It was a moment of brilliant and audacious skill on the pitch, the likes of which have rarely been produced by a Canadian not named Alphonso Davies.
But then, Jonathan David isn’t your average forward, and although often overshadowed by Davies, he is just as important to a Canadian side looking to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Canada’s 2-0 victory in Honduras on Thursday in a crucial CONCACAF qualifier owed so much to the team’s overall discipline and professionalism, as well as some spectacular saves from goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
It was David’s spectacular goal in the 73rd minute, though, that put the dagger through the surging Hondurans and sealed an important victory for Canada, who sits atop the qualifying table with a slender one-point lead over the United States.
David, a 22-year-old native of Ottawa, should be front and centre again for Canada when it hosts the U.S. on Sunday at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field in another marquee World Cup qualifier.
With the game in Honduras still hanging in the balance, David settled the matter with a highlight-reel goal that rivalled the one scored by Davies in Panama last October.
Liam Fraser played a pinpoint 40-yard pass from deep inside the Canadian half to David, who adroitly controlled the ball with his chest, headed it forward, and then chipped past Luis Lopez from 24 yards out as the goalkeeper rushed off his line. Just like that, after three sublime touches — at full speed, no less — the ball was in the back of the net and the game was essentially over. The life was knocked out of the Hondurans with a perfectly executed counter-attack, capped off by David’s exquisite finish.
“Watching (David) on that transition, and the goal that he scored, I mean, that was special,” Canadian coach John Herdman told reporters after the game.
His efforts didn’t go unnoticed south of the border, either. Former U.S. international Taylor Twellman took to Twitter and lauded David for his “ridiculous finish” against the Hondurans, and also argued that the Canadian is “the best forward in CONCACAF” at the moment.
This finish is ridiculous from David. Playing at such a high level and not really arguable……the best forward in @Concacaf pic.twitter.com/upI7wAgAHz
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) January 28, 2022
It’s hard to argue otherwise. David has plundered four goals for Canada in this final round of qualifying, to increase his overall tally to 19 goals in 25 appearances (19 starts) since making his national team debut in 2018. He’s only four goals away from becoming Canada’s all-time scorer, a record jointly held by teammate Cyle Larin and the retired Dwayne De Rosario.
At club level, David ranks second in the French league scoring charts, with 12 goals for Lille OSC, and has scored more often at the domestic level this season than Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé. No wonder, then, that he’s been linked with a transfer to some of the biggest clubs in Europe and is expected to be sold to the highest bidder this summer.
The U.S. is not without talent up front, but their front-men have let them down thus far. The Americans have scored 13 goals in nine games of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, good enough for the second-best attack. But only three of those goals have been scored by a forward — and Ricardo Pepi has accounted for all three.
How American coach Gregg Berhalter must be looking upon Herdman with sheer envy, and how he would love to have a dangerous scorer like David in his squad.
“When you think about Jonathan David, he’s got the quality. He’s one of Europe’s top strikers right now,” Berhalter said in the build-up to Sunday’s contest.
With Davies ruled out this entire international window due to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, David has been looked upon to serve as the main reference point in attack for the Canadians. He proved to be too much to handle for the Hondurans, even when he wasn’t in possession.
That’s the thing about David — it’s not just his fantastic goals that instantly go viral, the slaloming runs through defences, and powerful shots that keep opposing goalkeepers on their toes. He is an intelligent player, whose work off of the ball is just as impressive as when it’s at his feet.
Against Honduras, Larin had a quiet night and was subbed out after an ineffective 60 minutes of action. At the same time, the scoring chances had not fallen for David, but he remained dogged and determined to make something happen for himself, constantly hunting for the ball and harrying Honduras’ players near him in an attempt to win back possession.
As fabulous as his goal was, David’s work rate was just as impressive — maybe, more so.
“If you watched him all night, he put that cover shadow on the centre midfielders, he was always in a position to deny those two centre midfielders that switching opportunity,” Herdman said. “To find a player to do the dirty work when they’re coming into environments like this, that’s not easy.”
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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