Update March 30: Mexico topped Canada 2-0 Tuesday at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. With 12 points through four games, Mexico is the first CONCACAF team to book a spot in the final round of World Cup qualifying. Honduras is second in the group with four points (-1 goal difference), Canada is in third also with four points (-3 goal difference), while El Salvador is in last place with two points. Canada will face Honduras on Sept. 2 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras before taking on El Salvador at home on Sept. 6, location TBD. Two nations from each qualifying group advance to the "Hex," a six-team CONCACAF playoff for three World Cup berths.
A record-setting crowd was treated to great spectacle – as well as a lesson in World Class soccer – when Vancouver’s BC Place played host to a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Canada and Mexico Friday.
The spectacle included the fans with the stadium packed with an estimated 15,000 Mexican supporters decked out in sombreros and fake moustaches and a massive contingent of Canadians wearing red. The official attendance number was announced at 54,798, making it the largest crowd ever to watch a national team event of any sport in Canada. Included in that number were thousands of youth players sporting the track suits of their local clubs, including the North Shore’s North Van FC, North Shore Girls Soccer Club and West Vancouver Soccer Club.
The lesson, meanwhile, came from the members of the Mexican national team who put on a clinic in soccer skills and scoring as they ran away from the Canadians in a 3-0 win. The pre-game buzz from the huge crowd continued into the opening minutes of the game as the Canadian team went on the attack, carrying the majority of the play through the first 10 minutes and creating a wide-open chance for speedy Junior Hoilett, who blazed into the box to corral a bouncing cross but blasted his volley well over the crossbar.
Forward Kyle Larin had another chance moments later on a partial breakaway but his wrong-footed toe poke sailed high and wide.
From that point on, however, it was Mexican wave after Mexican wave. The CONCACAF powerhouse opened the scoring in the 31st minutes as Miguel Layun was given plenty of space to romp down the Canada sideline before whipping in a left-footed cross that was deftly tucked home with a header by Javier Hernandez, known as Chicharito, a Mexican legend who currently plays his club football with Bayer Leverkusen after stints at Manchester United and Real Madrid.
The goal came moments after Canadian keeper Milan Borjan made a string of brilliant saves, including a diving parry that thumped off his glove with a sound that reverberated around the stadium.
Moments later the goal posts were making all the noise for Canada as Mexico first drilled the left, then the right in a span of seven seconds. There was no stopping Hirving Lozano, however, who turned a Canadian turnover in the midfield into a cracker of a goal, blasting a rocket past Borjan on a partial breakaway in the 39th minute.
With that shot some of the pre-game buzz seemed to float out of BC Place through the open roof as Canadian fans came to the conclusion there would be no upset on this day. Mexico made it official in the second half when Jesus Corona corralled a deflected pass in the box and ripped a shot that overpowered Borjan on the way to the top right corner.
Through the onslaught it was clear that the Mexicans, ranked 22nd in the world compared to 87 for Canada, possessed superior ball skills, technique and finishing touch. The final score could have been even more lopsided if not for Borjan’s heroics throughout the contest.
“There is a level of disappointment because this was a big opportunity to stake a claim in front of such a big crowd. … The crowd was fantastic and was the shining point of the night,” central defender Adam Straith said after the match. “Hopefully, they saw an honest effort. That was a very good Mexican team. They pressured us high and played off our mistakes. They exploited.”
Despite the Canadian loss it was an entertaining event, although the fun was marred – or enhanced, depending on whom you ask – by several idiot spectators who stopped play by running onto the field. The on-field security team seemed completely unprepared to deal with the pitch invaders as the first one roamed around the field before seemingly tuckering out and lazily making his way to the sidelines. The second one, wearing no pants, made it all the way to centre field and back into the stands and almost out onto the concourse before being corralled. As the final whistle neared several more came onto the pitch, one making into the dugout to take a selfie with the Mexican team while another was crushed in a flying tackle by a fed up Garret Kusch, a former Canadian national team player who is now the squad’s chiropractor.
Idiots aside, it was another strong showing for Vancouver as a host site for big-time sporting events, soccer in particular. The former record crowd of 51,936 for a Canadian men’s national soccer came at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton in 1994 when Brazil, a month away from winning the World Cup, came for a friendly that ended in a 1-1 tie.
That number was topped three times in Vancouver during last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, with Canada’s round of 16 match setting the new highest mark of 54,027.
The Canadians and Mexicans play again tonight at Mexico City's famed Azteca Stadium, a torture chamber for visiting teams that can hold more 100,000 fans. Following tonight's game qualifying will resume with two more games in September and Vancouver should be a frontrunner to host that home game as well.
Canada, in a group with Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, got some good news Friday night as Honduras and El Salvador battled to a 2-2 draw. That kept Canada in second place in their group with a 1-1-1 record. The top two teams from the group will advance to the final six-team CONCACAF playoff where three teams will earn automatic berths into the 2018 World Cup.
Canada has played in the men’s World Cup just once, in 1986, led by longtime North Vancouver resident Bobby Lenarduzzi.
– with files from the Victoria Times Colonist
