Sports

Canada lost its Copa America qualifier. Now what?

Published

10 months ago

November 22, 2023

A bad year for Canadian soccer got worse last night when the men’s national team blew a two-goal lead and lost its CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal matchup against Jamaica on its own turf in Toronto.

Canada had won the opening leg of the home-and-home, total-score series 2-1 on Saturday in Jamaica. So it needed only a draw last night at a cold and damp BMO Field to advance to the four-team Nations League Finals and, more importantly, earn a coveted spot in next year’s Copa America.

The always hotly contested South American championship tournament — featuring World Cup champ Argentina, powerhouse Brazil and other strong teams from one of soccer’s most robust continents — is being hosted by the United States next summer. Six teams from the CONCACAF region, which covers North and Central American and the Caribbean, will be invited, with four of those spots going to the winners of the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.

For the Canadian team, which (rightly) complains about cash-strapped Canada Soccer’s inability to schedule quality exhibition matches, this presented a rare opportunity to secure some games against top-flight teams from other parts of the globe in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting with the U.S. and Mexico.

The Canadian men seemed to have their hands around a Copa ticket last night after Alphonso Davies’ goal gave them a 1-0 edge in the match (and a 3-1 lead on aggregate) heading into the final half. But they blew it as Jamaica outscored them 3-1 the rest of the way to make the total score 4-4 and take the series on the away-goals tiebreaker.

The fact that the decisive goal came on a penalty kick that probably should not have been called (a Jamaican player’s cross grazed Stephen Eustaquio’s arm near the outer limit of the box) did not make this defeat to a lower-ranked team any less devastating. Canada not only failed to clinch a spot in the Copa America but will also miss the Nations League Finals (a decent competition in its own right) after reaching the title match last season in Las Vegas. It’s a step backward for a team that made its first World Cup appearance in 36 years exactly one year ago tomorrow.

Jamaica’s shocking aggregate victory in Toronto caps a tumultuous year for the Canadian men’s soccer program. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

“I can’t believe what just happened,’ said Canadian midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye. “We have too much quality on this team to find ourselves in this position.”

However, not all is lost. Canada can still get into the Copa. All it needs to do is defeat Trinidad and Tobago in a one-match playoff on March 23 to grab one of the two remaining spots. That will take place in Frisco, Texas (along with the other playoff between Costa Rica and Honduras) while Jamaica, the U.S., Mexico and Panama compete in the Nations League Finals at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in nearby Arlington.

Canada, currently ranked 45th in the world, should be favoured to beat 99th-ranked Trinidad and Tobago. But it’s no lock. The Soca Warriors upset the U.S. 2-1 in the second leg of their Nations League quarterfinal on Monday, though the Americans were intent on simply protecting the 3-0 lead they built in the opening leg.

It’s unclear who will be coaching the Canadians by the time the playoff rolls around. Longtime assistant Mauro Biello has served as interim head coach since John Herdman quit in August to take over Toronto FC, and the 51-year-old Canadian has made no secret of his desire to lead his country into its home World Cup in 2026. But Biello is now a tepid 1-1-1 at the helm, including a humbling 4-1 loss at Japan last month, and it’s fair to wonder whether someone whose biggest previous job was coaching the Montreal Impact is the right guy to replace the charismatic Herdman.

Whoever is on the sidelines, the pressure on the players will be immense. Many fans of the Canadian men’s and women’s national teams have blamed their recent failures on Canada Soccer’s inability to book top-flight friendlies. And it’s true — the federation is too broke and/or too dysfunctional to provide these teams with the tournament prep (and other perks) they deserve. But Canada Soccer wasn’t exactly flush with cash when the women won Olympic gold in 2021 or when the men qualified for the World Cup in 2022.

The players overcame their obstacles then. Now they’ll have to do it again.

Read more about last night’s crushing defeat and where the Canadian men’s team goes from here in this piece by CBC Sports soccer contributor Chris Jones.

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Sports

Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.

Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.

World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.

The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.

Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.

The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Sports

Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.

Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively

Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.

It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.

Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.

The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.

Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.

The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.

Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.

San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.

Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.

Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Sports

Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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