Canada knew they’d have to come into their friendly against Colombia with a plan and they nearly executed it to perfection.
Head coach Benito Floro’s side went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Los Cafeteros at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday night, with a late wonder-strike from Real Madrid star James Rodriguez proving the difference. That goal was a long-range strike set up by a free kick taken quickly by teammate Juan Quintero.
“We actually discussed this with the players and we told them that Colombia are very smart,” Floro said after the match. “We told them that on a lot of the set pieces they were going to play the ball quickly. Our players got distracted and that’s what happened.”
Coincidentally, Canada has twice in recent memory caught its opponents by surprise and scored after a quick free kick (vs. Ecuador in 2011, vs. Panama in 2012) – but this time, Les Rouges were outdone on their own set-piece petard.
“I think the guys, for the most part, enjoyed the game. The difference was just one second where we fell asleep, turned our backs on a play,” said midfielder Julian de Guzman, who wore the captain’s armband. “Overall, it was a decent performance and a lot of positives to work off of.”
Indeed, Canada kept the run of play and the final score line closer than many observers would have anticipated, largely because of the defensive strategy they had been working on in the run-up to the match.
“I think we did a superb job on pressing and dropping off. It’s something that we’ve been working on throughout the whole camp and it was really good to see,” De Guzman said.
Floro, who agreed that the team’s pressing and dropping off were effective, said he would have liked to see his squad play with a bit more attacking bite. But he also conceded that his team, ranked No. 120 in the world coming into the match, was facing a massive task up against the World Cup quarterfinalists.
“It’s very difficult for us to compete against a team like the Colombian team. Our players are not starting players in the clubs they play, most of them,” said Floro. “Obviously the work is in progress and we would like to get better in the combined attack, but it will take time.”
While a lack of playing time has been a long-running issue for Canada, De Guzman – who is currently without a club – feels like training camps under Floro provide their own important value.
“You can feel it every camp that we come into. A lot of the guys say this is the first time they come into a session and they learn something,” said De Guzman, who made his debut for the senior national team in 2002. “It’s a special thing for a Canadian professional to be able to pick up something new and grow and become a more complete professional and that’s what these camps have been doing for everyone.”
Daniel Squizzato covers the Canadian national team for MLSsoccer.com.
