After a critical victory Friday night over St. Lucia, Canada looks to build momentum in the Second Round of World Cup Qualifying as they travel south to the fortress that is known as Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium to take on Puerto Rico. Canada went through some trying moments in their opening fixture, but in the end getting the important three points is all that matters, as does the fact their two other competitors drew their match to put them clear on top of the table.
Puerto Rico will be glad to be at home and look to make a statement as they have been showing signs that they will begin to take international football competitions more seriously. Canada once again needs to be weary going into this match, but most importantly have to start showing more confidence in their play. Puerto Rico will present a much more professional looking side than St. Lucia, but the quality is still in the Canucks favour who should be able to see how valuable a win will go in getting through this round, and put out the display to ensure they remain first in Group D.
Canada heads into the fortress that is Puerto Rico for their second fixture of the Second Round of World Cup Qualifying. After what some thought was a disappointing 4-1 win over St. Lucia, we speak with Gavin Day who is on the ground in Puerto Rico to get his insights into the National Team and what his expectations are for the side heading into their second match.
Keep thinking
While the manner in which Canada disposed of St. Lucia was not exactly how many envisioned, it did provide a huge stepping stone for the team to move forward from and address issues earlier rather than later. This might sound like a broken record as it was a similar spin taken on the Gold Cup exit, however, goals were scored on Friday from open play which were all but non-existent earlier in the summer.
The players expected to make their mark did so in Josh Simpson and Dwayne De Rosario, while important role players such as Will Johnson also made an impact. However, one player who needs to be the most reliable player on the pitch once again had a glaring moment of being off a step and that is Lars Hirschfeld.
Hirschfeld has now gone through back to back games for Canada with goals surrendered that he certainly would like back and should save nine times out of ten. It cannot be underestimated or overstated the impact those goals had on the psyche and mentality of the rest of the team.
Stephen Hart is in a tight predicament moving forward, and specifically with Tuesday’s match, as Hirschfeld is the only keeper getting minutes each week at a professional level, and has the experience needed for qualifying. Some might point to Borjan as a suitable option, however, until he is competing each week for Sivasspor and putting out convincing displays, should not be relied upon for critical fixtures.
There is now a strong tradition built in Puerto Rico for good teams coming into Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium and leaving with nothing. Especially at the club level, from which the majority of the national side is comprised of, some big teams such as Toluca from Mexico, have been soundly beaten. Supporters of Toronto FC will like to forget their team being bounced out of the CONCACAF Champion’s League in their away leg in Puerto Rico, and followers of both Montreal and Vancouver know this venue well.
As was the case with St. Lucia, the question once again is raised on what exactly to expect from a national side that has competed infrequently over the past two decades. What is known is that the team is mostly comprised of NASL players from the Puerto Rico Islanders, domestic players and one MLS competitor in Seattle’s Terry Boss. A ranking of 144th in FIFA should be taken with a grain of salt as they tied a higher ranked St. Kitts away from home on Friday and have been improving noticeably over the last year.
The most compelling signal towards Puerto Rico’s intentions to become a more consistent international competitor is the hiring of Jeauston Campos as their Head Coach. In CONCACAF, at the club level, there are small handful of teams outside of Mexico who have been able to not only play to the level, but defeat some of the best teams out of that country in the Champion’s Cup (Champion’s League). One team synonymous with CONCACAF is Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, a club whose greatest achievements came under the guidance of Campos. Puerto Rico have brought in a pedigree and experienced former player, director of operations and head coach from CONCACAF and someone who surely knows the ins and outs of competing in this region.
While you can look at each side player for player and draw conclusions towards overall quality and potential result, an international fixture often erases those assumptions as the gaps at club level are often narrowed once national kits are donned. Canada has struggled mightily over the last year to impose their quality over teams who simply don’t match up, essentially finding themselves in stalemates against nations who present opportunities for clinical performances.
Canada needs to grow from their opener against St. Lucia and recognize that while they are entering a difficult environment, they can leave the island securing all three points. Confidence needs to begin between the sticks and as noted earlier, it will be at this position where the game will be won or lost. Puerto Rico will have done their homework and without a doubt will test Canada’s goal from anywhere.
Moving forward it will once again have to be the players up front who need to deliver and reduce the ratio of goals per chances. If this game is to be won, it will have to be in goal first, but then on the back of Canada’s attack and players they need to threaten every game. Josh Simpson, Dwayne De Rosario and Simeon Jackson cannot take the game off as any of them becoming absent will spell a very long night. They will need to approach this game much like Friday’s, in that they must impose themselves from the opening whistle and draw the line that says we are the class of this group and will leave having reinforced that. Mentality will be essential to this, and if they do not waver as seen after St. Lucia’s equalizer, it might not be pretty, but an earned result away from home can be had.
In the end
Canada find themselves in the envious position of sitting atop Group D with a good goal difference and their competition sitting on a goalless draw. A win Tuesday night can go a long way in ensuring their passage to the Third Round as the next set of fixtures will be in the fall with home games giving a cold reception to their Caribbean competition. There continues to be glaring question marks in this side in terms of remaining disciplined as well as finding the means to dispatch overmatched opponents. At this point in qualifying, Canada might not solve that riddle yet but fortunately have quality to fall back on that should be able to find ways to get the three points. Puerto Rico present their first chance to enter an inhospitable environment, and while this game will likely resemble some of Canada’s recent displays in that they have not been pretty, in the end they should have enough to remain well atop of their group.
Prediction
Canada 2 – Puerto Rico 1
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