3
TORONTO — This time, Canada earned a tie with Argentina.
Last year, also on May 11 at BMO Field, Argentina scored in the 88th minute to defeat Canada 2-1 in an exhibition game that was used to prepare for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
That match gave Canada encouragement as the host country in the men's tournament, but the promise was never realized. Argentina went on to win its sixth under-20 championship, while Canada did not survive the group stage, going winless and goalless.
With the next U-20 World Cup in Egypt more than a year away, Canada and Argentina again played an exhibition match at BMO Field Sunday.
Related Articles
And again, the result was encouraging for Canada. Shaun Saiko's goal in the 59th minute came about a minute after a goal by Argentina's Jonaton Lopez and provided a 1-1 result before an announced crowd of 5,136.
"Coming back from that [goal] is huge," Saiko said.
"We were happy, it was our first game in two years at this age group, we had a week to prepare, so we weren't really with each other for that long," said defender Nana Attakora-Gyan, who played well as the team captain.
Attakora-Gyan was one of three Toronto FC players with the Canadian team. The others were Gabe Gala, who was a presence on the left side and put the ball across on Saiko's goal, and Joey Melo.
Attakora-Gyan said last year's late goal by Argentina came to mind.
"To be honest, I had thoughts about that during this game," he said.
But yesterday, Canada continued to play well after the tying goal and Gala forced a save from Diego Rodriguez in the 86th minute.
The last time most of these Canadians were together as a team was two years ago in Scotland. The next goal is to earn a World Cup berth through the CONCACAF tournament in Trinidad and Tobago in January. Before the preparations begin for that tournament, a coach will be appointed.
The Canadian coach for yesterday's match was Ray Clark, the Canadian Soccer Association's director of coaching. He took the assignment for the one game.
"My expectations were from one extreme to the other extreme," Clark said. "Playing against a team like Argentina, you know you're going to be up against it. Our goal was really to make it as tough to get through our midfield as possible, and if we won the ball, to try and break forward and get some players up in support.
"We did have some expectations. The boys exceeded my expectations."
He said that by getting a goal so quickly after Argentina had scored was "a testament to their character."
Three of yesterday's Canadian players — Gala, Attakora-Gyan and Marcus Haber — played last year with Canada's U-20 team, while Argentina had no players who were with last year's champions.
Clark felt that the players from last year's U-20 team helped with their experience.
"I think our back four [that included Attakora-Gyan and Haber] played very well today," he said. "And having Gabe, who gave them a bit of trouble down the left side in the second half, definitely helped us."
Argentina's coach, Sergio Batista, said "it was a really even game. … The artificial turf made it harder."
