Canada! What The Heck? Why Not?

By Ben Knight Onward!

Gold Cup-date
Looking at the quarterfinal draw for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, I wonder if there’s a deeper reason why Costa Rica’s finishing was so notably ineffective in the second half of last Friday’s 2-2 draw with Canada?

The Canucks were playing their usual grind-and-hope Gold Cup style, which ended up serving them well enough to earn top spot in the competition’s toughest grouping.

But all through the second half, the Ticos were creating chances, pumping the ball to open attackers – who wonked the ball all over South Florida, never coming close to scoring the go-ahead goal.

And look where the teams are now. Canada, by earning the draw and clinching the group, gets a tough quarterfinal with Honduras, leading to a semi against almost certainly the United States, who need only breeze by Panama.

Costa Rica, on the other hand, because they did not beat Canada, are playing Guadeloupe for the right to take on the winner of Mexico-Haiti.

With the Mexicans unraveling and self-destructing, that ain’t a bad draw at all. I can’t speak to anyone’s motives, and I sure can’t say CR was playing for no result, but the rewards for not scoring in that second half seem – considerable.

On the other hand, this is the Gold Cup, where past form gets shredded, and no one really knows what’s going to happen next.

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