After a historic victory over Mexico, the Canadian men’s national team is in a prime position to qualify for its first World Cup since 1986.
But six games still remain. Three of them make up a dicey January window for the team, with MLS and other leagues outside Europe on pause.
Plus, Canada’s lone home game of the three-game January cycle against the U.S. on Jan. 30 still doesn’t have a confirmed venue.
With some uncertainty still surrounding the final two windows of Concacaf World Cup qualifying for Canada, here are five burning questions and some potential answers.
What is Canada’s remaining schedule?
Jan. 27: at Honduras. Jan. 30: vs. USA. Feb. 2: at El Salvador. March 24: at Costa Rica. March 27: vs. Jamaica. March 30: at Panama.
What about the rest of the top four in Concacaf?
USA: El Salvador (home) on Jan. 27, Canada (away) on Jan. 30, Honduras (home) on Feb. 2, Mexico (away) on March 24, Panama (home) on March 27 and Costa Rica (away) on March 30.
Mexico: Jamaica (away) on Jan. 27, Costa Rica (home) on Jan. 30, Panama (home) on Feb. 2, USA (home) on March 24, Honduras (away) on March 27 and El Salvador (home) on March 30.
Panama: Costa Rica (away) on Jan. 27, Jamaica (home) on Jan. 30, Mexico (away) on Feb. 2, Honduras (home) on March 24, USA (away) on March 27 and Canada (home) on March 30.
A reminder that the top three automatically qualify and fourth has to play an inter-confederation playoff. Canada is currently two points ahead of fourth-place Panama.
Where will the U.S. game be played?
Due to the inclement winters across Canada, many presumed the Jan. 30 match against the U.S. would be held at BC Place in Vancouver.
It makes sense given the milder conditions and the fact that BC Place is an indoor venue. The turf, while not the most pristine, is being relaid ahead of that match.
Then head coach John Herdman threw one of his patented curveballs after the win over Mexico.
“I think everyone’s got to understand the travel realities of January,” said Herdman. “There’s some ridiculous travel commitments there, and we’ve got to put the players’ health, safety as well as the performance at risk. This isn’t about touring the country and having a celebration, it’s about going to the Qatar World Cup. We will do everything we need to do to do that.”
Steven Goff of the Washington Post added to the intrigue by reporting that Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field is being considered for the Jan. 30 date.
Getting word Canada is seriously considering Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field for the World Cup qualifier vs USMNT in winter window. FieldTurf surface. “The Donut Box.”
Whether it’s at BMO Field, Tim Hortons Field, BC Place or any other stadium, there is an element of mind games at play. The U.S. have a home game against El Salvador on Jan. 27 and haven’t announced where it is playing that match. The longer Canada holds out and keeps the Americans guessing, the more difficult it will be for them to finalize their plans.
That is the nature of Concacaf, a confederation defined by the dark arts.
Logically, holding the games in an open-air stadium in Hamilton or Toronto is risky. Sure, the team just played Mexico in frigid weather, but east-coast winters are unpredictable. The turf at Tim Hortons Field would be just as tricky to play on as Commonwealth Stadium’s.
BMO Field’s grass may not hold up well, either, even with undersoil heating. Toronto FC’s 2018 Concacaf Champions League run did a number on the pitch during the late winter and early spring. The flip side is this is only one match, but with both sides training on it the day before the match, the field could be chewed up.
The only logical reason to hold the match on the east coast is travel. Flying from San Pedro Sula to Vancouver, then to San Salvador adds an extra four or five hours onto each leg. Chartering a flight would require Canada Soccer to eat into a small budget, one that was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national team flew from Vancouver to San Salvador in November 2015, although that was a two-game window.
An announcement regarding the host city should be made a few weeks before the match. The players and coaching staff sound content to play another cold-weather game, so the federation has some thinking to do.
How will MLS off-season affect squad selection?
One reason why the next three games are so massive for Canada is the fact that it coincides with MLS’ off-season.
Provided none of them earn a European transfer in January, the likes of Kamal Miller, Alistair Johnston, Richie Laryea and Mark-Anthony Kaye will be lacking match fitness for at least a couple of months.
The player pool is deep enough at forward and midfield to cope without some MLS players. It’s the defence and goalkeeping that will suffer.
James Pantemis (CF Montreal) and Maxime Crepeau (Vancouver Whitecaps) are the two backup shot-stoppers behind Milan Borjan. Goalkeepers can theoretically cope without match fitness, especially if Borjan is the No. 1.
However, the Serbian SuperLiga goes on winter break from Dec. 15 to Feb. 12, so Borjan will be lacking match fitness himself.
As for the defence, the right side is very thin without Johnston, Laryea and other MLS players. Doneil Henry, who plays in the K-League, will also be in the middle of his off-season so that’s one fewer centre-back option.
Henry would logically be replaced by Manjrekar James, who is a regular starter at Vejle in Denmark. With James, Steven Vitoria, Derek Cornelius and Scott Kennedy, if he recovers from injury in time, that’s enough centre-back depth to handle three games.
Right-back is the real problem. Tajon Buchanan will be at Club Brugge by the time the January window begins, and he has experience at wingback. The other alternative is Kris Twardek, who plays for FK Senica in Slovakia. But he’s not an out-and-out full-back, either.
Could Canada hold an extended camp to get players fit?
If there is room in the budget for Canada Soccer to pull it off, this is the best plan of action.
Call in all the players who are in their off-seasons, get them back in shape and maybe set up a couple of friendlies to build match fitness.
A January camp has been an annual tradition for Canada, but with World Cup qualifiers in the same month, that throws a wrench into the plans.
It would also be a prime chance to call up dual nationals like Marcelo Flores, Stefan Mitrovic and Daniel Jebbison so they can experience the Canadian setup as well.
Plus, with the Concacaf Under-20 Championship kicking off in the summer, bringing in some U-20 players as sparring partners would help the senior team and prepare the youngsters for that tournament. Working out tactical kinks and building chemistry could be very useful before the Concacaf U-20 competition begins.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
