It was a little under four years ago, on an infamous night in Montreal, that Honduras essentially crushed Canada's dreams of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Despite an early Adrian Serioux goal, Canada was undone by an injury to Tomasz Radzinski (on a play that could easily have been called a penalty) and a dubious red card to Patrice Bernier. The 2-1 loss didn't officially eliminate Les Rouges, but left them with only one point from their first two games.
But this time, the tables have turned. Canada is full of momentum after a gutsy win in Cuba on Friday, while Honduras is reeling from an unexpected home loss to Panama. A win for the good guys on Tuesday night wouldn't officially clinch anything, but would boost our advancement chances immensely, while leaving the Hondurans' chances looking mighty dire indeed.
A draw wouldn't be the end of the world. In fact, most Canadians fans would have been content if you'd told them we'd come out of these first two games with four points. But for once, let's not settle with what will make us content, or what's acceptable. Let's go for their throats. Let's kick them while they're down.
Let's get revenge for September 6, 2008... and September 4, 2004 and July 18, 2009, and every other time we've been screwed by Honduras (and/or the referees) in a meaningful match.
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Now, in fairness, the extent to which we (i.e. the fans) can have an impact on the outcome is limited. We can (and should) pack BMO Field with red and white. We can (and should) make as much noise for the home side as possible. We can (and should) do everything in our power to maximize the Canadian advantage and make life miserable for the Hondurans (both the ones on the field, and the ones in the stands).
But the responsibility ultimately falls to the players and the coaching staff. Still, the past two games have given us plenty of reasons for optimism in this regard.
Head coach Stephen Hart has shown some flexibility in his tactics and player selection (necessitated somewhat, of course, by the injury to Josh Simpson), giving starting spots to a few players (Ante Jazic, Tosaint Ricketts) in roles that have been regularly filled by others in recent years (Mike Klukowski, Simeon Jackson). In the cases of Jazic and Ricketts, those choices have looked pretty good thus far.
An on-form Dwayne DeRosario looks determined to do everything he can to finally make a World Cup, Julian de Guzman looks revitalized, and Will Johnson has certainly been making the most of his first full qualifying cycle with the senior national team.
Surely the players will be up for it. They know what's at stake. They know what they're playing for. And those who play in Europe, with a summer break ahead, know they can afford to leave everything out there on the field Tuesday night.
Honduras will be desperate. This could mean an early burst, followed by a cagey withdrawal. Or an out-and-out assault. How does Canada respond? An equally spirited forward push right off the bat? A rope-a-dope approach, sustaining the Honduran pressure and mounting a quick counterattack? Do these squads play for the win? The draw?
I'm no tactician, and no fortune teller. All we can do is wait and see. The best laid plans can quickly be unraveled by an unexpected injury, an unjustified red card or a mind-boggling referee's decision. As we've seen, all three of those have a tendency to happen when Canada meets Honduras -- and in recent times, they've tended to go against Canada.
But let's not forget, there was a time when the stars seemed to align in Canada's favour. Consider the events of the
Everything is cyclical. Perhaps this is the tipping point, when things finally start going Canada's way once again. Again, all we can do is wait and see.
On Tuesday night, the players need to bring their skills and the supporters need to bring their voices. At about 9:30 p.m. ET, we'll know whether this summer will be full of the customary worrying and hand-wringing for supporters of Canadian soccer, or a long-forgotten feeling: Unbridled -- and justified -- optimism and hope.
One way or another, it's Canada and Honduras. You know something bizarre is bound to happen. Let's just hope that whatever it is, it'll be the Honduran fans howling in outrage about it afterwards.
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