Fresh off their most lopsided win in team history, the Canadian Men’s National Team return home and to Toronto to face Puerto Rico in the fourth fixture of the Second Round of World Cup Qualifying. Sitting atop Group C, Canada will play the Puerto Ricans for the second time, having won 3-0 at Estadio Juan Ramón on September 6. On Friday night, Canada could not have asked for a better result and performance to lead into this match, thoroughly dominating St. Lucia with three key attackers putting forth strong, comprehensive displays and scoring in bunches for the rout. Puerto Rico have shown a level of stubbornness and organization against Canada and fellow Group C competitor St. Kitts, however, with the home advantage swinging the other direction from a month ago, the Canucks should have no issues remaining atop their group with an unblemished record.
Dwayne De Rosario discusses the win over St. Lucia and upcoming match against Puerto Rico:
Keep thinking
After this summer’s Gold Cup, supporters rightly lamented about the team’s inability to clinically finish their chances as well as dominate nations that are well below their level of quality. After Friday’s away match against St. Lucia, it appears Canada is starting to finally show signs on the scoresheet of their rightful place in CONCACAF.
A 7-0 rout of the island nation had several important players continue and confirm their form from their domestic leagues. Simeon Jackson, playing at the highest level on the team, despite yet to see significant minutes this season at Norwich, proved he has the touch to be an impact player. Iain Hume and Olivier Occean’s contributions come as a welcome and encouraging development within the roster.
Both players have had points of their careers, both domestically and internationally, where they have been inconsistent or absent, but now are playing and scoring regularly with Preston North End and Greuther Furth. Stephen Hart’s mandate for players to be on the pitch with frequency, while not consistent through the entire roster, for the most part has proven to be the right approach when it comes to his players delivering a comprehensive ninety minutes.
Olivier Occean recounts his goals against St. Lucia:
The result over St. Lucia shows Hart much needed balance in his line up and takes some pressure off not just the relatively inexperienced backline, but key veterans such as Josh Simpson, Dwayne De Rosario and Lars Hirschfeld, who will need to be focal points for Canada to deliver another good showing Tuesday night.
Puerto Rico present a much sterner and stubborn opponent than St. Lucia and will require Canada to continue their approach on remaining disciplined and focused from the first to last whistle. With a roster consisting of players competing at a higher level than St. Lucia, as well as head coach Jeaustin Campos knowing very well what it takes to be successful in CONCACAF, Puerto Rico will come into BMO Field with a game plan and the right person to instill it for his players to execute. Something not far off from their first match could be in store with men behind the ball and decent pace to try and catch Canada on the counter.
In that first encounter, while Canada did not overwhelm Puerto Rico, they had the right strategy to handle oppressive heat, last ninety minutes and come away with all three points. Compared to their only other opponent so far, Puerto Rico showed themselves to be far more professional, organized and threatening in the attack. A gap in overall technical quality was evident as Canada bent, but never broke as Puerto Rico could not put any significant chances on goal to truly test Lars Hirschfeld.
David Edgar discusses his situation at Burnley and cooperation with Adam Straith on the back line:
Now at home, and enjoying comfortable playing weather, Canada will be able to not worry as much about being drained with plenty of game left and should be able to assert themselves from the beginning. Players who were rested Friday night will likely get the nod to start, specifically Josh Simpson and Lars Hirschfeld, and if Simeon Jackson or Iain Hume show signs of fatigue, their pace and intensity can easily be supplemented by that of Tosaint Ricketts.
While clear favourites, there is still pressure for Canada to continue their form and make a statement going into the final, group winning games against St. Kitts as well as heading into Round Three. In front of their home crowd, another comprehensive outing is important to continue building momentum for the last two games and going into the next round.
Against a much stronger attacking opponent, there is a real concern on how the back four will hold up, and without Kevin McKenna, Lars Hirschfeld and Ante Jazic will need to be relied upon for organization and leadership.
Ante Jazic discusses playing for Canada and getting to wear the armband at this point in his career:
However, what it will come down to is not a matter of flooring it out of the gate, but simply having each player compete to the level they are capable of. The attacking options of Simpson, Jackson, Occean, De Rosario and Hume have the quality to make Puerto Rico miserable and as has been repeated in this countdown and from Stephen Hart, all that is needed is dedicated focus on executing and the goals will come. The remaining midfielders, De Guzman and Dunfield simply need to keep it neat and tidy and let the players in front of them do what they do. With confidence high from Friday night and a belief of knowing they can do what it takes to finish their opposition, Tuesday can be another motivating example of Canada meeting expectations.
In the end
Canada return home with their most comprehensive victory in team history. From beginning to end they did what was expected of them and now can address their next challenge knowing they can deliver when heavy favourites. Puerto Rico are a big step up from St. Lucia, having held a tough St. Kitts twice to a draw, but in those games not showing any real ability to put away their chances. This bodes well for an inexperienced Canadian back line, but added to that they say the best defence is a good offence. With fourteen goals for and one against, returning home to BMO Field all but ensures Canada will continue their good run of results and maintain their spot at the top of Group C heading into the final games of the round.
Prediction
Canada 3 – Puerto Rico 0
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