A Less Spastic Response

After the Argentina game I went ape shit. And to be fair I hope you can see where I was coming from I rarely get to actually see Canada and after watching them on TV for the first time in almost a year I was disappointed I didn’t get to see a better performance. I’ve settled down a little after watching the game in Venezuela. The two poorest players on the pitch were Stalteri and Klukowski, the veterans at the back but going forward and keeping possession in the midfield I was very impressed with the young guys. Do I think we’re going to qualify for the World Cup suddenly after one performance? No. It was a young squad that pulled out the draw against Venezuela and it was refreshing to see the bright spots for the future of this national team.

The guys I was really impressed with:

Pedro Pacheco – In his debut Pacheco was man of the match for Canada. He has drive going forward, he is physical, confident and comfortable with the ball at his feet. Most of Canada’s attack came from solid play from Pedro Pacheco.

Eddy Sidra – Man is that kid ever fast. He was storming past guys on the left wing from left back. He was beating men with ease and looked menacing from the moment he came on. An impact substitute if I ever saw one.

Players who did well:

Adam Straith – He looked confident at the back and dealt with the attackers well. Not exactly a commanding presence in the box, but he is nineteen years old and still has a long way to go. I would not be surprised to see him as a fixture with the national team in years to come.

Gavin McCallum – What a goal. What a debut. Sure he was average aside from the finish, but that goal gave me more to be excited about as a Canadian supporter for a long time. After a few seconds of crazed celebration I realized it was a meaningless friendly and I shouldn’t get too excited over nothing, but it was hard not to. As Canadian supporters we get very little to celebrate and McCallum’s equalizer gave us something for the first time in a long time.

Massey Wassey – Held his own on the wing.

Issey Nakajima-Ferran – Again not brilliant but did a job out on the wing. Plus played a brilliant ball right onto McCallum’s head for the goal.

Simeon Jackson – Sure he missed a chance he really ought to have finished but he worked hard all match and created a few other openings throughout.

Players who disappointed:

Terry Dunfield – Great potential a few years ago, but there is a reason he didn’t cut it at the international level. He had very little impact on the match and put in a few tackles that could have resulted in a booking had it been a competitive match.

Mike Klukowski – The Voyageurs Player of the Year for 2009 had a terrible match. Hopefully he is just tired after a long season but the games against Argentina and Venezuela were two of the worst I’ve seen Klukowski have in his international career.

Paul Stalteri – Let the guy play in the two home friendlies against Peru and Honduras so he can break the Canadian all-time cap record in Montreal, which he clearly deserves for his services to Canada, but after that I wouldn’t complain if he floats away into the distance. The guy just can’t play at this level any more.

Was it a great game? No. But it gave me back hope that the Argentina game took away. And Canadian supporters need to celebrate the small victories. Gavin McCallum’s injury time goal was one of those small victories.