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

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

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

Think you'll find that international friendlies draw significantly smaller crowds than World Cup qualifiers in most parts of the world.

[paul-collins]

The dreariness of the match is well covered in this thread, but I just wanted to add my own piss and vinegar:

I had two kids with me (6 and 9) so I couldn't consider doing the supporter section realistically (and it was their first time to BMO). So I shelled out good cash to get seats in 221. They closed the 200s on us and we had to get tickets when we came in. They stuck us in 121 which was designated the peruvian section.

So there we are with our white Cdn jerseys on and new hats and scarves, surrounded by the peruvians. Not comfortable.

Not cool at all.

The V's looked great all game. The rest of the place was easily 60-75% peruvian.

[Blue and White Army]

The crowd:

You can't blame for Peruvian supporters for being the "majority" of the vocal supporters at BMO. Expats and sojourners are always going to be up for a day out to support the country that they feel closest to in their hearts. In fact, I'm sure there were Peruvians there today who couldn't have named a single Peru player prior to the match, but who attended more out of nationalism than a love for football. It reminds me of the time that I went to a Universiade match between Canada and Iran in some two-bit South Korean city, and there were heaps of Canadians there. I soon figured out, however, that I was the only person who actually followed the sport - the rest were simply there to wave the maple leaf.

In terms of Canadians not turning out, I suppose post-World Cup hangover might have something to do with it. Peru isn't exactly a "name" side, either. Oh, and supporters of new MLS clubs are often poor at supporting their national team. I think the same problem is happening in Seattle.

Rob Friend:

What type of striker does Friend play as at Hertha (and formerly at Mönchengladbach)? Does he operate as a "finisher", like he is being used for Canada? I'd like to see what would happen if Friend were to get physical with defenders, win the ball, and feed Simeon Jackson (who would be hanging around the 18-yard box). The status quo obviously isn't working, so if we're going to call Friend up again in the future, surely new tactics/positioning is required.

[Blue and White Army]

So there we are with our white Cdn jerseys on and new hats and scarves, surrounded by the peruvians. Not comfortable.

Not cool at all.

That deserves a letter to the CSA. In fact, send them an email instead, and

of what happened when Chicago Fire staffers make the genius decision to put the away Pumas UNAM supporters beside the Chicago faithful during a recent SuperLiga match.

[Sam]

Overall I had a blast with you guys at the pre-game and at BMO. Just too bad about the result. The guys who watched this on TV seem to think we were awful. I was actually impressed with the first half. We held the ball well, and kept our shape. It was the first time I'd ever seen Hart's Canada live. On TV it always looked like they were playing a 4-5-1, but as Hart says (in the first half at least) it was a true 4-3-3 with De Ro and Simeon on the flanks with Friend in the centre.

Simeon was great on the wing, the final ball wasn't quite there but he had the beating of his man throughout and was getting into good positions. Friend's movement up top was good in the first half, he was pulling defenders in all sorts of directions, his first touch was as good as ever. The only problem for Friend like it has always been is poor service from the wings. Neither De Ro or Jackson are natural wingers and it showed. Both provided a threat going forward in the first half but neither were getting balls into the box.

The three midfielders in Johnson, De Guzman and Hutchinson did a good job of guarding the back four in the first half and keeping possession, but the start of the second half was when it all started to go wrong. We lost our shape as the two wingers and midfielders collapsed and the two fullbacks were very exposed. Poor Peters had a very poor game coming on for De Jong, just didn't look comfortable and was at fault for one of the goals. McKenna and Straith were guilty of some questionable marking which led to several Peruvian attacks. You could feel the goals coming and it was no surprise when they did.

After the two goals went in Canada did a decent job recovering and created a few half-chances towards the end of the match. All in all I think there were a lot of positives to take from this match on the pitch. Sure there were twenty or twenty-five horrendous minutes in there, but the first half especially looked good.

Of course as expected the attendance was low and more infuriatingly filled with "Peruivans". Saw no youth teams there, the CSA and OSA really missed the boat on that one. When I was at the Canada - United States women's game last year at BMO the place was filled with girls teams. Tonight - nothing.

