So here's the conundrum the men's national team -- and specifically, its supporters -- are encountering at present.
Coming off of the soul-crushing, resolve-testing, mind-bending conclusion to the team's World Cup qualifying campaign last October, supporters of the team are palpably desperate for some sort of positive catharsis, some reassurance that their emotional and financial investment in this team is, somehow, worth it. The easiest way to earn such validation is, of course, through winning games.
Trouble is, the process of rebuilding a squad such as Canada's (where "depth" is often used only in contexts such as "the program has sunk to new depths") is not an easy one. So here we sit, seven months and five games removed from the debacle in San Pedro Sula and the CanMNT -- fielding, for the most part, patchwork/experimental lineups -- has yet to earn a victory.
Perhaps, then, it's time we disabuse ourselves of the notion that one victory will cleanse us of the pain of the Honduran humiliation. Our catharsis, if we're indeed entitled to any, will come through the progress, through the small victories... the little things, as it were.
So, what little things could we hang our hats on in Canada's friendly against Costa Rica on Tuesday night?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
- A couple of youngsters (Jonathan Osorio and Daniel Haber) earned their first caps for the senior national team. Both came on as second-half substitutes, and while Osorio didn't have the same explosive impact he often has for Toronto FC, and Haber didn't have the chance to fully showcase himself, neither of them looked out of place (albeit against an equally inexperienced Costa Rican squad).
- Hometown hero Randy Edwini-Bonsu (or Rebs, as Globe & Mail columnist Jeff Blair has dubbed him) once again made Canadian soccer hearts go pitter-patter, with some bursts of speed and creative spark that we rarely see much of in Canadian red. Now, surely the word "pass!" got yelled at the TV screen on a few occasions when the 23-year-old had the ball. But all in all, this is a positive.
- Ashtone Morgan looked more comfortable than he has on most occasions for TFC this season. And the #BekksNotBecks hashtag wasn't in full effect on Twitter last night but should have been, as Kyle Bekker kept looping one fantastic dead ball after another into dangerous areas. Surely this evokes negative emotions from TFC fans wondering why they aren't doing the same thing for their club, but for those of us able to effectively compartmentalize our irrational sporting passions... good news!
- Despite being an exceptionally inexperienced squad -- both in absolute terms, and in terms of playing with one another -- there was some relative good cohesion on display, both going forward and defending. Spirited performances from the few veterans on the squad -- i.e. Issey Nakajima-Farran and Julian de Guzman -- surely helped set the tone.
Of course, this being a CanMNT game, all was not well. The finishing left much to be desired -- set pieces from Bekker found the heads of teammates in good scoring positions on at least four occasions, but none of those chances could be turned on target.
There was much complaining (by me, mostly) about the soft-ish nature of the penalty call that resulted in Costa Rica's goal, but as Craig Forrest noted on the broadcast, that's just the nature of CONCACAF (Marcus Haber tried a similar flop later in the game, but to no avail). And ultimately, Costa Rica had a legitimate second goal notched off for a non-existent foul, so in that regard, it all evens out.
The flashpoint of the game, though, was the most ridiculous and inexplicable sending-off of a Canadian player by a CONCACAF referee since... well... since Olivier Occean got the boot against Cuba last October. I haven't seen the replay, and don't much care to, because it might contradict my obviously-biased memory of the event, but for those who missed it, a synopsis of the play...
Canadian fullback Nik Ledgerwood (the pride of Lethbridge!) slides in with a perfectly legitimate tackle on some Costa Rican jackass. Both players go to ground, and the ball remains lodged underneath. The Costa Rican, rather than standing up, decides instead to act as though he's the Ultimate Warrior and it's 1989, hitting Ledgerwood with a big splash. Ledgerwood, who's smart enough to know wrestling is fake, is unfazed by this weak effort and gets up, presumably to solicit the Costa Rican's opinion about "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
The Costa Rican, uninterested in this friendly discussion, shoves his (probably foul-smelling) palm into Ledgerwood's face. Ledgerwood, proudly representing his city and province, smartly stands by without retaliating, knowing that the idiotic Costa Rican has just earned himself a red card. But the referee, in a supreme act of cowardice in the name of "fairness" -- the soccer-refereeing equivalent of a TV news show providing equal air time to a 9/11 first responder and an "it was an inside job" kook -- shows both players red.
...
...
CONCACAF!
Anyway, it was nice to see some kids get a run-out, it was nice to see the fans in a place not called Toronto get an opportunity to see the men's national team play live and it was nice that the final scoreline wasn't 5-0, which I had previously said I'd be OK with as long as head coach Colin Miller committed himself to plasma-depriving the pandas.
Up next on the horizon: the Gold Cup. We don't yet know who'll be head coach (don't be overly shocked if it's Miller again) and we don't know who'll be suiting up for Canada. But whoever's out there, if they're willing to put in the work and show the sort of effort that was frequently on display Tuesday night then, well... it's not catharsis, but it'll certainly do.
(Oh, and for those who are inevitably going to beak about the attendance figure of around 8,100 for the game, some food for thought: The last time Costa Rica played a friendly in Canada was at the newly-opened BMO Field in 2007. It was a weeknight game with a 7 p.m. kickoff. Attendance was approximately 9,300. Those of you predisposed to do so are going to engage in your dumb regional pissing contests anyway, but I figured I'd just throw that information out there for each side to manipulate to their own advantage. Enjoy.)