Day-after thoughts from a rollercoaster of a 1-0 CanMNT loss to Costa Rica Thursday
The CanMNT's dream run through CONCACAF World Cup qualifying hit a bit of a roadblock vs Costa Rica on Thursday. Here's my day-after thoughts from that one
Even looking back the morning after, it still is hard to process everything that happened.
But that just shows how bonkers of a game that there was at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica last night, one that saw Costa Rica narrowly edge the CanMNT 1-0, spoiling Canada’s hopes to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in the process.
From the hostile atmosphere that the game was played in, to the events that played out on the field, that game was a rollercoaster in every sense of the word, one that Canada found themselves on the wrong end of at the end of it.
And at the same time, there’s nothing wrong with that.
For a Canadian team that was oh so close to snapping their 36-year World Cup drought with a draw or win, it stings to have to wait for another day for them to have their next chance to clinch, but the good news is that they have that other chance in the first place.
Thanks to their run in the first 11 games of the ‘Octagonal’, the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, where they went undefeated with 7 wins and 4 draws, they’d given themselves a good cushion heading into this window, giving them some leeway in terms of World Cup qualification.
So although they’ll be disappointed that their bid to qualify undefeated has now come to an end, there’s nothing to be ashamed about for Canada after this game, as they’re still atop the Octo, and lost to the hottest team not named Canada right now in Costa Rica.
Maybe that story would’ve been different had they been played off the park by the Ticos, but the reality is that other than a slow start, and a tough 12 minutes right before halftime after a badly timed red card, Canada put up one solid performance.
Especially considering that despite being down a goal and a man, they actually then went out and dominated much of the second half, it was a good showing for Canada despite the circumstances, as they did well to keep their resolve in a tough situation.
And that’s key.
It can be easy to wilt in an environment like that, but Canada stood up strong, and while that’ll mean nothing in the standings, they’re still all but assured of qualifying, something that they can now do at home in Toronto on Sunday.
Which, if anything, might just be a blessing in disguise. It would’ve been fun to qualify in front of that Costa Rican crowd, of course, but doing so in front of 33 000+ in Toronto isn’t bad, either.
Hey, Canada has waited 36 years for this moment, what’s 3 more days, even if those days will feel like months.
“Maybe it was written in the stars to qualify at home,” Canadian head coach, John Herdman, noted afterwards.
And as I’ll look at shortly here, there was a lot to be encouraged with ahead of that next game, especially if Canada builds off the flashes that they showed here.
Canada recovers nicely from slow start:
And the numbers back up the fact that this was a pretty solid game for Canada.
Obviously, Canada might’ve lost the most important numerical battle, the score itself, but other than that, they had themselves a pretty solid game when you look at the statistics.
For example, despite playing almost 60 minutes down a man, they actually won the possession battle against Costa Rica 68%-32%, outshot their opponents 18-11, won the Expected Goals (xG) battle 1.51-1.18, and hit the woodwork twice.
At a certain point, you can only do so much to score, which is something head coach John Herdman even jokingly lamented that he felt wasn’t going to happen for his team in this one after the match.
“We could've stayed there until 2AM, 3AM, and that goal wasn't coming,” Herdman quipped.
So although it wasn’t as if the Costa Rican win was undeserved for the hosts, as they were certainly full value for their goal (and could’ve arguably had 1 or 2 more despite their xG), Canada also did their best to make a game of this.
And that’s soccer sometimes.
On some days, you can feel like you did all the right things and still not get the result that you crave, much as they did in this one. Heck, Canada even found themselves on the opposite end of that last window, when they beat the United States 2-0 despite absorbing a lot of possession, shots and xG, showing that they were maybe due a result like this.
But the good thing about Canada is that they haven’t made a habit of playing like that, winning the xG battle in all but 4 of their 12 games so far, meaning that even though they were overperforming their xG both offensively and defensively a bit (suggesting that a regression to the mean was coming), that mean that they were supposed regress to wasn’t expected to be in a bad spot.
Unfortunately, though, they then almost swung unexpectedly to the other side of that mean, if anything, which suggests that they might be due to swing back upwards in their next game.
And as long as they keep up the sort of soccer that they played in this game, however, they’ll be better off on most nights, avoiding more games like this.
Even down a man, they were playing flowing, possession-based soccer with a lot of off-ball movement and decisive passing, and that can’t be understated.
So if anything, if there’s one big takeaway from this game is that Costa Rica owes their defenders and goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, all the local beers in the world, as they ensured that their team was able to survive the Canadian onslaught.
After starting strong, pelting Canada with crosses and set pieces and a high press, once they had their goal in their pocket, Costa Rica steadied the ship with incredible poise, showing why they’re among the more quietly respected teams in CONCACAF.
