In what felt more like a skip day for the Canadian men's national team with senioritis than a victory lap, Concacaf's Octagonal winners ended up losing their finale 1-0 on Wednesday night to Panama in a match that they'll look to put behind them quickly.
It appeared that they'd salvaged a nicely-worked team goal late, but Cyle Larin was deemed offside on Video Review after putting in the apparent equalizer in the 80th minute.
Here are the grades for the match following Canada's graduation to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Canada Men's National Team Player Ratings
Given a chance to show his goalkeeping acumen with Milan Borjan getting rest, the LAFC goalkeeper misjudged the first Panama shot on target, leading to the match's only goal, but his diving save on a free kick kept Canada in the match.
Arguably the best Canadian on the night, the CF Montréal defender put in great defensive effort, with more than one instance of goal-saving heroics to keep his team in it on an uncharacteristically flat night.
The veteran got the start in central defense and went the full 90. He showed an encouraging spark with the backheel that engineered the would-be equalizer that was called back.
Though he was edged out on the through ball that led to the match's only goal, Miller was largely a steadying presence in the backline, cutting off attacks early in the match to give Canada's offense a chance to get it going.
Adekugbe followed up a sublime shift against Jamaica in the World Cup-clinching game with a solid effort. While it wasn't as productive, that was more owing to Adekugbe's teammates than his individual effort, as the fullback got forward and put in crosses that may have been assists on a better day. He also had one crucial stop deep into stoppage time to prevent the final score from worsening.
The midfielder didn't have the same magic that he had in the unforgettable previous match that clinched Canada's first World Cup appearance since 1986. Still, Eustáquio earned a free kick in the 40th minute that could have been game-changing and had among the best work rates for Les Rouges.
The CF Montréal midfielder didn't have a particularly distinguished match, with at least one giveaway that didn't amount to much in a lackluster first half – and then he was subbed off at halftime.
Kaye didn't figure heavily into the match, but given the imprint he made in his previous start – two yellow cards inside of 35 minutes to contribute heavily to Canada's first loss in the Octagonal – that's probably a good thing.
The fact that my first half notes on Buchanan consisted of a two-word euphemism for being a foul magnet – "drawing attention" – indicates the challenges the usually-excellent midfielder had in this match. Despite the off night, he's a huge reason that Canada are Qatar-bound.
It was a rough night for David, who missed out on an excellent, Cyle Larin-engineered chance to score by firing his pass directly at Panama's keeper. He got forward quite a bit but rarely with the level of purpose needed to make a difference.
"El Tanque" picked up a first-half yellow card and then connected with a Panamian defender's head rather than the ball Eustáquio floated in on the set-piece chance right before halftime. He was one of the first Canadians out, giving way to a striker that's had better luck scoring this qualifying cycle.
This is not to take away from Herdman, whose body of work was immense throughout the tournament, surprisingly finishing atop the Concacaf standings and appearing like he might lead Canada to an unblemished run. But the team looked largely uninspired en route to its second straight away loss to skid to a finish.
Substitutes
Osorio was unique among the subs in going a full half and briefly appeared like he might have to go out shortly after coming on with an injury. He helped hold the midfield together following the goal to prevent further damage.
This rating would have been a least a full point higher had Larin managed to stay onside for what appeared for a fleeting moment to be a clutch equalizer for one of the most clutch players of the Octagonal. He also had a key pass that disappointingly wasn't converted and just missed on a stoppage-time header.
In relatively limited sub minutes, Hoilett played good defense and had an assist taken off the board via the Concacafian clutches of Video Review.
Laryea was sufficient but not game-changing in his spell subbing in for Johnston.
Ugbo made a very brief appearance late, made slightly longer by the seven minutes of stoppage time.
