Sept. 4th 2010, Canada v Peru PRE- & IN-match [R]

[gigi riva]

I turned it off after the 2nd Peruvian goal, Jackson is no winger he sure is trying but is just lacking that final cross. Straith is young and is going to make mistakes it is just natural, Here in Canada we are in major rebuild mode, in all facets this is just the begining. Mission 2014 maybe Mission 2018.

[themodelcitizen]

I thought it wasn't that bad apart from Straith's mistakes, get a Gerba in there to poach one and it could have been a different game

[Mr.Impact]

I thought it wasn't that bad apart from Straith's mistakes, get a Gerba in there to poach one and it could have been a different game

Both Gerba and Ribeiro should be brought in for the Honduras game.

[Jason]

Pretty awful second half. A few comments: I don't want to bash Stalteri because of all he's done before but once he breaks the cap record in Mtl we probably shouldn't consider calling him again until he plays first team football. Let's see Peters in his place. Straith looked pretty good. Jackson showed he's on the rise. I still like Lars. JDG should've been in Dallas tonight - would've had the same effect for the CMNT. Why didn't Nana play? Not sure what to do with Friend exactly. Don't really know what we learned today but it's clear they have a long way to go.

Jason

[Trillium]

^^ i disagree with that 110%... The pairing of Friend and Jackson in the first half created a fist full of chances in the first half and they were quite close to capitalizing (albeit a few botched crosses by Jackson..) , but lord (maybe not you Lord Bob) knows what happened in the 2nd half because it seemed to be all in the Canadian end and Canada didn't seem to have an answer for the Peruvian pressure.. I just hope they can rebound and kick the **** out of whoever Honduras seems to send up...

Friend was and is crap up front he cant move with speed nor can he do any magic with the ball..... gone are the days of short defenders in Concacaf that you can pretend to hope to score of headers, do not name him again to a national game.

That said, how the hell to you get to this level and blow so many crosses ?

Once Peru sussed us out they applied pressure and put the game away, we lack mental toughness to make through 90 minutes.

[The Ref]

I think the problem with Stalteri is that because he is the Captain, he thinks he needs to navigate all over the field and win the game all by himself.

[red card]

Toronto support wasn't there because:

1. wait & see on Canada since there hasn't been anything to see recently (and now we lost these types for another year)

2. Peru isn't a marquee attraction since not too many immigrants here or northen US from Peru

3. Peru isn't a marquee attraction since no buzz or top tier players to attract general footy supporters

4. Of the 20k TFC support, only about 10k can be considered real footy supporters; rest are causal or view attending a TFC match in the same vein as a night out at the movies or dining

5. It's only a friendly which means no reliance on the World Cup brand

6. CSA again prove they aren't that good at marketing - but at least improving

Aside from the score and half empty stands, BMO Field with grass for the Nats actually and finally looked comparable to a Euro match on tv

[rick10]

I just came back from the game. Very poor performance by canada. Farfan pretty much handle all the peruvian attacks.

Just to keep this in mind , Peru did not have pizarro, guerrero (starters) and aguirre ( who is a sub but got injured last minute) , instead they improvise with advincula upfront who is actually a midfielder . If canada cant stop them then they will have a very hard time stopping better forwards.

Like i said eairlier peru will attack on the wings, and somehow the coach did nothing to prevent vargas and farfan and guizasola from going up.

The only guy who impressed me was jackson i believe ( on the right side) , aside from that everyone on the canadian team had a very poor performance

[Gian-Luca]

My internet access is limited at the moment so some quick thoughts:

I think we were mainly outcoached. Perhaps not a fair comment because I'm sure the Peruvian coach is more used to his team than Hart is with Canada, but we played just as well as Peru in the first half and then in the 2nd Peru made a number of adjustments to counter what worked for Canada in the first half and Canada did not adjust to try something else. We got no penetration down the flanks in the 2nd half, whereas Peters and out-of-position Johnson were having all sorts of trouble on our left side.

The supporters section was great all game. Too bad that extremely few of the TFC season ticket holders who sit in other parts of the stadium (like me) showed up to support Canada. I think the CSA's prices were too high (higher for a friendly than TFC games that count for something) but more should have been prepared to pay. And its not like they couldn't have known about the game with all the promotion done at BMO over the past couple of months of TFC games.

