Denmark 4 – 0 Canada
And so, the rebuild is underway.
A new-look and inexperienced Canadian team went out as expected and had a tough afternoon against a skilled Denmark squad on Saturday as Andreas Cornelius scored three goals in Denmark’s 4-0 win over Canada.
Trying to put the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign behind them and looking ahead to 2018, Canada fielded six players picking up their first ever caps over the 90 minutes—many of them also looking for club teams for the upcoming season.
“It was boys against men at times in the first half for sure,” said interim head coach Colin Miller. “If you’re going to defend at this level of football against such a quality team as Denmark then this scoreline is going to be repeated.”
After Dwayne De Rosario had the first chance of the game off an Ashtone Morgan cross from the left side it was all one-way traffic as, at times, Denmark looked like they were going to rival Honduras’ scoring tally against Canada as a pair of goals was scored very quickly.
Dwayne De Rosario
Dennis Rommedahl crossed a ball in the eighth minute from the right side that Andreas Cornelius headed home and that goal stood up as the winner as the Danes jumped all over Canadian defensive miscues.
Kasper Lorentzen was played through alone on goal just three minutes later on Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld who really couldn’t do anything and Lorentzen slotted the ball home to double the team’s advantage just 11 minutes in.
It was a tough day for the Canadian back line and Doneil Henry in particular as the youngest member of the back-four was targeted by the Danes as a weak link.
“Did you see him give up? Absolutely not,” Miller said. “So there’s a positive right away. I thought the back four were probably a lot better in the second half.”
But before the first half was out, Cornelius banged in ball that had come ricocheting off the crossbar before being knocked around the Canadian 18-yard box.
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There'll be more scorelines like this. But in the midst of this hiding Kyle Bekker made a promising impression. Encouraging for #CMNT& #TFC
- @Nigel_Reed |
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“I think a couple of the guys had a couple nerves that led to goals but as the game went on they settled down,” said midfielder Terry Dunfield who was wearing the captain’s armband for the first time for Canada.
Terry Dunfield
“We showed some good stuff going forward.
Canada came out for the second half and looked much more composed and looked to create a few opportunities in the opposition end but and little bit of momentum was quickly nullified when Cornelius got his third in the 66th minute as his right-footed shot beat goalkeeper Simon Thomas who had come on to replace Lars Hirschfeld at halftime.
The pace of the game noticeably dropped after that but there still were a few opportunities to get forward as both Russell Teibert and Tosaint Ricketts had solid shots at goal that were unfortunately struck right at the goalkeeper.
“I think the most important thing is the players learn from today and we don’t make the same mistakes,” said Dunfield. “We probably have five or six years to get it right so we’re at the beginning of the cycle right now and players are getting opportunities and it’s up to them to take it.
At the very least Canada can rectify some of the mistakes quickly as they take on the United States Tuesday night in Houston but it’s certainly all part of a long learning process for a Canadian team that badly needs to develop the depth that has been lacking from the program for so long.
The team travels and then trains in Houston on Sunday in preparation for what is expected to be another difficult afternoon against an American team chock full of players trying to crack the World Cup qualifying squad.
Canada Line-up
1 Lars Hirschfield
13 Doniel Henry
4 Nana Attakora
5 Dejan Jakovic
3 Ashtone Morgan
8 Kyle Bekker
7 Terry Dunfield
2 Nik Ledgerwood
11 Russel Teibert
14 Dwayne De Rosario
9 Tosaint Ricketts
Substitutions: (50) Thomas for Hirschfeld; (62) Evan James for De Rosario; (67) Beaulieu-Bourgault for Bekker; (70) Porter for Teibert; (79) Davies for Dunfield; (86) Trafford for Ricketts.
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