Nations League Roundup: England kicks off new era with win over Ireland

After the pain of the European Championship, England kicked off a new era by beating Ireland 2-0 in Dublin on Saturday. 

After 27 tries and 67 years, the Canadian men’s soccer team finally earned a road win over the United States. 

Saturday’s 2-1 victory by the Canadians in an international friendly at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park was their first win over their neighbours to the south on American soil since 1957. 

Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David scored for Canada, which built upon its historic showing at this summer’s Copa América by getting the better of its CONCACAF rival. 

Canada sports an all-time record of 11 wins, 13 draws and 17 losses against the U.S. The Canadians’ previous win over the U.S. was in January 2022, a 2-0 decision in World Cup qualifying in Hamilton, Ont. Canada returns to action next Tuesday when it faces Mexico in another friendly at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

Here are three major takeaways from Canada’s memorable performance on Saturday. 

Canada dominated the U.S. right from opening kickoff 

Canada set the tone early with its systematic pressing game that made life terribly uncomfortable for the U.S.  

American players were routinely swarmed when they were in possession and struggled to deal with the constant Canadian pressure. As a result, the hosts committed countless errors and turnovers inside their half, which led to a string of scoring chances by Les Rouges.  

This aggressive approach from Canada allowed it to start the game on the front foot and dictate proceedings for most of the way. Canada won 16 tackles in the opening 45 minutes, the most in any half against the U.S since Opta began keeping detailed data collection of all American national team matches in 2010. Canada finished the game with 31 tackles compared to just 12 for the U.S., according to noted American soccer statistician Paul Carr.

Canada sent the U.S. a warning when it nearly opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Cyle Larin’s diagonal chip pass into the box found fellow forward David, whose volley was turned away by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. Later in the half, Ali Ahmed fed a quick pass into the box for fellow midfielder Stephen Eustáquio and he took a quick touch before flashing his shot wide of the far post.   

The Canadians’ persistence paid off in the 17th minute when Ahmed’s aggressive pressing led to another giveaway by the Americans. Eustáquio played a ball to David, who then fed a pass across the box to Shaffelburg and he buried his shot past Schulte.  

Another U.S. turnover in the centre of the park led to Mathieu Choinière playing a fabulous through ball down the right for Larin. The burly Canadian forward held off U.S. defender Chris Richards and burst into the box before unleashing a shot that produced a fabulous one-handed save from Schulte. The American goalkeeper came up big again just before halftime when he blocked Larin’s attempt from deep inside the box after Alphonso Davies played a great ball into the middle.   

Canada kept the pressure on its counterpart at the start of the second half and was rewarded for its effort. A disastrous pass played out from the back by American defender Tim Ream was picked off by David. The ball then fell to the feet of Larin, who slipped it back to David and he finished it off past a helpless Schulte from close range.  

The Americans woke up after that and cut Canada’s lead in half off a scrappy goal by substitute Lucas De La Torre in the 66th minute. But there would be no comeback for the hosts, as they were thwarted by a well-organized defence the rest of the way.  

Coach Jesse Marsch great trust in fringe players, repaid in kind 

In a lengthy chat with Sportsnet in the buildup to Saturday’s contest, Canadian coach Jesse Marsch said one of his goals for this international window was to give opportunities to players who previously struggled to get minutes with the national team. 

“We want to maximize our player pool the best that we can,” Marsch explained. 

This was a similar philosophy that Marsch took during his first two games in early June and again at the Copa América when he turned to Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius. The youngsters were given their national team debuts under John Herdman, but were largely overlooked by Canada’s former coach.  

Bombito and Cornelius enjoyed brilliant campaigns at the Copa, both earning big transfer moves to pro clubs in France’s first division, and they’re now firmly established as Canada’s starting centre back combination. 

Marsch is no doubt hoping that midfielders Ahmed and Choinière can become equally important going forward for Canada, and it has to be said that the early signs are pretty positive. 

Choinière, 25, had only five appearances for Canada prior to Saturday’s game, while Ahmed, 23, had just seven. Yet, Marsch trusted them enough to give them starting roles against the Americans and both repaid their coach’s faith. 

Ahmed was a defensive dynamo down the right side for Canada, leading the press by constantly closing down American defenders high up the pitch in order to win back possession. When he did, he quickly led Canada’s transition with deft passes that led to quality scoring chances. It was Ahmed’s aggressiveness in the press that forced a turnover that directly led to the game’s opening goal. 

Choinière was equally impressive on both sides of the ball. Like Ahmed, he won back possession for Canada in dangerous areas on the pitch, got forward in support of the attack, and helped Eustáquio keep things locked down in central midfield as they beautifully combined to thwart the Americans. 

Ahmed and Choinière are still young and not nearly as experienced as some of the other midfielders at Marsch’s disposal. But their respective displays against the U.S. showed they can be trusted in big games and can be relied upon as strong options in the future.

Marsch also further widened the player pool by giving national team debuts to midfielder Nathan Saliba and winger Stephen Afrifa when they entered the game in injury time. 

Jonathan David comes through in a big way for Canada 

David put in a man-of-the-match effort for Canada, setting up the game’s opening goal and then netting the winner, his 29th overall, to move into a tie with fellow forward Larin as the men’s team’s all-time top scorer. 

David showed great selflessness in the 17th minute after a U.S. giveaway deep inside its half. The Lille forward had a decent look on goal after receiving a pass from Eustáquio. But rather than force what would’ve been an ambitious attempt on goal, he played the ball out wide to a streaking Shaffelburg, who was in a better position. The Nova Scotia native took David’s feed in full stride and then buried his shot past the U.S. goalkeeper 

David then doubled Canada’s advantage in the 58th minute when he won the ball after an errant American pass out from the back, and then immediately went into attack mode. His give-and-go pass with Larin ripped open the U.S.’s defence and he effortlessly slotted home his shot from close range. Beyond that, David’s tireless efforts off the ball in serving as Canada’s first line of defence, in conjunction with Larin, crucially helped the visitors prevent the hosts from getting any kind of attacking foothold on the game. 

David and Canada’s other forwards came in for some criticism during the Copa América for their lack of finishing and production. But on this day, he reminded everybody why he is still rightly regarded as one of the team’s most important players.  

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.

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