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World Cup Soccer Qualifying: Canada defeats St. Lucia
Written on September 4, 2011 at 17:49, by HTTN
Canada opened its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in Toronto on Friday night with a 4-1 win over minnows St Lucia.
First Touches
The opening ten minutes were heavily controlled by Canada, foreshadowing a long night of dominance. Lots of hard running resulted in a goal for Josh Simpson in the 7th minute (albeit in somewhat odd circumstances as the ball caromed off a defender before finding the back of the net).
Lackluster marking, a swerving shot and somewhat suspect goalkeeping by Lars Hirschfeld saw St. Lucia draw level almost immediately. Canada continued to dominate possession, but they appeared to have all the ball control of a bunch of high school students playing rec indoor soccer.
Second Wind
Canada looked better in the 2nd half and were much more methodical in their approach. There was more movement off the ball and more intelligent spreading of space between teammates.
While the first half was characterized by Dwayne De Rosario missing clear sitters in the box, in the second half, De-Ro backed off the front line, opening up space for Simeon Jackson and Josh Simpson to attack.
The boys in red collected three goals in the second half from De-Ro, Simpson (2nd), and Will Johnson – all well taken opportunities.
Upon Reflection…
Despite the improvements shown over the course of the game, the abysmal first half should not be ignored. First touches were shocking, and the ball wasn’t played with any sort of care. The Canadians looked like they were playing a game of hot potato, hoping to get rid of the ball as soon as possible.
Plenty of chances went begging. Against a better quality side those chances will be rarer, and they must be taken.
Next Up – Puerto Rico Plays Soccer?!
The competition will be better Tuesday, but not much. Isn’t Puerto Rico a baseball country?
Hopefully the Canadians will go into their next game with a little more organization and precision. Friday night was troubling. The unit showed flashes of working off of each other, but the work off of the ball must continue to improve if there’s to be any hope of moving beyond the next round, let alone qualifying for Brazil 2014.
-Post written by Patrick Johnson (@risingaction)