On the street car back I met Josh Simpson's dad and had a nice chat with him about the national team and the Voyageurs, which he says he reads. Always good to know people involved in the team are reading and know that despite how it may look on nights like tonight they have people supporting them. He said he really appreciated the support from the south end though and that we sounded good throughout.

There was a lot to be learned tonight for the team, for the CSA, for the Voyageurs and it's all part of Mission: 2014, we're underway and I can't wait to do it all again Tuesday in Montreal!

[nolando]

confirmation that dejong broke his shoulder and that hart was responsible for nana being effectively ineligible for the game: http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2010/09/04/peru_canada/

there's two clubs that aren't gonna be happy with hart and the csa

[TOcanadafan]

Wow... didn't think the overall performance was as negative as what I've read... was at the game and really agreed with Sam's post (2 above)... it looked a lot better live in the first half. We just didn't have the creativity / skill in the final third, lacked width and tried to play everything from the middle, but definitely had control and prevented any kind of attack. Second half lacked energy. I am surprised about the number of positive comments on Straith... probably just because he's the new guy. The two CB's are to blame for the first goal, and the second was an overall lapse / many caught out of position (Peters especially), plus no one picking up the run from the midfield. I agree that we didn't attack well, but it's our faults in the back that cost us tonight, and will cost us in the future. It's a disaster! OUR DEFENSE IN CRITICAL SITUATIONS IS ATROCIOUS!!! We just don't have any top quality in any defending position at the moment. It doesn't matter, tinkering won't help. Attakora is probably our best defender (and also shows the most promise as he is young) and should be paired with Cann for familiarity sake.

And yes, the Peruvians did look a lot bigger than the Canadians... but should we be surprised when hockey takes all of our most physical specimens?

[loyola]

Major screw up by Mckenna and Stalteri on that first goal then Straith and Lars didn't deal with the cross properly. If Lars stays on his line he saves that header.

As for Friend, tough to blame him with the poor service he received today (Jackson was good but showed why he shouldn't be use as a winger with those crosses) but maybe it's an indication that we should look at another kind of striker, someone with more versality/creativity that can work on his own sometime. Occean or Gerba.

Also, if we are going to use a 6'5 target man why aren't we using a little bit more of direct football? I'm tired of all these talking about playing the ball on the ground or "playing the right way", it doesn't work for us since we don't have the players to do that. Let's at least try to put some pressure on our opponent defense and keeper with sending more long ball in the box. That Peruvian keeper was shacky and deserving of more long ball challenge with Rob just to put pressure on him. No, instead of doing that we continued to try to create from our central midfield which led to no chance and some dangerous loss of possession. I think our stryle of play is extremely naive and doesn't fit with our players.

Peters didn't look too comfortable on the left but I'll be indulgent as he isn't a LB.

Our chances for 2014 are slim, really slim.

[TOcanadafan]

Agreed. Great post Loyola. Friend was not utilized well at all tonight, through no fault of his own.

[guppy]

Rob Friend:

What type of striker does Friend play as at Hertha (and formerly at Mönchengladbach)? Does he operate as a "finisher", like he is being used for Canada? I'd like to see what would happen if Friend were to get physical with defenders, win the ball, and feed Simeon Jackson (who would be hanging around the 18-yard box). The status quo obviously isn't working, so if we're going to call Friend up again in the future, surely new tactics/positioning is required.

I watched a number of his games when he played for M'Gladbach. Neveille or Marin would run the ball down the wing deep (Canada can't do this apparently) and cross it.... Meanwhile at least 2 guys (including Friend) evenly spaced would run to the net. This would be very precisely timed. Then one or the other would head it in, or get some kind of chance from a deflection, rebound, whatever. Another thing he used to do was gain control of long balls, and then pass the ball to somebody who was running .. M'Gladbach players would run hard down the wing without the ball too and then receive a pass and weird stuff like that, etc..

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Think you'll find that international friendlies draw significantly smaller crowds than World Cup qualifiers in most parts of the world.

