played his final match in a Canadian kit.
"Will see what happens, it's too early to say right now. I'm thirty-three so we'll see."
The future of the Canadian Men's National Team will face many questions going forward and at the minute, the biggest question surrounds the future of Coach Benito Floro's. Many fans, pundits, and part-time supporters would like to see him sacked.
"This is not the time to talk about that," said Floro. "We are finishing the elimination of this game. This is a matter for another moment, not now."
The Opening 45
Canada was able to pounce on an early El Salvador turnover to open the scoring in the 11' minute. El Salvador looked to play the ball back. The ball ricocheted off of Junior Hoilett before finding striker Cyle Larin. The Orlando City man was clearly offside, but no arm was raised. He blasted his shot top corner past Oscar Arroyo to give Canada a 1-0 advantage.
Canada isn't exactly known as a team that scores a lot of goals. Finding goal, after goal, was always going to be a daunting task for the red and white. Cyle Larin was snake-bitten following his early tally. He had a pair of glorious chances to double the Canadian lead, but the bounces just weren't finding the back of the net. Tosaint Ricketts also missed a great chance to score from in close.
Canada had chances galore, but were unable to add to Cyle Larin's opening goal. The visitors held firm and kept Canada off the score sheet for the rest of the half. El Salvador carried a 55% - 45% possession advantage heading into the interval.
The Second Half
Canada's persistent pressure resulted in another early goal to start the half. Poor marking from El Salvador resulted in midfielder Nik Ledgerwood having all sorts of time in space in front of goal. The Lethbridge, Alberta native promptly rifled his shot past Oscar Arroyo in the 53' minute for his first international goal for Canada.
Frustrations were starting to boil over for El Salvador as tensions picked up. San Jose Earthquakes man, Darwin Ceren delivered a dangerous two-footed slide tackle on Junior Hoilett. He was issued his second yellow of the match and given his marching orders. Hoilett was able to continue on as El Salvador was forced to play the final thirty-two minutes to of action with 10 men.
Benito Floro's bunch were doing their best to apply pressure on El Salvador to score goals. However, finding the back of the net proved to be harder than assumed. For a defensive first team, Canada has never been a strong scoring team. Switching to a more offensive minded tactical strategy isn't something you can do with a flick of the switch, and Canada proved that.
El Salvador was able to break the hopes and dreams of Canadians as they attacked on the counter and scored a goal in the 78' minute. Gershon Mayen broke down the wing, waited out his defender and slid the ball over to Nelson Bonilla. Goalkeeper Milan Borjan was caught in the middle and the 25 year-old Bonilla had an open net and easy tap in-goal.
Second half substitute, David Edgar added a stoppage time goal to make the result 3-1, but it was not nearly enough. Canada's hopes and dreams of making their first appearance in the 'Hex' since 1998 came to an end. There will be no fairytale Canadian story at the 2018 Russia World Cup. A lot of changes, and perhaps a new tactical approach will have to occur before Qatar 2022.
Man of the Match
Marcel de Jong
Marcel de Jong was terrific throughout the match. He provided fantastic service into the El Salvador box during the opening half when Canada needed an early goal. His crosses, free kicks, and defensive play was on point and he was by far the brightest Canadian on the pitch. When Canada needed a spark to get going, de Jong provided that. If not for some poor finishing from in close, the Whitecaps FC man could have picked up a pair of assists.
Canada Starting XI: Milan Borjan; Marcel de Jong; Manjrekar James, Adam Straith, Doneil Henry; Junior Hoilett, 81 (David Edgar) Atiba Hutchinson(C), Scott Arfield, Nik Ledgerwood, 74 (Samuel Piette); Tosaint Ricketts, Cyle Larin, 74 (Marcus Haber). 4-4-2.
El Salvador Starting XI: Oscar Arroyo; Roberto Dominguez, Henry Romero, Darwin Ceren(C), Jaime Alas, Alexander Larin, Oscar Ceren, 64 (Xavier Garcia), Bryan Tamacas, Juan Barahona, 46 (Gershon Mayen), Pablo Punyed, 46 (Andres Flores), Nelson Bonilla. 4-4-2
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