And because of that, they were able to pick up a huge victory for themselves, really giving a huge boost to their World Cup hopes, all while becoming the first team this World Cup qualifying cycle to stop Canada, which is no small feat.
“There was a period (of pressure) that we knew we were going to have to absorb,” Herdman noted. “But what we wanted to make sure is that we maintained that attitude to keep breaking their press, that they’d have to do the work, and after a period of time, that pressure eased off and we found our rhythm”
Atiba Hutchinson continues to step up in new roles:
But to shift from a team perspective, to more of an individual one, the play of Atiba Hutchinson in this game has to absolutely be highlighted here.
Due to a mix of tactical reasons, as well as the fact that usual centre back options, Steven Vitoria (recovering from a knock) and Doneil Henry (suspension) were either completely unavailable (Henry) or not worth risking unless absolutely needed (Vitoria), that saw the 39-year-old Hutchinson thrust into a new role - in the heart of Canada’s backline.
It’s not something that he’s completely unfamiliar with, to be fair, having played it both at the club level a couple of times for Besiktas, as well as a couple of times under Herdman, but it was something that no one was expecting when the team sheet dropped on Thursday.
There, we saw Hutchinson slot in as the central centre back in Canada’s back 3, allowing Herdman to reunite the familiar midfield trio of Mark Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Osorio and Stephen Eustaquio, who had put in some good shifts in past games for Canada.
And by doing that, Canada was able to really both do well in the middle, and remain sturdy in the back from open play.
If anything, the big moment that really let them down was Kaye’s red card, as up to that point, other than a very shaky first 10 minutes from Canada, they’d really started to take over the game between minutes 10 and 34.
But even after that sending off, which just added pressure to the Canadian backline, Hutchinson remained sturdy at his new position.
There, despite having to deal with the speed of Joel Campbell, Johan Venegas and Anthony Contreras in transition, he rarely got burned via that avenue, even making a tidy intervention on Campbell on a breakaway in the second half after misjudging a bouncing ball seconds earlier.
Thanks to that, he was able to finish with a solid 3 interceptions, 1 tackle and 5/9 duels won, which was certainly not bad. Other than the fact that Canada struggled in the air, with that arguably being more a byproduct of Canada just not having their usual main set-piece and aerial specialists on the pitch in defenders Vitoria, Henry or Scott Kennedy, Hutchinson did his job and then some defensively otherwise.
Plus, at the other end, he brought a good calmness at the back in terms of playing out of possession. Despite having to deal with a frenetic Costa Rican press to start, and then a resolute low block to end the game, Hutchinson finished with an absurd 89/93 passes completed (96%), while also completing 10/10 of his long balls.
And that was huge for Canada. Part of the reason that they were able to control possession and generate the chances that they did was that they did a pretty solid job of playing out of the back, especially after they weather the early storm.
In a new role, Hutchinson was central in those efforts, too, showing why he’s such a key part of this program.
Still ticking away as he nears his 40s, he continues to plug away like he’s a 23-year-old about to enter the prime of his career, just further cementing his legendary status each and every match.
So while he might not play this role again as Canada gets their defensive options back, the fact that Hutchinson stepped up as he did is key, doing well in a tough environment, showing why people want him to stick around for years to come, even past this World Cup cycle.
For someone who has given so much to the program already, he’s like the gift that keeps on giving for this Canadian team, which is part of the reason why you can’t wait for Canada to give him back a dream that he has long deserved to have - to go play in a World Cup.
“He plays like he’s 18!,” Canada goalkeeper, Milan Borjan, joked after.
“I’ll do everything to keep him around after the next World Cup cycle.”
Hutchinson in action for Canada Thursday (Canada Soccer)
Eustaquio, Laryea ease rust concerns:
But while that sort of performance has come to be expected from Hutchinson, one pair of players that had people concerned heading into this match were Stephen Eustaquio and Richie Laryea, who ahead of this camp, had been struggling for minutes at their clubs after January transfers at the club level.
In fact, Eustaquio had played just a handful of games for barely 100 minutes with new club Porto since the last Canada camp, while Laryea hadn’t played, period, with new club Nottingham Forest.
And as key contributors to Canada on this run, that was a worry, as you could only wonder how that lack of playing time might affect their play for this team, especially in such crucial games.
That thought can go out the window now after Thursday, however, as despite their supposed rust, Eustaquio and Laryea were arguably two of Canada’s best performers in this game.
First, there was Laryea, who despite being thrust at left back, a bit of a change from his usual right back spot, did not look out of place for Canada.
