The Canadian men’s national team is through to the knockout stage of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup after a nervy 4-1 victory over Haiti in Group B action on Thursday at Children’s Mercy Park, the home of Sporting Kansas City.
Here are three takeaways from the win ahead of a pivotal group finale with the U.S. men’s national team on Sunday.
Having just scored his first goal for the national team on Sunday against Martinique, Stephen Eustaquio made it two in as many games after opening the scoring with a scintillating free kick in the fifth minute versus Haiti.
Normally, Eustaquio is an orchestrator and a defensive stalwart, so it’s an added bonus to have those spot kicks in his back pocket.
"I thought Stephen did very well today,” said Canada coach John Herdman in his post-match press conference. "Obviously the free kick was top level and shows that he has that extra quality.”
Following that strike, it was business as usual for the Pacos de Ferreira midfielder. Eustaquio completed 73 of 83 passes, two tackles, an interception and nine recoveries in an all-around dominant display.
“His work rate, it is infectious,” Herdman continued. “I thought Stephen was able to ride that one out given the sort of physical challenges he was dealing with."
Eustaquio will, however, serve a one-match suspension after picking up a yellow card in the 82nd minute. Despite that, Herdman didn’t seem too bothered when asked about his status.
"He'll be clean now for the quarterfinals and semis and that's good news given how instrumental he's been.”
There is no stopping Cyle Larin.
The Besiktas forward completed a second-half brace, finishing off a wonderful move from Tajon Buchanan for his first before burying a penalty around 20 minutes later.
Those tallies not only catapulted Larin atop the Golden Boot charts at the Gold Cup, it also leaves the 26-year-old in a tie for third on the Canadian men’s national team’s all-time goals list with 18. He’s now four adrift of Dwayne De Rosario for the scoring record.
Considering Larin broke through at Besiktas this past season as an inside forward, it’s even more impressive that he keeps scoring for the national team as a pure No. 9, which Herdman has himself admitted is not his ideal role.
Not that it will bother any of the Canadian coaching staff.
Pour one out for Haiti. The squad dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19, fought resiliently despite its shorthanded status in a 1-0 loss to the US and then nearly stunned Canada on Thursday under similar circumstances.
After ironically conceding again via a set piece in the opening stages of the match, Haiti was outshooting Canada 9-7 prior to the 74th minute and produced four shots on target. Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau was forced into two point-blank saves in the first half, then Ronaldo Damus skied a sitter over the bar in the aftermath of Cyle Larin’s goal in the 51st minute. If any of those opportunities were converted, the Haitians could’ve exited Children’s Mercy Park with at least a point.
"When you play a team … three times now in the last few games, they certainly were able to close some gaps in their defensive structures and make it hard for us,” Herdman said.
Credit Haiti’s efforts off the ball in unsettling the Canadians, though. Steven Vitoria and Doneil Henry were pestered for most of the evening, which led to some costly turnovers. However, Canada was largely struggling to bypass the high press.
"[Haiti] played with two fullbacks in the forward line,” Herdman explained. “With that, they were able then to have [Stephane] Lambese drop into that back five on Tajon’s side. Have [Martin] Experience – that aggressive, young fullback – sniping on Doneil Henry. They had a good rhythm and they adapted after that 15 minutes.
“We made some tactical shifts there to try and use the space that was in front of Lambese and I think just for a period of time we had Cyle and [Lucas Cavallini] not in the sort of spots that would create those overloads in that area or at least gave you the opportunity to sort of penetrate with combinations with Tajon. They stifled Tajon for a period of time with just dropping that fullback in and just having that really solid three-man structure on that side of the field."
Eventually, fatigue caught up to Haiti. They conceded a pair of penalties late in the second half, with Francoise Dulysse sent off for the latter infraction.
Given that an undermanned Haitian side, with a pair of full-backs starting up front, managed to test the Canadian defense, coach John Herdman should be concerned ahead of that US showdown on Sunday at 5 pm ET (FOX, Univision).