I was also suprised, not that it's a terrible showing for the game, I just can't really picture BMO empty, for a home team playing in red.

But then I only realy see TFC games on tv from the West Coast, but with the what seems to a very strong and consistent crowd. I assumed there would be more.

[guppy]

M'Gladbach would get the ball to him in the middle too, in some traffic, but they had already widened out the field by then with plays like I described above. Also helps to have someone that can dribble the ball up near where he is, while threatening to pass or go wide...

[BearcatSA]

I watched the game live on tv and then saw the recording again. There are so many things to analyze (or over-analyze) it would take a huge write up to bring it all together, so I'll just note in this post that our so called "star" performers didn't deliver the goods today nor did they show the mental toughness needed to overcome adversity.

People here need to get it into their heads that there are no automatic starters in our MNT pool. I don't care what leagues they play in, what experience they have, or what reputations they bring.

In the words of John Collins: "It was pooorrrr!!"

[BrennanFan]

I thought Canada had a decent first half. But it turns out Peru was only feeling the game out. Canada, after seemingly doing alright and having much of the possession, came out to score in the second, only to get picked apart by a patient and much better attacking Peru side.

Julian looked slow and past his best. Farfan pushed him off the ball like he was some kid. sad. Hutch was out of it, just like in WCQ. Friend passed the ball ok, gave some good flicks, but the guy is scared to shoot the ball. he's not good enough. Stalteri was burned by Vargas each and every time, and Vargas was taking it easy out there.

We need to know our role. Hart like to play possession but were just not good enough for that. We need to defend and hope to pot one with GERBA up top.

I really wanted to celebrate a goal today. godammit.

[gator]

I'll start with saying it was great to get together with fellow V's and support the team on an unseasonably cool evening in TO! Lots of people put many hours in organizing things and they should be applauded for their efforts! We looked the better side in the first half but it was like another match in the second, we were outclassed! There are many areas to improve on obviously but I think Hart has got to have a serious look at team formation! There are many Rob Friend haterz out there but I think it's totally unjustified, he just isn't getting service, it's not like he's missing scoring chances, he's not getting them! The supporters section was great but WTF were Peruvians doing there? Some were offended by some of the chants but I could care less, they had no business being in our section! It's very disheartening to be outnumberd at a home match, Canadians have to step up and get their butts into the seats! A fun night overall despite the poor result, thank you all for all the work in organizing things!

[Saviola7]

Overall I had a blast with you guys at the pre-game and at BMO. Just too bad about the result. The guys who watched this on TV seem to think we were awful. I was actually impressed with the first half. We held the ball well, and kept our shape. It was the first time I'd ever seen Hart's Canada live. On TV it always looked like they were playing a 4-5-1, but as Hart says (in the first half at least) it was a true 4-3-3 with De Ro and Simeon on the flanks with Friend in the centre.

Simeon was great on the wing, the final ball wasn't quite there but he had the beating of his man throughout and was getting into good positions. Friend's movement up top was good in the first half, he was pulling defenders in all sorts of directions, his first touch was as good as ever. The only problem for Friend like it has always been is poor service from the wings. Neither De Ro or Jackson are natural wingers and it showed. Both provided a threat going forward in the first half but neither were getting balls into the box.

The three midfielders in Johnson, De Guzman and Hutchinson did a good job of guarding the back four in the first half and keeping possession, but the start of the second half was when it all started to go wrong. We lost our shape as the two wingers and midfielders collapsed and the two fullbacks were very exposed. Poor Peters had a very poor game coming on for De Jong, just didn't look comfortable and was at fault for one of the goals. McKenna and Straith were guilty of some questionable marking which led to several Peruvian attacks. You could feel the goals coming and it was no surprise when they did.

After the two goals went in Canada did a decent job recovering and created a few half-chances towards the end of the match. All in all I think there were a lot of positives to take from this match on the pitch. Sure there were twenty or twenty-five horrendous minutes in there, but the first half especially looked good.

Of course as expected the attendance was low and more infuriatingly filled with "Peruivans". Saw no youth teams there, the CSA and OSA really missed the boat on that one. When I was at the Canada - United States women's game last year at BMO the place was filled with girls teams. Tonight - nothing.

