For the first time in the long and illustrious history of the Cyprus Cup (established 2008), Canada will not be contesting the final.
A 2-0 loss to England in their final group-stage game on Monday consigned Big Red to the horrendous indignity of competing in the third-place game rather than rightfully ascending to the championship showdown, as is their birthright.
Surely, all sorts of sweeping conclusions can be drawn from this game that nobody saw: Fire Herdman, retire Sinclair, blow the whole program up, sack the CSA, etc. etc.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Or, for a little bit of perspective, you could consider that the mighty, infallible Americans have now lost two games in a row (!!!) and are stuck in the seventh-place game over at the Algarve Cup after finishing last in their group.
Nah, easier to assume that every game Canada loses is a sign of irredeemable catastrophe even if, y'know, nobody saw the damned game.
And yes, I'm just a mindless cheerleader for the team. Except for those times when I'm accused of being a "hater". Trolls seem to have such trouble keeping their stories straight, strangely enough.
Four home friendlies this year against top teams. The World Cup is next year. Those are the types of games I plan to lose sleep over.
A group-stage game in Cyprus isn't.
.