Stuff heard on the radio in the TFC pre-game show (where the TFC play-by-play man was embarassingly OTT with apoplectic rage over the fact that Nana didn't play, and that Julian and De Ro did):

Apparently the Peruvian coach thought Canada was the better team in the 2nd half

Apparently Nana (who was announced to start) didn't play because Hart made some kind of goof on the line-up card that was given to FIFA

[Oranje]

I am STILL a firm believer that if crosses are appropriately delivered that Friend will score... With that said Trillium, I agree with everything else you said, I just can't seem to give up on Friend

[jasonm]

Very disappointed in Canada and the crowd in Toronto. I hope it can not get any worse.

[nolbertos]

First post in ages, but honestly, very boring game. Honestly where were the Canadian fans at BMO field?? I know the Peruvian community in Toronto and Montreal are decently big, but not enough to fill an entire stadium. Even on Twitter, the mayor of Toronto criticized the CSA for lack of marketing the game at all to home fans. I was watching the game with my father and even he was surprised of Canada's lack of finishing up front. The first half, Canada played well, but couldn't find the net. The second half was a total different game with Markarian making the necessary changes. I honestly believe Peru played at half throttle during the 1st half, treating this game, like a "scrimmage" and probably got a pep talking by the coach and stepped up the tempo in the 2nd half and take the game more seriously. I honestly don't see Canada qualifying for 2014. I think most of you still want to believe that Canada will get better or like the Chicago Cubs saying "Next time", but there won't be a next time, with the way Canada still plays. I still support my Whitecaps, when I can, but the Canadian National team is a different question, as after many, many years of still saying "We lack technique, creativity, possession" nothing has changed for Canada. I still think the CSA needs to be disbanded, but since it won't happen, Canada will always be mediocre. I hope the Whitecaps and Impact when they join the MLS will get encourage more creative players, cuz 2014 seems like a long road, if realistically possible. Good luck Voyageurs, in supporting Canada.

[Sam]

On the bus back to Kingston -Will post full thoughts when I get home but here are some quick player ratings for the starters

Hirschfeld - 6

Stalteri -5

Straith - 6

McKenna - 6

De Jong - 5 (Peters - 3)

Hutchinson - 5

De Guzman - 6.5

Johnson - 6

De Rosario - 5

Friend - 6.5

Jackson - 7.5

[the biologist]

There's only two ways to win games if you're Canada. One says you must play with passion. The other one says you must have a great tactician as coach/a good system adapted to the players you've got at hand. We're desperately seeking for both since the end of the '07 GC. That's been a whole f*cking 3 years since then.

We generated **** all attack. The team we fielded today have logged enough playing time together to be familiar, so that's not an excuse. I think it's clear with our goal drought that Hart's shape isn't going to work with this group. Drop the big man up top role, we might as well play with 10 men because it's completely useless. This is what I would've liked to have seen in the second half. Sub Friend for Simpson. Give DeRo a free role. Play a high line and pressure Peru from the front.

Simpson-------DeRo-----Jackson

---------------Hutch-------------

--------Johnson--------JDG------

Peters--Straith--McKenna--Diesel

--------------Hirsch----------------

I'm 100% with you, especially the part in bold. de Guz makes me want to vomit when he's playing for the MNT. From '07 GC MVP to that. What a drop. Atiba didn't have a single successful and meaningful move all game long I think. With De Ro failing as well (horrific passing), the whole midfield looked like a mess. No passing, then passing but intercepted, then no pressure to get la pelota back. Peters didn't make a run on the wing also from what I saw (my feed had to be refreshed quite many times unfortunately). At least, if ever Jackson works and improve his crosses (though not to the point it has to become his main asset of course), we've got a real bright spot looking forward to 2018... oops... I mean 2014... (not really...). I very much like his attitude towards playing for the national side, hope he won't turn out into yet another whining player. I SO MUCH HOPE Stalteri gets the start in MTL so we can FINALLY get rid of him. He was a good asset for the team, he isn't anymore. Let's give him a great cheer, say him goodbye and wish him good luck for the rest of his club career.

