Canada v Honduras

[hobbes]

This is the big one. It is going to be massive in the standings and it's the game we circled on the calendar since the draw was announced.

Why do hardcore Canadian fans feel passionate about Honduras? Let me count the ways:

In 1993 Honduras gets a phantom PK call in the 89th at home to earn a 2-2 draw.

In 2004 Benito Archundia calls a PK after Suazo slips in the muck in the penalty box on a terrible surface. Mark Watson had slid in with a challenge, but replays showed he slid right past Suazo. Archundia was some 30 yards behind the play. A minute later Oliver Occean takes a ball down with his thigh while a Honduran wildly kicks over the ball and falls over, Occean turns and scores and Archundia blows it dead for what was reported to be a high boot. 1-1.

In San Pedro Sula in the same year Atiba Hutchinson has a goal waved off in the 85th minute that would have put us 2-0 up. No one has any idea why. The theory is it was offside, but that seems like a preposterously bad call. No matter Turcios scored in the 92 for another draw.

In 2008 there are no controversies on the pitch (well I suppose Radzinski was our best player in the first 30 minutes when he was bodied into the signage and cut his hand open and had to leave), but Honduras were deserving 2-1 winners. But their fans threw all manner of objects and fluids at the Canadian supporters and on the pitch.

There were a few minor fights in 04 in Edmonton a few arrests. That game also featured the biggest hangover of my life. In 08 it was much, much worse and the police did a superb job of diffusing things at the final whistle.

Suffice it to say that we are not looking for, but are expecting trouble, tonight. Let's hope the people at BMO know what they're in for. There are a lot of people who remember Montreal well.

Not much real team news out of us. I have a feeling Hutchinson is going to start, but that's not based on much. Borjan starts obviously. I thought Jackson might start ahead of Ricketts and I feel the same way tonight a little, but we'll see.

Honduras gets Roger Espinoza back from suspension. He'll slot into the centre of midfield in place of Edder Delgado.

The Honduran media are saying it will be: Valladares; Sabillon, Bernardez, Figueroa, Juan Carlos Garcia; Boniek Garcia, Espinoza, Palacios, Izaguirre; Costly, Suazo.

Leveron was the scapegoat for the loss, but I thought that wasn't fair. He had a mask on, so maybe that hindered him some. I think they're better with Figueroa out wide. Espinoza will add some life to the midfield. Palacios was an injury concern, but is fit. Same with Suazo who has a hamstring injury.

It's Boniek Garcia that scares me. He played off of Costly for most of the first half against Panama, but once he was back on the right flank he gave them better balance. He will give Jazic some problems. I have no doubt about that.

I think our best bet is to use the aggressiveness of Palacios against him and try to catch him out of position and try to get the ball behind the fullbacks. Sabillon will get forward, but unfortunately I can't see JC Garcia marauding like Figueroa does when he and Izaguirre team down the left.

We're expecting a relatively poor crowd. They may not even open the upper, upper deck. So much for the Toronto advantage and the great support TFC have. Half of the Cuban trippers were from Western Canada and had to go through Toronto to get to Cuba. The Montreal guys won't come to games at BMO due to an off-field incident. There's going to be a lot of blue at BMO tonight I fear.

cheers,
hobbes

[hobbes]

They also knocked kickoff back 30 mins. It's a little cool today and after dark on the waterfront it might be downright chilly. Hoping so anyway. Nothing crazy, but low 60s can't hurt.

cheers,
hobbes

[Dr. Z]

According to ESPN Deportes' website, hobbes premonition was correct, Hutchinson did start for Canada, he came in for Ricketts as Canada is on paper at least playing a more conservative lineup, packed with midfielders, and the sole forward Occean.

Honduras' lineup is as hobbes listed above except for one change, Antony Lozano is at forward and not David Suazo.

With the first half nearly complete, the score remains 0-0.

[hobbes]

Damnit. That one was there for us. Finished 0-0. I thought we had the better of that.

cheers,
hobbes

[hobbes]

The biggest difference for Canada was that Hart made the perplexing decision to start Nik Ledgerwood at the right forward/wing spot usually occupied by Jackson or Ricketts. Against Panama, Figueroa and Izaguirre saw lots of the ball on the left and I'm thinking Hart wanted someone who would work and track back on that side. But it was still an odd move.

That being said Ledgerwood played fine (he still brings little to the attack) and Ricketts did nothing in his 20 minutes off the bench.

Most people were putting a positive spin on things after the match and feeling like we're in the thick of it after two matches rather than being in deep trouble like our recent past, but we dropped two points Tuesday.

This Honduran side is a mess. None of the forwards played well. That was as bad as I've seen Palacios play. Figueroa and Bernardez were both good in the middle of defence, but their marking on set pieces was awful.

And with all of that we couldn't score.

DeRo had a nice play on the counter where he cut back and beat Sabillon and took a shot on his right foot inside the area and missed the net. Edgar put a cross across the face of goal and Valladares dove to prevent DeRo from tapping it it. Hutchinson was great in the first half and ran at people and drew a number of fouls. He and Occean were both fouled right in front of goal a yard or two outside the box and neither free kick was close to hitting the net.

Then there were the headers. Edgar flashed one just wide and we had another open header that missed. In injury time McKenna had an open near-post header that he powered wide, inside of flicking it back across to the net. And then with the last kick of the ball Edgar had an open header on the six yard line and missed the net.

Honduras created a great first half chance when they caught us on the break and Boniek Garcia picked out Lozano's trailing run, but McKenna's challenge might have put him off, but Lozano missed the net from about the penalty spot.

Espinoza hit a good 30-yard shot that Borjan had covered, but otherwise Borjan wasn't even tested.

It's hard to be too upset because Canada carried the play. Despite not getting many/any calls we just stuck with it and were in control for most of the match. We had a pretty reasonable penalty claim when Sabillon and Hainault both went down in the area while Sabillon had both of his arms wrapped around Hainault's chest and stomach, but we never get a call our way in qualifying, so I'm not too troubled by it. The ref was card happy and threw them around irrationally, but there wasn't really any controversy which was a nice change in this tie.

I read an incredible stat that we've posted a clean sheet in 8 of our last 10 matches. I know a lot of those came against poor teams in the last round of World Cup qualifying, but we've now posted three in a row as well.

Much to my shock Ante Jazic was the best player on the pitch. He sent in some good balls and he was tremendous defensively. This back four is winning me over. To the point when I think we should play DeRo on the right and push DeJong to Simpson's spot on the left for our next games if DeJong is back. DeRo's playing well in that wide attacking role and I think DeJong is a bit of an upgrade from Ledgerwood.

There was a solid Honduran contingent, but it was a very pro-Canada crowd. It also appears that everyone was well behaved and the game without incident. Most of the Hondurans (and certainly the ones who got tickets through their FA) were in the north stand and isolated and we were all in the south stand. Which makes a huge difference. It's good to see some smart decisions being made. Stick us a section apart has been a recipe for disaster and it was nice leaving the stadium in peace Tuesday.

Now to see if we can take 2 or 3 points from Panama in a couple of months and make up for this missed opportunity.

cheers,
hobbes