Canada 1 Curaçao 1
June 21 – Canada came into the Gold Cup as one of the firm favourites and after a 6-0 fiesta against Honduras at home in Montreal, looked to be on the right road to a much-needed title. But on an airless 92˚˙ night in Houston they punctured.
The wheels haven’t come off but on this performance they need a rebalance from manager Jesse Marsch who is leading the charge from the front, even though he was banished to the stands for this game to serve the remainder of a touchline ban for bad boy behaviour in March at the Nations League.
A win would have put Canada comfortably into the quarter finals. Now they will have to come back and earn that right all over again.
Curaçao have a squad drawn from leagues far and wide and on paper looked no match. For the bulk of the first half they didn’t look it.
Canada controlled possession, pressed hard and fast enough to win it back when they lost it, but ultimately couldn’t find that final ball in the box to put this game to bed.
Jesse Marsch made five changes, keeping youngsters Niko Sigur and Nathan Saliba who had impressed against Honduras, and pairing goal machine Jonathan David up front with heir apparent Tani Oluwaseyi.
In Vancouver it had been high octane Canada, in Houston they looked a little flat, especially in the last 15 minutes and added time when end-to-end chaos ensued and Canada were lucky to come away with a point.
Curaçao made just two changes to the starting line up for their with El Salvador. It took them a while to work through the gears to find full pace.
The Canadians started with intent. On 8’ Jacob Shaffelburg was pulled down on the left byline. Jayden Nelson’s free kick came out to Nathan Saliba who fired through a crowd of players past Eloy Room.
The wheels on the bus go round and round and Canada looked to be firing on most cyclinders. Curacao had yet to make a serious incursion into the Canada half.
On 15 minutes Dayne St Clair in Canada’s goal had his first touch of the ball.
On 17 minutes he had to make a save. A free kick into the centre of the box found the head of Leandro Bacuna who headed directly at St Clair who palmed it over.
It was big miss, but Curaçao suddenly looked as they had more to offer than just being Canada’s punch bag.
Canada pressed on but couldn’t make their final pass in the box count, while Curaçao started to explore a threat of their own. Jurgen Locadia dragged a shot across the front of St Clair’s goal suggesting Canada needed to find more of that ‘ruthlessness’ Marsch had talked about pre-match.
The first round was certainly Canada’s on points but for all their control of possession in Curaçao’s half (55%), shots were even at four apiece.
The second half started with more of the same. For all their good work Canada’s final was still too sloppy. Curaçao had gradually upped their pace and were committing more men forward, driven by Livano Comenencia and Bacuna in their midfield.
On 58 minutes Ali Ahmed was felled on the right of Room’s box. A decent left footed free kick by Shaffelburg was too easily punched away by Room unchallenged.
If you don’t take your chances football can come back to bite you hard. On 65’ minutes the seemingly inevitable happened.
Sherel Floranus fed Locadia turned in the box who turned to hammer the ball past St Clair. A long VAR review ruled the goal offside but Canada, who had switched off for a second, had been given a warning.
Canada rang the changes from the bench including bringing on the mercurial Tajon Buchanan.
Having muddled along for 75 minutes the game had found a new intensity and what fantastic drama it became.
In the 80th minute a Curaçao appeal for a handball was turned down.
It was now Curaçao’s turn to ratchet up the pressure and they were all urgency. A Curaçao free kick from Juninho Bacuna was hammered in and appeared to hit an arm – this one looked like a nailed on handball. Confusion reigned before a VAR check ruled no handball.
From the resulting drop ball Roshon Van Eijma headed in, only to be ruled offside. More chaos. Curaçao couldn’t buy a goal but Canada were struggling to defend theirs.
The match had now moved into 9 minutes of added time. With Room comically walking outside his goal area with ball in hand incredibly missed by the line, the ball worked back up field to Gervane Kastaneer who thumped a shot into the post but had fouled before doing so.
Suddenly Curaçao were level.
A counter attack saw the Joshua Zimmerman feed Jeremy Antonisse hit a shot right footed from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Joshua Zimmerman following a fast break.
How Curaçao celebrated.
With time still left on the clock there was action at both ends before the referee finally called an end to the drama.
In three days time they will be back at the Shell Energy Stadium to do it all again, and with everything to play for. Canada face El Salvador and Curaçao meet Honduras.
| Grp B | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| Honduras | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Curaçao | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| El Salvador | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
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