Canada the team to beat at Gold Cup

Winnipeg Free Press

16 hours ago

Opinion
Get out your calendar, flip to July and circle Sunday the 6th. Early that evening, barring an upset, the Canadian men's soccer team will play its first Gold Cup Final since 2000, the last time they won the biennial competition.
In the quarter century since, Mexico and the United States have dominated the Gold Cup, emblematic of soccer supremacy in North and Central America and the Caribbean. They've lifted the trophy six times each and gone head-to-head in five Finals. But their duopoly seems to be over, or at least on pause for the foreseeable future.
That's a good thing, generally speaking. For a tournament already held too often, its predictability has generated mostly performative enthusiasm.
Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Canada's Jonathan David (right) plays a ball through to Tajon Buchanan (left) during the team's match against Ukraine at the inaugural Canadian Shield. The tournament gave Canada head coach Jesse Marsch ample opportunity to explore his squad depth before the Gold Cup.
Thankfully, that's no longer the case.
The complete collapse of the United States has left Mexico, the reigning Gold Cup and Nations League champions, as the region's sole superpower. The space once occupied by the Americans is now a vacuum, and the Canadian men are the contenders most likely to fill it.
Group stage
No one knows that better than manager Jesse Marsch, who told TSN last week that anything less than winning the 2025 Gold Cup would be a disappointment. Still, his team will have to navigate the group stage to get to that July 6 Final.
Canada's campaign will begin Tuesday in Vancouver, where they'll host Honduras (9:30 p.m., all matches on TSN and OneSoccer). Given midfielder Stephen Eustáquio's participation in the Club World Cup with Porto, Marsch will have to draw on the squad depth that was showcased in recent friendlies against Ukraine and Ivory Coast. Nathan Saliba is an option to play from the start, as are Ismaël Koné and Mathieu Choinière.
The schedule will then see Canada face Curaçao (June 21, 6:00 p.m.) and El Salvador (June 24, 9:00 p.m.) in Houston.
Always an interesting proposition, Curaçao are managed by former Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands boss Dick Advocaat and include Juventus prospect Livano Comenencia, ex-Aston Villa right-back Leandro Bacuna and Cercle Brugge goalkeeper Eloy Room. They could well finish second in Group B.
Canada should top the standings comfortably, and there will be ample opportunity for strikers Jonathan David and Promise David (no relation) to fill the nets, while recovered winger Tajon Buchanan can use the three games to round into shape ahead of the knockouts.
In contention
First place in Group B would send the Canadian men to Minneapolis (something that may interest Winnipeggers) for a quarterfinal against the runners-up from Group C, most likely Panama or Jamaica. Panama beat the United States in their Nations League semifinal back in March and are also challenging to replace the Americans in the region's traditional pecking order. The more probable scenario has Canada facing Jamaica. The Reggae Boyz are unbeaten this calendar year, although they were humbled in a 1-1 draw with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines earlier this spring.
Pass that test and it's on to Santa Clara, where Canada could take on any of Costa Rica, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Quite ridiculously, the Saudis were invited to the Gold Cup by CONCACAF, presumably in return for new sponsorship deals with the kingdom's national oil company, airline and Public Investment Fund (PIF). The nonsense of their inclusion is only exacerbated by the fact that a good part of the Saudi squad has had to withdraw — the consequence of Al-Hilal's participation in the Club World Cup. In other words, it could well be Canada v. Costa Rica at Levi's Stadium.
Which brings us to Sunday, July 6, in Houston and a prospective Gold Cup Final against Mexico. Canada last faced El Tri at the semifinal stage of the Nations League, losing 2-0 despite outplaying their opponents for large stretches of the game. The three-man Mexican defensce of Edson Álvarez, Israel Reyes and Johan Vásquez stifled the Canadian attack, and the in-form Raúl Jiménez toyed with a back-line that at times looked naive. Marsch's players will need to have learned from that loss, although a fit and flying Buchanan will add an element they haven't had in nearly a year.
Who to watch
Former Real Madrid, Lyon and Sevilla forward Mariano Díaz will lead the line for Dominican Republic. Los Quisqueyanos aren't expected to rip up trees at the Gold Cup, but a few goals from the 31-year-old could tilt the goal-difference tie-breaker in Group A.
Late-blooming forward Patrick Agyemang scored the lone goal for the United States in the Nations League third-place game against Canada. He's scored six goals for Charlotte FC of MLS this season and could well lead the line for the Americans at the Gold Cup.
Jiménez, Álvarez and AC Milan's Santi Gimenez might be Mexico's best-known Europe-based players, but creative winger Alexis Vega was integral to Liga MX club Toluca's title-winning season and provides El Tri with a weapon their opponents might not be expecting.
Panama are very good at wearing teams down, and key to that approach is Adalberto Carrasquilla. The Pumas midfielder can break up attacks, create them and do almost everything else. He was named Best Player at the last Gold Cup.
Talking points
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— Could the United States be back on the managerial market next month? Current boss Mauricio Pochettino has overseen four successive defeats — most recently Tuesday's 4-0 drubbing by Switzerland — and failure to emerge from Group D would pile on the pressure ahead of a World Cup the U.S. will largely host.
— Mexico and Dominican Republic will open the 2025 Gold Cup at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles County (Saturday, 9:15 p.m.). Given that the city proper has become ground zero in the United States' experiment with fascism, this Latin America-Caribbean contest suddenly has big political overtones. Could ICE even make a pre-match swoop?
— Credit where it's due. Canada Soccer gets a lot of criticism — 99 per cent of it self-inflicted — but ahead of the Gold Cup they organized the Canadian Shield friendly tournament involving Ukraine, Ivory Coast and New Zealand. It was a superb use of the international break and gave Marsch ample opportunity to explore his squad depth. If Canada do, in fact, progress to the July 6 Final, well-structured preparation will have a lot to do with it.
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