Soccer: Canada beaten by stronger

Canada lost 2-0 to Uruguay in a friendly match in Bratislava, Slovakia on Tuesday afternoon.

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The Uruguayans scored their two goals in the first half. Nicolas De La Cruz opened the scoring in the sixth minute, hitting the target on a free kick caused by a foul by Kamal Miller of CF Montreal.

Then veteran Luis Suarez offered a perfect cross to Darwin Nunez, who extended the ball with a header in the 33^e minute. Alistair Johnston, another CF Montreal defender, was overtaken by Suarez on the streak.

The first half hour of play was difficult for the Canadians, who needed time to adjust to the pace of their opponents, but what followed was more encouraging.

good test

It was a good test for John Herdman’s men, who occupy the 43^e rank in the FIFA rankings while the Uruguayans are at 13^e rung.

The Canadians were able to generate chances on offense without being able to score, often due to a lack of speed in execution.

It was ultimately half chances that the Reds got with their threats as the Uruguayans tried to play through balls and outflanking down the aisle to defend the flagging Maple Leaf.

It was only the second historic clash between the two countries, the last dating back to 1986, another World Cup year. Uruguay defeated Canada 3-1 in the Miami Cup final.

The last time the country beat a South American opponent was in a 2-0 win over Colombia in February 2000 in the Gold Cup final.

humility and hope

The Canadiens have had a lot of success over the past year; this defeat is therefore a good test of humility for a relatively young team that could have ignited with a victory.

We now realize that despite a 43^e world rank, the best in Maple Leaf history, there is still a margin to go to beat a top 15 formation.

That being said, the Canadians struggled at times, but they were quite able to compete with their opponents, especially when they fell back defensively.

There is work to be done, however, before the Maple Leaf players are in a position to aspire to the world elite, even if they are not that far off.

In this context, it is always possible to dream between now and mid-November, when the World Cup will get under way.

And why not ? After all, Canada really didn’t look bad against Uruguay. It’s a result that should at least allow everyone to be a bit more realistic in their expectations against a very competitive Group F.

You have to keep in mind that Belgium is ranked second in FIFA. Croatia is 15^e and Morocco comes in 23^e position. Canada can upset, and they can, but they’ll be an underdog against three heavyweights who can claim the second round.

One last game

Herdman’s side therefore conclude this last international window before the World Cup with a victory and a loss, having defeated Qatar 2-0 last week.

The Canadians will have one last chance to test their reflexes against Japan, a match to be played on November 17 in Dubai, less than a week before the first group stage meeting against Belgium.

This will again be a good test, as the Japanese occupy the 24^e planetary level. They defeated the United States 2-0 in a friendly last week.

Brain teaser

Until then, Herdman will have a nice puzzle to solve because some players playing in MLS will find themselves on leave in less than two weeks.

These include Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea and Mark-Anthony Kaye of Toronto FC, and Lucas Cavallini and Derek Cornelius of Vancouver Whitecaps.

5 things we noticed

Davies does too much

However gifted he may be, Alphonso Davies will have to learn to balance his efforts in order to be useful to his team on the biggest stages. He has a crazy talent, but he sometimes tends to want to do too much.

Running Uruguay

The main difference between Canada and Uruguay is in the technical quality and more precisely in the speed of execution. The Canadians provoked things in attack, but the Uruguayan reflexes were quick enough to stop most threats.

Lack of opportunism

The attack is the great strength of the Canadian team, and Tuesday, it was not able to destabilize the Uruguayan defense which was deprived of four central defenders. There was an obvious lack of finishing which will be corrected with faster execution.

Quebecer Koné in Qatar

Ismaël Koné entered the second half to replace his CF Montreal teammate, Samuel Piette. As the 20-year-old Quebec midfielder has played in both games of this international window, we can start to assume that he has his ticket to Qatar. Nothing could be further from the truth for defender Joel Waterman, who hasn’t played a single minute.

A long breakdown

To watch this match, you had to subscribe to Onesoccer, which only broadcast the match on the web. And we had to wait for the 17^e minute to start watching since the site has experienced technical problems. For a preparatory match for the World Cup against a strong opponent, it’s embarrassing.