On the street car back I met Josh Simpson's dad and had a nice chat with him about the national team and the Voyageurs, which he says he reads. Always good to know people involved in the team are reading and know that despite how it may look on nights like tonight they have people supporting them. He said he really appreciated the support from the south end though and that we sounded good throughout.

There was a lot to be learned tonight for the team, for the CSA, for the Voyageurs and it's all part of Mission: 2014, we're underway and I can't wait to do it all again Tuesday in Montreal!

Sums up my thoughts mostly (having watched from a choppy stream). I'd say we played well for 60 minutes. The difference was that when we didn't play well, Peru goals were inevitable, whereas when we did, goals were only a possibility.

Certainly nobody was innocent here. I counted errors by every player on the pitch, from Julian's long passes to nowhere, to Jackson's late crosses ... Lars got lucky a couple of times too. Simpson was ok coming on, IMO, but Peters and Hume were poor.

From the stream, I could hear Canadian support, but Peruvian support was evident too. It wasn't overwhelmingly so, so I thought it was ok, especially given the poor weather (was it poor at the beginning?).

A shame that De Jong broke his shoulder. It didn't seem that bad of a fall. This is particularly bad since he just came off of injury and was winning a spot with his club.

[I_AM_CANADIAN]

Being at the match, I thought we had a good first half, but so often couldn't find the killer ball, or when we did, someone's first touch let them down and ended the chance. We came out flat at the start of the 2nd half and for most of it the momentum was always with Peru. A number of errors led to both of their goals, just poor defending. Lars might've been able to do a bit better with the 2nd one but it was still all too easy for them to get into the box.

As for the support, it was great across 112-113-114, but I would've like a fuller stadium. I was pleased, as well, that even after we went down 1-0 and then 2-0, people kept singing. Hopefully the result on the pitch in Montreal is better.

[JamboAl]

I'm on the train back from Toronto right now and thought we played well in the first half without really being too threatening. The 2nd half was bad and we were found out again for turning off at the back at crucial periods; it could have been worse than 2-0. I agree with those who say Friend got no service and so what can you expect? He's a tall target man who gets crumbs from opportunities and good crosses into the box. He got no service from the midfield. I think a lot of us overestimate how good our midfield is; in fact, we played with 3 holding MF and a pacy striker who was used to run at people (Jackson) and a good MLS quality MF who can't shoot (DeRo). Until we can produce some creativity and sort out our defending, Friend is not our problem right now.

One other quick note, the Vs were well represented and the TFC supporters groups supplemented the turnout as well. Problem was that the other 85% of the normal TFC crowd didn't show. Is TFC more important to them than Canada??? Or did they not know the game was even on?

Shout out to El Hombre and Canadian Swede in "economy class". The wine & caviar up front is fine! Suckers!

[JoeSoccerFan]

A few thoughts after watching the match in section 127:

-I thought attendance of 10,000 was pretty good given the quality of the opponent, the lack of promotion and the fact that it was a friendly during a quiet period for the national teams

-Tons of credit to the North End Elite who were vocal for 90 minutes in my section, despite being constantly taunted by the "Canadians" supporting Peru. These guys are generally not Voyageurs, but they did a good job bringing some life to the north end. Too bad the Peru supporters couldn't show a little more respect for these dedicated fans.

-It was an absolute embarrassment to be sitting next to Peru supporters in the discounted seats offered by the CSA in one of the dedicated Canadian support sections. I have no problems with the foreign support, I just think it is not fair to allow them to sit in these seats.

-Canada was terrible on the pitch - Stalteri was slow and got caught out too often (not surprising) and both JDG/Hutch were just not effective enough moving the ball out of the back, although Hart's attempt to play a passing game with this crew is misguided. We just weren't playing direct enough to make use of Jackson and Friend.

-It is tough to swallow a 2-0 loss at home, but even tougher to handle given we just never seemed to be in the match, and we didn't attack until the last ten minutes.

