Barring something disastrous, Canada should easily grab the lone point it needs against St. Kitts tonight to advance to the next round of World Cup qualifying. When I initially learned Canada would play this round against the weakest teams in Concacaf I focused on the six extra “meaningful” matches and the chance they would provide the Canadians to better “get to know each other.” Not to mention the opportunity for fans to get behind the team following some easy victories.
But something happened in the meantime. These games came to symbolize -- for me at least -- a relationship whose charm has faded even before the first date is over. The whole thing drags on for five more increasingly awkward and at times excruciatingly painful dates because both sides really want it to work, but at the end there is nothing more than sweet relief that it's finally over.
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Now I’m sure the playersdid get to know each other better over the course of these matches. Whether they developed any better sense of how to play soccer with each other is a far trickier question. Was anyone prepared for St. Lucia to be so bad? Puerto Rico offered stiffer resistance, but also illustrated the no-win situation Canada found itself in. Is there really that much inspiration to be taken from blowing a team of part-timers from a small Caribbean nation off the pitch 7-0? I would argue there isn’t. But if Canada doesn’t beat them by a touchdown then they’ve played like shit, the coach is shit and their chances of getting anywhere near the World Cup are also, by extension, shit.
Another writer on this site said it plainly: teams like St. Lucia and St. Kitts are so poor that there is nothing at all a side like Canada can extrapolate from playing against them. Meanwhile, on the international friendly front, Costa Rica is playing a friendly against Spain, the U.S. has lined up France and Honduras takes on Serbia.
Even being in the stands felt underwhelming. I love going to Canada matches but for the first time ever I had a hard time revving myself up for that initial game against St. Lucia. I brought two friends who I wouldn't classify as sports fans to the thrilling come-from-behind draw last spring against Ecuador at BMO Field and they had a blast. Then I brought them to the halting victory over St. Lucia in September -- the one where the opposition transformed the pitch into a field hospital for long stretches while they flopped around pretending to be hurt -- and so disturbing was the spectacle I’m worried my friends might not return.
The social media hashtag meant to drum up support for Canada this go around was #tastethesoup. And I sincerely hope that many new fans did slurp up the fun that supporting a side like Canada can be. I just had a hard time tasting that soup myself. At least for now.
I’ll spend this evening steadily drinking red wine and toasting Canada’s small step closer to the World Cup. I’ll also be hoping this first round never has to happen for Canada again. I never thought I’d actually look forward to staring down a stadium three-quarters full of bloodthirsty Hondurans, but the real stuff next summer can’t arrive soon enough.