But notwithstanding, why in hell aren't they playing their hearts out at home ??? Players talk about the little support they get from Canadians but it works both ways. Especially in a friendly, this is THE time to show they do in fact care (sic) every single time they play together.

And the Honduras game will play a big role in my "decision" regarding Hart's future with the MNT: to fire or not to fire. I agree with you all, please stop using the 4-5-1 wasting Friend's potential in doing so. Please. It's like Hart inherited Mitchell's stubbornness.

[TFCtoMUFC]

Decent game. Was pissed off about the "Peruvians". They were aggressive throughout the game, and they are disgracing Canada by throwing us under the bus for a country that for one reason or another they don't live in. McKenna looked brutally out of place. Haven't seen him play a lot but based on his game today I would be playing Nana instead. Simeon and Atiba played well, if Atiba could finish we would have won about 8-2. The CSA should be ashamed of their pathetic attempt at marketing.

Here is what the CSA should do. Find a country with a large cultural representation in Toronto, make sure said country isn't good at footy (Phillipines or Pakistan would work). Call up the best squad possible. Same ratio of Canada to opposition support as today show up. We knock them in to next Tuesday. Bam. You have already earned fans. The best way to earn casual fans is to win. Beat a team that isn't very good, doesn't matter because most of these casual fans won't know the difference. If they have heard of the country we beat, they will began to care. Your welcome in advance CSA.

[youllneverwalkalone]

I was really disappointed in Peters as well. I'd heard so many great things about his move to fullback coming out of Ipswich. He wasn't ready to come in the match, he looked lost on the left, and didn't offer much going forward. The whole backline suffered once DeJong was replaced.

[JoshieScores]

We wasted a lot of chances today. Couple of free kicks close to the penalty box went astray, created chances off the right wing without any results (Jackson looks comfortable on the wings despite the poor crosses) and our first touch simply SUCKED. I was seating almost at the field level from section 123 and Peru absolutely dominated from the wings (their pace and speed was unparallel) and they were more fit, which was evident during 2nd half.

Simply better team won today.

Hope fora better result against Honduras. Time to blood the new pups.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

For those questioning the attendance, I have to say it's down to zero promotion from the CSA. If I wasn't a massive fan I would've never known this game was even happening. No advertising at all.

[DJT]

I think we were mainly outcoached. Perhaps not a fair comment because I'm sure the Peruvian coach is more used to his team than Hart is with Canada

Sergio Markarián was hired on August 13 and this was his first match in charge of Peru. (Pardon me if your comment was sarcastic.)

Of course, Markarián's résumé includes 36 years of coaching, numerous South American club titles, leading Panathinaikos to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup and leading Paraguay to the 2002 World Cup, while Hart's boasts, umm, Halifax King of Donair?

[TFC07]

Canada needs to stop calling old players and start rebuilding NT with young players. Also, someone please tell me why players like Josh Simpson and Hume still get called up to play for Canada?

As for this game, Peru is a good team. If they were in CONCACAF, they'll be top 3 team easily IMO. So I am not going to be too hard on Canada. I will wait to see how they perform in Montreal this Tuesday against Honduras.

[Toronto Ruffrider]

Apparently Nana (who was announced to start) didn't play because Hart made some kind of goof on the line-up card that was given to FIFA

That's a pretty boneheaded screw-up if true.

[CanadasBest]

Why is anyone questioning the attendance of this game? The attendance was pretty much on par with what you would expect with the quality on the pitch. If someone was to bring 10 or so casual fans to this match they would never go to another one. I'm actually glad that the attendance was so low!

I really wish I could say that I was suprised at the outcome of this game, but the philosophy of having Rob Friend as the target man has been a failure every time. 26 caps and 2 goals!

A few people have mentioned that Peru looked to be much fitter, and I agree. Players were standing around and walking at the 60 minute mark onwards.

Stalteri just does not look in game shape. When him and McKenna play there are always positioning problems at the back.

[Richard]

I think today's game is a good illustration why so few Canadians play in the elite leagues in Europe.

[CanadasBest]

One positive is that the Voyageurs had at least a dozen mentions in the broadcast tonight.

[MTL_4_LIFE]

ON TO THE NEXT ONE....

Chances of GERBA playing vs honduras?