[paul-collins]

I watched a number of his games when he played for M'Gladbach. Neveille or Marin would run the ball down the wing deep (Canada can't do this apparently) and cross it.... Meanwhile at least 2 guys (including Friend) evenly spaced would run to the net. This would be very precisely timed. Then one or the other would head it in, or get some kind of chance from a deflection, rebound, whatever. Another thing he used to do was gain control of long balls, and then pass the ball to somebody who was running .. M'Gladbach players would run hard down the wing without the ball too and then receive a pass and weird stuff like that, etc..

In the second half I kept seeing wingers start an overlapping run to charge down the flank, turn to look and then pull up as the ball once again got passed back and away from their side. Seems the wingers wanted to play long ball but the mids and backs were under instructions?

The crosses I saw never seemed to get more than 6 feet off the ground(right into a defender's chest or forehead), or if they did, they sailed. No floating balls for Friend to even nod at.

I have to clarify my earlier comment about the dreariness. Much of that comes down to the subdued nature of sitting in the wrong supporter's section (there were a few of us who were basically overwhelmed). The Peruvians were not menacing or anything, and on the whole were just enjoying themselves. We were just in the wrong place. (As I said earlier, though, beyond the V's sections just about the whole stadium was the wrong place.)

Tons of Peruvian jerseys and jackets in the field and for that matter throughout the grounds of the CNE. Meanwhile I had to buy mine on ebay and go to Vaughan Mills to get the kids jerseys. (and they're the dull all-white ones) The new scarves were nice - but I think I'll buy a V scarf for myself as well.

CSA marketing has to step up big-time. Next set of home friendlies they have to pump up the event and have everything ready for the fans (including gear). The Canadian Soccer identity has to be cemented at that time, else the attendance will be similar to what we just had.

Were there programs available for this game? I didn't see any... I only saw a "CSA yearbook" which I declined to buy.

[Sam]

^There was a line up card and I bought the yearbook. Thought it was pretty cool full of CMNT and CWNT stats...

[VPjr]

1st off....Kudos to everyone who put in alot of work to get the V's organized for this match. The South end was a fun place to be for the most part. Section 114 turned into Fight Club when some drunk lout decided to slug a woman...it was a crazy scene.

The scene on the field was disheartening but sadly predictable.

Simeon looked lively and confident but should not be played out on the wing. He doesn't deliver a good enough cross to be out there. Move him toward the middle along with a hard working, mobile forward and he'll be more effective.

Straith was the highlight of the night for me. I don't care why Nana was ineligible to play....Straith is going to be a very good player. He is someone to build around.

McKenna was solid his error that resulted in the 1st goal.

DeJong was fine until he got hurt.

Not much else to be happy about.

We are too small, too slow and too many players are too one dimensional.

[gator]

All the visiting support made the loss that much tougher to swallow, the South Stands were rocking pretty good with V's and some TFC supporters but I have no idea how so many Peruvians ended up in those areas! Why would they want to be there, nothing good will come of it? There was a middle aged Peruvian lady who was constantly scolding my son and his soccer buddies when they were chanting, I say go to your own section with your own people and scold them! I've been in the minority at Canadian "home" matches for too many years in Toronto, I thought we had turned the corner with the Jamaica game but apparently there's a long way to go!

[nolando]

Even Toronto Mayor David Miller was perturbed by the turnout, posting on his Twitter feed: "Canada/Peru are off. Feisty, but small crowd. Hey Soccer Canada: some marketing, eh? Our lads deserve a full house."

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/sports/article/623763--canada-drops-2-0-decision-to-peru-in-friendly--page3

[nolando]

Even Toronto Mayor David Miller was perturbed by the turnout, posting on his Twitter feed: "Canada/Peru are off. Feisty, but small crowd. Hey Soccer Canada: some marketing, eh? Our lads deserve a full house."

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/sports/article/623763--canada-drops-2-0-decision-to-peru-in-friendly--page3

"...the loss stretching Canada's winless streak to eight games..."

"Canada has been outscored 16-3 since their last win, a 1-0 victory over El Salvador in July 2009 at the Gold Cup"

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=332699