Canadian men lack offence, but stifle heavyweight Colombia for draw

HARRISON, N.J. — Every move the Canadian men's team makes leading up to next summer's World Cup is being scrutinized from every angle.

Last Friday Lost 1-0 to Australia. in Montreal caused a lot of outrage among the media and fans, and while the collective unease barely reached crisis levels, it did raise legitimate questions about the Canadians' ability to get results against the major nations that are bunkering them and trying to frustrate them.

So what to make of Canada's 0-0 draw against Colombia in Tuesday's friendly at Sports Illustrated Stadium?

Again, Reds struggled to create many dangerous attacking chances in the final third, failing to put sustained pressure on the Colombia defence. Tajon Buchanan's turning shot from distance in the 28th minute resulted in a save from Colombia goalkeeper Alvaro Montero. But it was Canada's only shot on target as forwards Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi never came close to testing Montero like that.

This goalless stalemate means Canada, which had an impressive win over Romania (3:0 in Bucharest) and Wales (1:0 to Swansea) ended the October international window without scoring a goal, marking the first time since coach Jesse Marsh's first three games under coach Jesse Marsh last June that it had not scored in consecutive matches.

However, there was plenty of good stuff in Canada's game against Colombia, which entered the game on a six-game unbeaten streak. A labor-intensive effort against Australia was quickly forgotten and Canada showed why it had climbed to 26th in the FIFA world rankings (its highest position ever) with an ultra-professional performance against 13th-placed Colombia, going toe-to-toe with the South American heavyweight for 90 minutes.

Colombia's attack, led by Bayern Munich striker Luis Diaz, rarely found itself behind or stretched the Canadian defense, which bent but didn't break. Centre-backs Derek Cornelius and Luc de Fougerolles and defenders Nico Sigur and Richie Larrieu did well to snuff out the South American threat before it fully developed, while Canada lucked out late in the match to hold on to a goalless draw.

“We've lost four (of our) games against quality opponents, one goal with a young back line. And to me that says a lot about the overall development of the group… And I told the boys that when you're looking forward to the World Cup, clean sheets are the reward. If you get clean sheets, you give yourself a chance. So that's good,” Marsh told reporters after Tuesday's match.

It was a big deal for de Fougerols, who turned 20 this week, and Sigur, 22, as they both made costly mistakes that led directly to Australia's winning goal at Saputo Stadium last week. Instead of punishing them, Marsh kept the faith and was rewarded with mature performances from the young duo.

That they were able to bounce back so quickly and played a crucial role in helping Canada defeat a Colombian team that had the second-best attack in South America's World Cup qualifiers (28 goals) says a lot about their character and how they play at a level that belies their age and lack of international experience.

“Luke and Nico, I don't look at them like young players. They don't play like young players, right? You could argue there were a lot of little breakdowns in the net against Australia and I wasn't too hard on him. I was just trying to let them know what could be better. I knew these guys would turn around again today and put in a good game and they did that,” Marsh said.

It was essentially an away game for Canada: the terraces of Sports Illustrated Stadium were the sea Coffee producers fans wearing Colombia's iconic bright yellow jersey. They also had excellent voices, creating a loud cauldron of shrill sounds in the stadium with their voices and vuvuzelas, which created an intimidating atmosphere that the Canadians had to overcome.

However, Canada shrugged off the rowdy crowd, held their nerves admirably and resisted the pressure while demonstrating good game management. Players both young and old rushed for the breakthrough, eager to lead rather than follow as Colombian pressure peaked late in the game as the South Americans tightened the screws on their Canadian opponents.

“We're starting to look more like a complete team, we're starting to look more like an experienced team,” Marsh said. “The leaders are looking more and more like leaders, the young players are developing and looking more like regular players. There are a lot of positive things happening within the team and the way we approach games will ultimately benefit us more in the future.”

Goalie Dane St. Clair agreed: “I think (playing like this) builds character for us and it's not something we shy away from.”

There were many important performers for Canada that night, but none better than Laria. The left-back was a thorn in Colombia's side due to the fact that he constantly harassed the opposition forwards while simultaneously infuriating them with his physical strength and playmaking skill.

The Toronto veteran had to walk a very fine line after receiving a yellow card in the 12th minute. However, he managed to play with his usual sharpness without being eliminated from the game.

If there's one Canadian player whose stock has risen significantly over the last two international windows, it's Laria. So much so that Marsh now needs to find a way to include the hard-working defender in his starting XI with captain Alphonso Davies, who also plays at left-back, returning from injury.

“When you look at our back line, there are certain names that could fit in there, but it will always be difficult to leave Richie out of the team. In the America's Cup we used them more as wing midfielders because I just really appreciate everything he brings,” Marsh said.

“It's a big challenge whether we can have all our weapons so we can be really strong from the start and get the guys off the bench. But all I can say right now is Ritchie is making an incredible case for himself to make sure he starts at the World Cup.”