It’s important to not read too much into a single result. So, a few caveats about the 2-0 win by the Canadian U23s yesterday:
Actually, I’ve got nothing. Canada does not beat the US and it especially doesn’t beat them in the US. Yet, here we are. In the space of two days the young Canucks completely turned around a dismal performance against El Salvador to put up a famous victory.
So screw the caveats. Celebrate. This was not a fluke result. Canada was the better team on the night in all aspects of the game. They deserve to be in control of their destiny and you should feel free to start to openly dream of having two teams at the Olympics.
That would be amazing, wouldn’t it?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]There is still work to be done, but that dream has never been closer to happening than it is right now. Beat Cuba – and they will beat Cuba. A good u16 club team might be able to beat Cuba – and they likely win the group. Win the group and you avoid Mexico. Avoid Mexico and you get a match-up with tough, but beatable, Honduras.
That game would be the most important played by a Canadian men’s team in 20-years.
It’s enough to make you dizzy.
As for the game last night, it was a case of a better prepared, better managed and, to borrow the old sports cliché, hungrier side. Another cliché is that of the arrogant American getting his comeuppance. In the case of this particular team there might be some truth to that.
Pre-game talk by the Americans centered around how badly they would win the game. American coach Caleb Porter didn’t appear to take Canada seriously, not adjusting his tactics, nor, apparently, scouting them – he was shocked that Canada lined up in a 4-3-2-1, the default formation of the entire national team system.
It doesn’t take much digging to find some brazen predictions by the Americans about the strength of their team – there is a particularly good podcast by Zarek Valentin and Perry Kitchen that is unintentionally hilarious in hindsight.
On the USSF website Porter is quoted talking about how inevitable US victory will be.
“As I've told you guys from the beginning, I'm the U-23 coach, you're the U-23 players, at the end of the tournament we will be the Olympic team. Guys, we will, we will be in London.”
It’s probably bad form to poke fun at the Yanks. Then again it’s so rare that we have a chance.
So, enjoy. Even allow yourself to consider the possibility of Teal Bunbury watching Canada play in the Olympics – on his television from his Kansas City home.