Canada’s Olympic hopes are neither better off, nor worse, after a 0-0 draw with El Salvador.
It was the least deserved point in the history of the sport.
Playing disjointed, tactically naïve, skill-less and just plain terrible, the Canucks huffed and puffed their way through the 90 minutes never looking close to scoring.
If it wasn’t for some solid keeping from FC Edmonton’s Michal Misiewicz, and some downright comical finishing by El Salvador, the game might have been a blowout.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]But, it wasn’t. It was 0-0. Deserved or not Canada remains in the thick of things with two games remaining. Assuming the US wins out – and there was nothing on display tonight to suggest they won’t – then it will come down to which team has the better pair of results against Cuba and the Americans.
You’d still bet on El Salvador, but in a short tournament it is vital that you keep yourself alive long enough to play into your game.
Man, though, there is a lot of work to be done.
Canada was listless on attack and frightening at the back. Even on set-pieces, where they enjoyed a height advantage, the Canucks were close to impotent.
The lack of natural fullbacks was clearly evident, with Matt Stinson having a howler of a game. It’s unclear what can be done in two days to fix this, and with the Americans on top of their game you might want to watch Saturday’ game with your hand over your face.
Again, and it can’t be stressed enough, this tournament is all about winning the semi-final game and no one is getting style points for how they get to that game. However, nothing – and by nothing we mean N O T H I N G – we saw tonight gives any indication that this team is even close to good enough. In fact, it was one of the worst performances by a Canadian youth team in recent memory.
It was an ugly, insipid performance that cannot be celebrated and must fill supporter’s hearts with nothing but dread.
But, they got the point.