Canada’s lack of sharpness, set-piece defending costing them at Gold Cup

The Canadian men’s soccer team was supposed to cruise through the group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup. Instead, it finds itself in a state of peril at the continental competition. 

John Herdman’s side didn’t have much to celebrate on Canada Day after settling for a 0-0 draw against Guatemala on a hot and sticky night before a predominately pro-Guatemalan crowd inside Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. 

The Canadians sit third in Group D with two points from their opening pair of matches, while Guatemala and Guadeloupe have four points apiece. Cuba is at the bottom of the table with no points. Only the group’s top two nations advance to the quarter-finals. 

Canada now faces a must-win situation against Cuba on Tuesday in Houston, as anything less than a victory means it’ll bow out of the tournament — and a win might not be enough for the Reds, depending on what happens in Tuesday’s match between Guatemala and Guadeloupe. 

“We know what our destiny is. We’ve got to win this third match, push the goal difference, and take our country to the quarter-finals,” Herdman said after the game. 

Canada is coming off an appearance in the final of last month’s Concacaf Nations League, and is 45th in the current FIFA rankings. By contrast, Guatemala is 116th, Cuba is 166th and Guadeloupe is unranked (it’s not an official member of FIFA). 

Here are the three major takeaways from Saturday’s match between Canada and Guatemala.  

Lack of sharpness by Canada in the final third 

Canada lacked cohesion and a cutting edge in the final third of the pitch during its 2-2 draw against Guadeloupe in Toronto in its opening match of the group stage. Aside from Junior Hoilett’s brilliant run and sublime pass to set up Lucas Cavallini’s goal, there were few attacking moments of genuine quality for the Canadians, who needed an own-goal to take the lead in the second half.  

Herdman is without some of his most notable European-based players at this tournament, including Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Jonathan David (Lille), Tajon Buchanan (Club Brugge) and all-time top scorer Cyle Larin (Real Valladolid). Those absences, in part, led to an uninspired attacking performance against Guadeloupe. 

That theme continued on Saturday for the embattled Canadians, who produced just three shots on target, none of which seriously tested Guatemalan goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen. There was some decent buildup play from Canada, but its lack of quality and execution around Guatemala’s 18-yard box was its undoing on the night. The Reds didn’t earn a corner kick until the 63rd minute, which gives you an idea of how much trouble they had penetrating and getting in behind Guatemala’s back line. 

Unable to pry open a Guatemalan defence that was compact and organized, Canada resorted to hitting crosses into the box in the hope that it would lead to something. More often than not it didn’t, as too many balls were either under- or over-hit. The service into striker Lucas Cavallini from wide areas was poor — Canada connected on just four of its 28 crosses into the box. 

“It’s that lack of quality we are missing. Too many times we got into that area and didn’t deliver the quality we are used to. We’ve got to work on that,” Herdman told reporters after the game. 

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Opponents’ set pieces still giving Canada problems 

Defending on set pieces has been the death of Canada dating back to last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.  

Against the U.S. in last month’s Concacaf Nations League final, the Americans opened the scoring off set piece in their 2-0 win in Las Vegas. Gio Reyna’s corner kick into the box wasn’t properly dealt with by Canada, and Chris Richards managed to out-jump Canadian defender Alistair Johnston and connect on a powerful header that slipped underneath goalkeeper Milan Borjan. Against Guadeloupe, the Canadians conceded an own-goal deep into injury time after failing to clear its lines off a corner kick. 

Canada didn’t concede off of any set pieces on Saturday, but dealing with dead ball situations remains a problem. Guatemala should have taken a 1-0 lead in the first half after Jose Ardon ran into the Canadian box unchecked and connected on a free header. Canada was fortunate that the Guatemalan fullback sent his attempt wide, even though he had a clear look on goal from eight yard out. 

The fact that no Canadian player even picked up Ardon, or that Hoilett, a veteran winger, was rather lackadaisical in keeping up with the Guatemalan fullback after the corner kick came in, has to be concerning for Herdman. Canada was lucky not to go down a goal on that play. If it manages to advance to the knockout round it won’t be so lucky, as the higher calibre of opposition will make sure to punish Canada in such situations. 

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Richie Laryea continues to shine for Canada  

Toronto FC’s Richie Laryea has quietly become one of Canada’s most important players over the last year and half. 

The Toronto FC fullback was a key figure for the Canadians during their recent World Cup qualifying cycle, and he played in all three group stage games in Qatar (with two starts). Laryea, a 28-year-old native of Toronto, has started in Canada’s last four matches, playing the full 90 minutes in each of them. 

His best performance came on Saturday in Houston, as the TFC speedster was the major bright spot for an underwhelming Canadian side with his stellar performance on both sides of the ball. 

Deployed as a wingback against Guatemala, Laryea used his pace to bomb forward in attack while also tracking back to provide vital coverage in helping Canada’s trio of centre backs defend. Laryea and midfielder Ali Ahmed, who earned his first cap against Guadeloupe, built upon on the outstanding chemistry they had in Canada’s opening match by effectively linking up down the right side. Canada’s best attacking moments came via the right flank, especially in transitional moments. 

When Zachary Brault-Guillard was subbed on in the 80th minute, Laryea played as a centre back and helped Canada lock things down defensively while a surging Guatemala side looked to score a late winner. 

Laryea finished the game by winning all eight defensive duels he was involved in, completed 92.1 per cent of his passes (only Jonathan Osorio, at 93.3, had a better passing rate for Canada) and registered a game-high three tackles. 

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.

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