It’s a job done. They did what they had to do.
Needing a point, the Canadian men’s soccer team did just enough to salvage a 0-0 draw against St. Kitts and Nevis at Warner Park in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
They got off to a good enough start. In the opening minutes, Canada’s passing was textbook stuff as they were easily knocking the ball around their less-fancied opposition.
Stephen Hart
But as often happens with Canadian soccer teams, the chances created weren’t converted.
“The first half we wanted to see what the brought to the game and basically try to keep possession and make them work hard for the ball and take the game to them in the second half,” Canadian head coach Stephen Hart said afterwards. “When we did have possession, we did not pass the ball well
at all.”
The small stadium was packed with impressively loud fans and their players seemed to draw strength from that, as in many parts of the field, they were simply the better team on this day.
Adam Straith
“We came up against a very motivated team today in St. Kitts and I didn’t think we were sharp enough,” defender Adam Straith said. “We weren’t quick enough, we were slow going forward and we didn’t finish our chances when we had them. We gave them a lot of spaces in the midfield and defensively we were also a bit out of our game.”
The Canadians seemed to grow frustrated after a number of offside calls and in the second half, could have been down a goal early.
First Ian Lake had a shot go wide and just a few minutes later, the hosts had a shout for a penalty that was waved away.
As the game went on, there were moments when the hosts seemed to tire but seemed rejuvenated by the home side. That said, Canada had two chances through Simeon Jackson in the final minutes that should have given the visitors the three points.
“Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t put it away and that doesn’t do a lot for his confidence,” Hart said of the Norwich City striker. “We’ve been trying to show confidence in him. Today he played in a position that he’s most comfortable but he was not at his best finishing-wise.”
Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault
Akil Byron came up trumps as Jackson was bearing down on him all alone and then a few minutes later, dove to his left to parry a Jackson shot away.
It wasn’t pretty, but the first step is done. Canada goes on to play Honduras, Panama and Cuba next year. It’s the same stage of the competition that has tripped up the side on the last three attempts of getting to the World Cup.
There’s also the small matter of the return fixture at BMO Field on Tuesday. With the conditions expected to be a disadvantage for St. Kitts, Canada may be out for blood. And to give the fans something to be optimistic about, a big win may be the only tonic.
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