Canada 2 Ecuador 2

The Canadian Men’s National Team arrived back at BMO Field today for their first home match of 2011 and their final tune-up before the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. In a match up between 76th ranked Canada and 64th ranked Ecuador, Canada Head Coach Stephen Hart give Milan Borjan the start in net, with Julian de Guzman starting this one on the bench and Dwayne De Rosario making his first appearance at BMO Field since he was traded by Toronto FC to the New York Red Bulls. Rising star Simeon Jackson got the start as the lone striker up front, after Hart had experimented with playing the English Premier League bound forward out wide in several of Canada’s previous matches. Central defender Kevin McKenna made his 50th appearance for Canada, starting alongside Dejan Jakovic in the centre of the defence.

The opening half kicked off amid a sea of yellow jerseys, but with the Canadian Supporters in the south stands making significant noise.

Ecuador had the first chance of the match in the 22nd minute when Jaime Ayovi delivered a header in the Canada box, but could not get enough on it to trouble Borjan.

Canada would strike first and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Josh Simpson laid the ball off to Terry Dunfield and the Vancouver native delivered a thundering blast from distance that Ecuador keeper Marcelo Elizaga could only wave at.

Canada almost doubled their lead in the 25th minute when Simpson made a fantastic run and sent a dangerous ball through the Ecuador box that Will Johnson probably should have put in the back of the net.

In the 32nd minute, Simeon Jackson unleashed a powerful shot that required a sprawling save by Elizaga, who just got a hand on it to save a goal.

One minute later, Ecuador sent a cross through the six yard box and Ecuador forward Benitez Christian got a foot on it but redirected it into the arms of Borjan.

In the 37th minute, some tenacious play by Christian Benitez allowed the Ecuadorean to go in alone on Borjan, but the Canadian keeper came up with another huge save to preserve the lead.

The second half kicked off in an ominous fashion with Ecuador dominating the ball and Canada showing none of the offensive teeth that the side had displayed in the opening forty-five minutes of play.

Borjan made with a huge save in the 62nd minute to keep Canada out in front, but the lead would be short-lived with Christian Benitez tying the score on a header off of a corner kick.

Two minutes later, Ecuador took the lead when Michael Arroyo unleashed a spectacular shot from distance that found the top right corner much to the delight of the large number of Ecuadorian supporters in attendance.

Canada had a great chance to tie the score in the 67th minute when Atiba Hutchinson delivered a fantastic through ball to Dwayne De Rosario, but the Canadian superstar could not beat Elizaga, who pushed the ball to safety.

Canada would never quite get back into the gear they had in the first half and didn’t generate any real scoring chances for the remainder of regulation time, but Canada would ultimately take full advantage of three minutes of injury time.

After Julian de Guzman earned a free kick in dangerous position outside the Ecuador box, Guzman took a quick free kick and tapped the ball to Tosaint Ricketts, who scored a huge goal to give Canada a draw.

With the positive result, Canada showed excellent character and fight, as the team was outplayed in the second half, but still found a way to come back and earn a draw.

	next time, be nice to see some more Canadian fans out there... 14,000 showed up, 10,000 all in yellow. fantastic atmosphere though. #CMNT - @_bmb

Post-match reaction
After the match, Canadian Men’s National Team Head Coach Stephen Hart indicated that he did not think that his team played very well and did not finish most of the chances that Canada created.

“I thought we created some good chances in the first half, but it was the same old story. If you don’t take your chances - we dominated in the first half, but no team dominates for ninety minutes and you have to take your chances. Even when the score was 2-1, we had two very good chances and we failed to take them. No excuses. We had one and a half practices and we have four more days to work on things and work on our relationship and hopefully we will get it right,” said Hart.

Hart also indicated after the match that he thought his team could have done a better job of maintaining possession during key stretches in the game.

“We caused some problems, but we were a bit narrow. I thought we made the field a bit narrow and we were trying to force the play a little bit. I thought that when were one nil up, I tried to send a message onto the field to keep the ball better and we actually kept the ball better when we went a goal down.”
Hart was asked about the state of the team heading into the Gold Cup and he seemed happy that there are still several days before the team kicks off against the United States.

“There is work to be done. There were some other players that I would have liked to have put on tonight, but they just flew in Monday night from across the pond. And I didn’t want to risk injury. The game was a bit costly. I think I have lost Dejan (Jakovic). And I will have to wait to hear from the medical team and hope they can create some miracles. But now I’m a centre back short. As I said, there are a lot of things to iron out and we have about four good days of work in to get it right.”

Final Thoughts
It’s a pity that this was ultimately a match that once again must have felt like an away match to the Canadian players. And the Canadian soccer fans that chose not to attend missed not only an entertaining match and high level of competition, but also the chance to see Canada’s top players in live action. While Simeon Jackson showed flashes of the skill that has made him an EPL quality player and Atiba Hutchinson was once again a stalwart in the middle of the pitch, winger Josh Simpson stood out as the man of the match and the world class talent that he is. There was plenty to like about how the team played in the first half, especially offensively, and the comeback suggests good things about this team. If everything clicks correctly, Canada can make some noise in the Gold Cup and has a serious chance at a World Cup Qualification.

If there is a lesson to be taken from this fixture, it’s the fact that it now has to be seriously considered as to whether or not Toronto deserves to host any World Cup qualifying matches. Putting aside most of the attendees in yellow jerseys who are clearly Canadian only when convenient, it was equally disconcerting to see that so many of the thousands who show up week after week to watch Toronto FC, did not come out to support their national team. Make no mistake, the Canadian supporters who did show up on this day were fantastic and should be suitably commended. There simply were not enough of them and once again Canada played a home match in name only. After a night like this, the Canadian Soccer Association should take some time to think about where the team’s World Cup qualifying matches should be held in order to give Canada something resembling a home field advantage.

Canada Starting Lineup
18 Milan Borjan

2   Nik Ledgerwood
4   Kevin McKenna

7   Terry Dunfield

8   Will Johnson

11 Josh Simpson

13 Atiba Hutchinson

14 Dwayne De Rosario

15 Dejan Jakovic

17 Simeon Jackson

19 Marcel de Jong

Substitutions: (39) Hainault in for Jakovic (46) De Guzman in for Dunfield (58) Friend in for Simpson (79) Peters in for Johnson (85) Ricketts in for Jackson.