Four inches.
The length of your smart phone. Your morning razor. A little shorter than your remote control.
That’s the difference between hope and despair when it comes to Canadian soccer in 2013.
Had only Kevin McKenna’s header gone four inches to the right at BMO Field last June…
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Then Canada would have captured six of six points in the first two games of World Cup qualifying. It would have went on to capture all nine points at home and there would have been a glorious celebration following the 3-0 win over Cuba.
Sure, the 8-1 would have been embarrassing, but we’d be in the hex. We’d have spent the last two months staring at the schedule and debating about what venues made the most sense to host our games in 2013.
Today, there would be a nervous buzz across the Canadian soccer community. We’d possibly be just a day away from hosting a game. At worse, we’d be busy preparing viewing parties across the country.
Instead, the CSA held a u20 conference call today and talked about the importance of building for the future.
It might as well have been four miles.
Tomorrow the final round of CONCACAF qualifying starts. For the six countries involved – Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Honduras, Panama and Jamaica – dreams of Brazil are now realistic. There is a good chance four of those countries will be there.
The rest of us might watch. They are games that will be difficult to watch, but they will hold lessons for the next generation of Canadian fans and players.
Yet, we want to turn away. Should we?
Let us know how much coverage of the final round you’d like to see on CSN. It doesn’t directly involve Canada, but it is relevant to it. So, we’ll follow your lead. If you want us to fall back and only focus on Canadian teams, we’ll do that. If you want in-depth coverage, we’ll try and provide it. And, if a middle ground is appropriate we’ll try that too.
Let us know in the comments.