🇨🇦 How Canada is blocking out the noise to focus on 90 minutes for a Copa América ticket
PLUS: Why the Costa Rican press is frustrated with Gustavo Alfaro
Reporting from Frisco, Texas
Players protesting against federation treatment, a national team coach leaving abruptly for a club job, questions about whether the governing body will run out of money. These aren’t new issues in the Concacaf region, or for a team heading into a Canada vs. Trinidad and Tobago matchup. It’s just that usually that team isn’t Canada.
Yet, that’s the situation Canada finds itself in ahead of this afternoon’s play-in game against the Soca Warriors. Turmoil has been the constant since - and even before - the 2022 World Cup.
John Herdman hit the ejection seat for a landing with Toronto FC,
Now, interim manager Mauro Biello has to figure it out to beat a Trinidad and Tobago team riding a 2-1 win over the United States last time out, a result that came without star attacker Levi Garcia, who is here for this contest.
“For me, it’s about a new beginning. I think we need to detach ourselves from the past,” Biello said Friday. “That was that journey. Now, it’s a new one. This is the direction I want to take the group.”
Canada feels like a victim of its own success. There were so many demands for attention, for respect, for being taken seriously that they began to take themselves too seriously. The lion-hearted underdog became the lumbering Goliath, susceptible and unsuspecting in the face of a clever challenger.
“I think these are the things I want to instill in the group and that humility we did have. We did have that humility but it kind of fell through over the last year and a bit,” Biello said. “Now, it’s about getting back to that having our leaders that have been there to now transmit that to the young guys and the young guys to just absorb and then take their opportunities going forward.”
Now, Canada’s job is clear: Block out the outside noise for 90 minutes, beat Trinidad and Tobago and earn a place in the Copa América.
There, humility shouldn’t be an issue. The winner of this game opens the tournament against Lionel Messi and Argentina before matches with Peru and Chile.
With a younger team that doesn’t include goalkeeper Milan Borjan, defender Steven Vitória or attacking midfielder Junior Hoilett, Biello is turning to midfielder Stephen Eustáquio as his captain.
Asked if the move was long-term, though, Biello said it was only for this game. He understands that the reality is he may not have the decision-making power in his hands heading into a summer friendly against the Netherlands that they hope will be preparation for the Copa América. He may not even be involved in the program.
Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer’s new CEO and General Secretary, has so far shown a savvy strategy to rebuild trust and make important decisions.
The former Athletic Director, who arrived this month from Golf Canada, has put himself front and center, releasing candid statements about Biello’s future and emphasizing that he understands the challenges posed by things like the Canadian Soccer Business deal and the very real, very serious pain caused by abuse and mismanagement under previous administrations. He also has made less serious adjustments, already overseeing a restructuring of how the national teams interact with fans on social media.
The frustration of fighting against real injustice and the sting of losing are different pains, but Canada’s players know what both feel like.
The November 2023 loss to Jamaica in the CNL quarterfinal was a sharp contrast to the joy they’d experienced just a year and a half before, beating the Reggae Boyz to qualify for a first men’s World Cup in more than two decades.
“To be honest, we have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Eustaquio said when asked about how it would feel to have the same sensation as after the Jamaica loss. “There’s no room for disappointment. There’s just room for improvement, and we’re going to qualify tomorrow.”
If they do, it will be a signal that they’re put aside the distractions a difficult two-year stretch caused and bought in to the message Biello is sending. If not, it likely kicks off more months of uncertainty.
Costa Rica v. Honduras (7:15p ET)
The press room was packed to hear from Costa Rica manager Gustavo Alfaro. It’s an example of just how seriously both Central American countries are taking this contest and how much it would mean for each to get the spot in Copa América Group D alongside Brazil, Paraguay and Colombia.
The Costa Rican press were all ready to hear from Alfaro for another reason: They hadn’t heard from him in ages.
The Friday afternoon news conference was the first time Alfaro had spoken to the media since announcing the roster. While other managers may give a news conference to announce the list of players or speak after training leading up to a game, Alfaro made clear Friday he’s happy to talk to the press when required to but otherwise will keep his distance.
The first three questions were either directly about this gap in time without communication or referenced it. More than 10 minutes into the news conference, a journalist told Alfaro his perception was that Honduras opening its training sessions as Costa Rica kept its own preparations under wraps means Honduras is a stronger national team with less to hide.
Talking about the actual match, Alfaro stressed that he was hired to get Costa Rica qualified for the 2026 World Cup, not to make the Copa América.
“Why’d they bring me here? To take over a national team that needed a process of generational change and to make a World Cup. I’m in that process and working toward that,” Alfaro said. “Does Saturday’s game guarantee I qualify for a World Cup? No. Losing tomorrow guarantees that we’re not going to a World Cup? Also no. This is part of a process. Jorge Luis Borges said we triumph or fail less often than we believe.1”
Honduras manager Reinaldo Rueda put a similar spin on things.
“Predicting the future is difficult, even more so in soccer. Soccer is unpredictable - we have to know how to take a result tomorrow positively and negatively,” he said.
Rueda has a pretty good reason to downplay expectations as well: He’s missing nearly an entire team. The serious injury to Alberth Elis that put the winger in a coma from which he is still recovering, a muscular injury for Luis Palma that kept the player at Celtic and yellow-card suspension for forward Anthony Lozano mean his three best attackers aren’t available.
The absences don’t stop there. First-choice goalkeeper Buba Lopez? Out with a stress fracture. Second-choice Edrick Menjivar? Suspended. Center back Denil Maldonado? He’s suspended too.
“I think it’s a very important match, a match that has all the motivating factors: The character, the commitment, the mystique the Honduras national team has been known for,” Rueda said. “It’s what we wanted to find against Mexico, to give them a good fight and believe in ourselves again, to know we have a group of guys who respect each other, the flag.”
But without those key players, it will be a mix of fight and hope that fuels Honduras against a Costa Rica team that from Keylor Navas at the back to Manfred Ugalde in attack has most of its top stars.
Expectations are high in Costa Rica to secure the Copa América slot. If the Ticos fall short, there will be plenty to talk about - whether or not Alfaro chooses to participate in the discussion.
Back tomorrow with thoughts on these two games and a look ahead to the U.S.-Mexico final! Tell a friend if you love this newsletter
This is a quote Alfaro has cited before. A quick Google didn’t allow me to find if Borges wrote this in a work, said it in an interview, etc. Let me know if you know the context!
Following for the Borges followup