Jon Levy
I’ve been following the Canadian Men’s National Team more closely over the course of last year, and not just because my wife is from Halifax. But that connection does mean I’ve got a responsibility to try and get my in-laws on-board before there’s a real bandwagon, right? If you’re interested in learning more about this Canadian team, or you just want to read a weird, unsolicited email I sent to my wife’s family, here it is.
Correspondence sent on Monday 6/24
[REDACTED] Fam,
The Canadian Men’s National Team is suddenly worth watching, and I figured it was my duty as a writer of soccer words to let you know about it.
What’s The Deal?
While the Canadian women have been playing good soccer as usual at the World Cup, the men’s national team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, our regional championship for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. But I wouldn’t be emailing you guys if they were backing their way into the quarterfinal. They absolutely blasted two of the three opponents in their group in a way that the Canadian men pretty much never do, regardless of quality of opposition. They beat Martinique 4-0 to open the tournament, and just last night they beat Cuba 7-0, with two different strikers each scoring a hat trick, something that’s never happened in the Gold Cup. In between those matches they played Mexico close in a match they eventually lost 3-1 (but Canada was within a goal late in the game, and they were attacking).
Why Is This Happening?
First and foremost, this is the John Herdman revolution. The young English guy that used to coach the Canadian Women’s National Team made the rare switch to the men’s team last year, and aside from the match with Mexico last week he’s done nothing but win matches. I already liked the guy from having watched the Canadian women compete in World Cups and Olympics, and now he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite coaches regardless of sport. A key factor here is “watchability;” Herdman’s teams play smart and exciting soccer, and those two don’t always go together. It’s a hell of a lot easier for me to write this email when I can talk about blowout victories and taking the game to Mexico in the second half. The other big factor in all of this is a young core of attacking talent that seems to have bought into the system and revitalized the veterans as well.
Liga MX forward Lucas Cavallini is one of an abundance of riches the Canadians have up front.
Names To Know:
John Herdman – The founder of the feast.
Alphonso Davies – Eighteen year old kid who looked set to rip up MLS for Vancouver for years to come; then German super-club Bayern Munich dropped millions for him. The Canadian left wing should belong to him for the next decade plus. Immensely talented with the ball at his feet; fast as hell.
Jonathan David – One of Herdman’s “perfect for his system” strikers, and one of the two guys to notch a hat trick against Cuba. David plays his club soccer in Belgium and is putting some excellent attacking area skill and decision-making on tape through three games in this tournament.
Lucas Cavallini – The other “perfect for Herdman’s system” striker, and the other guy to score three against Cuba. “The good looking guy” (according to me), Cavallini is 26 but he’s just now becoming a prominent member of the national team. He’s loving life under Herdman, and is currently ahead of a younger, more talented guy on the depth chart. Speaking of which…
Cyle Larin – Larin has the potential to be a traditional #9 target striker the likes of which Canada’s never seen (in hockey terms, think front-of-goal power forward). That said, his career has stalled a bit since he left MLS for Europe, and Herdman seems to prefer Cavallini for Larin’s best role. It’ll be interesting to see if Herdman plays Cyle out of position again like he did against Mexico, or if he brings him off the bench for David or Cavallini to try to take advantage of a tired defense. Larin is very physical, so probably not the guy you wanna see coming on fresh if you’ve just been defending your butt off for an hour.
Mark-Anthony Kaye – Two-way midfielder who starts for the best team in MLS, LAFC. Herdman’s been playing him in defense at left back. The one match he didn’t, he started Alphonso Davies at left back. Playing more ball-dominant mids in defense, just another wrinkle that makes this team fun to watch (and possibly more vulnerable down that flank).
Scott Arfield – One of the team captains, Arfield plays as an attacking midfielder, and he just had a career year for Rangers in Glasgow. He’s from Scotland and played for Scotland youth teams as a kid, but qualifies for Canadian citizenship through his dad who’s from Toronto. I’m not sure if there are any Nova Scotians on the team, but hey, here’s a Scotian minus the Nova.
What’s Next? Correspondence from 6/25:
Canada will play Haiti Saturday night.
This is a surprise- and a wonderful soccer story for Haiti.
I fully expected it to be Costa Rica, who makes the World Cup regularly. In any recent clash between these two you’d have been talking “dead man walking” territory for Canada, but I thought this team had the goods to give an aging Costa Rican squad a run for their money. A quick Google reveals TSN and CTV have Gold Cup TV rights in Canada.
Now, they play Haiti, and in truth, should be favored to advance and reach the Gold Cup semifinals, a grand accomplishment for Canada that puts them ahead of schedule. Even if they get knocked out, this team’s already made a statement, and they should be both regionally competitive and fun to watch for the foreseeable future.
Haiti’s hot right now, but if I’m Canada, give me a fellow confident upstart any day over even a Diet Coke version of one of our region’s blue bloods.
Jon Levy Co-Founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter @TYAC_Jon.