For Canadian fans, who had high expectations for their team at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the end result couldn’t have been more disappointing.
But as for the Canadian players – they’re hoping to use this ugly string of results as a valuable learning experience.
Canada closed out the tournament on Thursday by conceding two second-half goals en route to a 3-2 loss to Honduras. But the team’s solid performance in the first half did provide some examples of why the team had entered the competition with high expectations.
“That was the Canada we’ve been all three years we’ve been together in the first half,” said midfielder Marco Bustos (above), who opened the scoring for Canada. “We’re just going through a tough stage right now and it’s hard to put into words, but that 45 minutes was clear glimpse of what we are.
“Everyone here has the quality to be in Canadian squads and we’ve just to take this on the chin and go forward. Hopefully we take the experience and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, who wore the captain’s armband for Canada, agreed with his teammate’s assessment.
“The first half was the kind of play we would have liked to see throughout the tournament,” he said. “From the intensity level, the concentration, and the engagement from the players, it was probably one of our best performances.”
It was too little, too late for the Canadian team, who had been eliminated from World Cup contention following Monday’s results in Group B. And, indeed, it may also have been too much, too soon, as the team wilted in the second half and ultimately lost to their perennial rivals.
“We were maybe a little fatigued in the second half,” said Gagnon-Laparé. “We maybe rested a bit too much with our one-goal lead. But we worked hard and were unlucky at the end.
“We’ve learned in this tournament that you have to compete for every ball; every duel and every minute, there’s nothing to take for granted. We have to keep our focus all 90 minutes.”
The inability to put together a 90-minute performance has been a long-running issue for Canadian teams at all levels. Another problem has been the lack of clinical finishing. And while Jordan Hamilton had a solid tournament with three goals, including one on Thursday, ultimately Canada’s opponents were more effective at capitalizing upon their opportunities.
“The organization, the work rate and the pride we asked from the boys was there,” head coach Rob Gale said. “But I think, ultimately, Honduras had three shots, maybe four, and they’ve scored from all of them.
“I couldn’t fault the effort and the work rate tonight. I just don’t think we took our chances, which has been a problem for us in the past and Honduras was clinical tonight.”
While there are no quick fixes for the issues that affected the Canadian team in this tournament, the players are hoping that they can find a way to successfully move forward.
“Results can’t always go the way you want them to go and you’ve just got to stay centered and keep going as hard as you can all game long,” said Bustos. “As a team, I think being a family together in a competition like this is what’s important – to stay together through thick and thin.”