Defensively, he was solid, making 1 interception, 3 tackles and winning 12/18 duels, but offensively he was even better, grabbing 3 shots, completing 4/6 dribbles and adding 2 key passes.
Despite having to cover the entire left-hand side, first as a left wing back, and then as a left back after the sending off, he did that job with ease, all while not looking like a guy who had last seen the pitch on February 2nd.
And then secondly, there was Eustaquio, who looked his usual efficient self in midfield, but with a new edge.
On the defensive side of things, he was his usual self, making 1 interception, 2 tackles and winning 4/8 of his duels, but offensively is where he showed a new side to himself, finishing with 4 key passes, 2/2 dribbles, and 4 shots to go along with completing 78/95 of his passes (82%), including 5/5 long balls.
Thanks to that, Canada was still able to keep the edge that they’d started to carve out in midfield before the red, as Eustaquio and Osorio (and later Ismael Koné) did well to get stuck in on both sides of the ball, especially going forward.
So while we now have no idea how much Laryea or Eustaquio will have left in them after this game, as the plan probably wasn’t for either of them to go 90 before the red card, sharpness looks to not be a worry, which is huge.
Canada has the depth to handle the pair not being fit, but it’s a little harder to replace them not being at their best, but the good news is that did not look to be a problem in this game.
“They were absolute warriors,” Herdman said of the pair. “There’s no doubt that when you’ve got players fighting for a World Cup, they can find another level, (and they did).”
Koné remains fearless:
Lastly, sticking in the midfield, it feels only right to end this piece off by giving a shout to the aforementioned Ismael Koné, who despite making his professional debut just over a month ago, was able to make his Canadian debut on Thursday.
And there, the 19-year-old was just able to do what he’d done since making that pro debut for CF Montreal last month - go out there and impress, not looking out of place in the 10 minutes where he saw the field.
Despite entering in a tough situation, as Canada was chasing a goal in a hostile environment, Koné came on and looked like a 30-year-old veteran, spraying passes and showing strong confidence on and off the ball.
As a result, he made the most of the short time that he was on the pitch, making 12/12 of his passes (100%), including 2/2 of long balls, adding a shot, a tackle and won his only duel, overall not setting a foot wrong while he’s on the field.
Because of that, it’s opened up all sorts of discussions heading into the rest of the camp. As we looked at heading into this camp, there was no doubt that Koné brought something different to this team, but with his young age, you felt that he’d have to be eased into action.
But based on how strong he looked on Thursday, all of a sudden you do wonder if he could be in line to play a big role this camp.
Now, with Kaye suspended for Jamaica, that opens up a spot for Koné to climb up the depth chart for that match.
And considering Eustaquio’s fitness, that Hutchinson put in a big shift in this game and that Osorio left this game grabbing his leg (which to be fair, also seemed to be a ploy to get the referee to initiate his planned substitution earlier since he then ran off), you do wonder if 1 of them also might not be good to go in that one, further opening up the door for Koné.
Of course, you can’t forget that there’s also the always-reliable Liam Fraser to consider in this whole scenario, as he has proved to be a big-game player for Canada, but other than that, there’s room for Koné to really push his way into the picture here.
But that’s just been the sort of run that the youngster has been on as of late, as despite being thrust into some tough environments and games, he just continues to shine, making it exciting to imagine him being a part of this Canadian fold going forward.
And the good news is that with his appearance here, both in what he showed and in the fact that this partially cap-tied him (and put him 3 more games from being fully cap-tied), that looks like that’s going to happen, meaning that this game won’t be the last we see of Koné.
“It was living a dream that you have as a young player,” Koné told me in French after his debut. “It’s a beautiful stadium, great crowd, I was over-excited just to get on, and I’m happy I did, really happy”
Looking Forward:
So looking back on this game, it feels fitting to end with the same sentiment that I ended with in that Koné section - this isn’t the last we’ll see of this Canadian team this window.
With the other results in the Octo on Thursday, their magic number is now 1 to get into the World Cup, and barring a goal difference miracle, it’s almost impossible for Canada to throw this away even in the worst-case of scenarios, meaning that it’s a matter of when, not if, they’ll make the World Cup here.
And while they’ll feel that they could’ve done that in this game, that they now get to go finish the job at home is almost fitting, making up for the disappointment of this game.
Ultimately, while Canada didn’t get the result that they wanted, they can certainly be happy with how they pushed through a tough situation, staying strong instead of wilting.
After the string of results that they’d picked up, you’ll take that, especially as you’d imagine that will only motivate them even further to get the job done on Sunday, where they can now etch their names in history.
“Get ready Canada, we’re coming.” Herdman promised afterwards.
Canada’s players lineup for a pre-game photo ahead of this match (Canada Soccer/MexSport)