Ismaël Koné opened the scoring with his first Canada goal before Mahdi Al-Humaidan leveled things up eight minutes later. Abdulla Yusuf Helal’s second-half penalty was then canceled out by a fortuitous Lucas Cavallini equalizer to secure a draw for the visitors.
With Canada’s World Cup roster announcement on Sunday – ahead of their final friendly Nov. 17 against Japan – there could be a couple of plot twists over the weekend after certain events transpired before and during the Bahrain game.
Here are three things we learned about Canada’s MLS-heavy group before the Europe-based cavalry arrives.
We knew Koné was going to be on the plane to Doha next week. He was likely to play a key role at the World Cup, even if that was as an impact substitute off the bench, after a brilliant debut MLS season with CF Montréal at just 20 years old.
Koné fever will be gripping the national-team landscape for the coming days after his first-ever goal for Canada on Friday. After just six minutes, a long ball from MTL teammate Kamal Miller was corralled by Koné, who beat a Bahrain defender before finishing with aplomb.
The goal is a microcosm of Koné best traits. He reads the game adeptly for a young player with one season of professional experience, is confident in high-pressure situations and adds an offensive spark that few midfielders can provide in the player pool.
"I thought he had real good periods of time,” Herdman said of Kone’s performance. “It was just a short period where we lost him in the game, but once he came back into the game again and we could find him, he can really make things happen with his turning ability and I love that. He’s a player that wants to turn forward, play forward, look forward and those players are hard to find.”
All of those qualities are precisely why he should be among the 26 players unveiled on Sunday, and maybe even move abroad this winter after summer pursuits from English Championship sides fell short.
Koné aside, Jonathan Osorio looked sharp in his first match since Sept. 17.
Osorio had responded well in Toronto FC’s final scrimmages this offseason, but it’s another matter entirely to perform on the pitch before your country’s first World Cup appearance in 36 years.
“It’s been tough,” Osorio said of his recovery from his lingering neurological issues. “Luckily with the support of everybody, they helped me come back and get to this point, so I am just really happy to be with the boys and they helped me out there on the pitch.”
However, Mark-Anthony Kaye still looks off the pace. The TFC box-to-box midfielder was hesitant with his distribution, couldn’t get the right weight on his passes and seemed hampered by the heavier pitch. But that didn’t affect Osorio or Koné on the ball, so the field conditions can’t be an excuse.
The midfield in general was inconsistent as a result of the differing performances, which affected Canada in areas where they normally dominate.
“We’ve got to get the team into some cohesion and get them back into that match rhythm,” Herdman stated. “Too many gaps, too many second-phase moments where Canada would normally win that second phase and were a little slow to react.”
Japan will be an ideal test in that regard. The high-pressing and up-tempo style will certainly force Canada to regain their attentiveness.
Doneil Henry was supposed to start, but a late injury in warmups forced the 29-year-old out of the lineup. CF Montréal center back Joel Waterman replaced the veteran defender and earned his first Canada cap as a result.
Suffering another injury setback less than two weeks before the World Cup surely affects Henry’s chances of cracking the final squad this Sunday.
It may be a minor knock, but having not played a game for club or country in months, this was a tremendous opportunity to shake off some rust and prove yet again that Henry is a reliable option.
“He’s just devastated,” Herdman said of Henry’s knock. “It’s been one of the toughest moments of my career to date to see the big man suffering in there.”
Should Henry miss out this Sunday, LA Galaxy’s Raheem Edwards – who started at left back against Bahrain – or Blackpool’s Theo Corbeanu might be the next men on deck to provide some depth on the left side. As it stands, Hatayspor’s Sam Adekugbe might be the only out-and-out left-back in the squad apart from Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, leaving Edwards and Corbeanu as logical choices.
Meanwhile, Miller was shaken up early in the match. He played on until just after the hour mark when he hit the deck again after a hard collision. Miller was treated before being taken off in place of the debuting Lukas MacNaughton in the 71st minute.
Any injury to Miller would be devastating. He’s Canada’s go-to starter at left center back, plus Germany-based Scott Kennedy is already ruled out of the World Cup. That leaves Panetolikos’ Derek Cornelius as the only other primary option.
Hopefully, for Miller’s sake, it was just a precautionary substitution. Concacaf's first-place finisher needs him.
