The Canadian men’s national team fell to Honduras, 2-1, in Concacaf Nations League action on a rainy night at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula Monday.
The defeat means that Canada drops to 1W-1L-0D in Nations League as they wrap up a fairly disappointing June international window on a low note. With the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup just a few months away, Canada will need to wait until September to rebound from Monday’s loss.
Here are the player ratings for manager John Herdman's squad.
Canada Men's National Team Player Ratings
Borjan finished the match with one save and didn’t have much of a chance on either of Honduras's goals.
Like many of his teammates, the CF Montréal defender had a forgettable night. He typically imposes himself on matches, but was unable to get into any sort of rhythm. He was sent off in injury time after picking up a second yellow.
A rare tough game for Vitória, who picked up an early yellow card in the fifth minute and lost his marker – CF Montréal’s Romell Quioto – on Honduras’s opening goal. He was substituted off in the 59th minute.
Miller put together a decent shift until he slipped up – literally – in the 79th minute, leading to Honduras’s second goal.
Aside from a slight lapse on the Honduran’s opener – the former Toronto FC defender lost his man at the back post – Laryea was solid starting at left-back. His pace, feistiness and willingness to battle was a plus in rather treacherous conditions.
As a player who loves to run with the ball at his feet, Monday was not Buchanan’s night. It seemed every time the former New England Revolution star picked the ball up and started to run at defenders, his progress would be halted abruptly by a puddle on the pitch, and he wasn’t able to adapt.
Eustáquio is one of Canada’s most important players and Monday night was no different. The 25-year-old FC Porto midfielder was everywhere on the pitch, and although it wasn’t the prettiest at times, there’s no denying that Eustáquio is the heartbeat of the team.
Like the rest of Canada’s central midfielders, Hutchinson was forced into more of a physical encounter in the middle of the park. At 39 years of age, that posed a tough challenge, but as usual, the Beşiktaş midfielder was up to the task in his 59 minutes of work.
No surprise. The Bayern Munich star was the best player on the pitch, but unfortunately, that didn’t amount to much on Monday night.
Hoilett was one of Canada’s most dangerous players moving forward in his 59 minutes of action. The versatile 32-year-old attacker thrived in the low-tempo game, creating for his teammates in tight areas of the park.
Making his first start for Canada, Ugbo put in a decent shift, considering the conditions. He made way in the 59th minute for Jonathan David, leaving the game with a two shots and a couple of half-chances. Hopefully his next start comes under better circumstances.
Herdman’s first-half adjustments didn’t work well, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, he elected not to make any substitutions to begin the second half. The end result was Canada going behind 2-0 before they really threatened Honduras in any real way. Like his players, it seemed the Canadian manager had a difficult time adapting to the conditions.
Substitutes
Kaye played a deeper role when he came into the game but wasn’t able to make much of a difference.
David drew Canada back to within one late in the game with a deft finish – his first goal in five games. The Lille star now has 21 goals in 31 career matches for Les Rouges.
Like Henry, it was difficult to judge the former Vancouver Whitecaps defender, but he did provide more width down the left-hand side for Canada. All in all, he didn’t factor into the game much.
Larin was the creator on David’s tally, playing a beautiful through ball into the path of his fellow striker. The assist was Larin’s first for Canada in 51 career matches.
