ANALYSIS – The two joint all-time CANMNT’s goal-scorers, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin both scored one goal each in what was a scrappy 2-1 win against Panama. For the most part, Panama’s defence played spectacularly, however, two moments of excellent passing led to two Canadian men’s national team goals.
Two Canadian Strikers Scored Their 30th Goal at BMO Field
Cyle Larin and Jonathan David Both Scored Their 30th Goal Against Panama
The two all-time leading goal-scorers for the CANMNT, Cyle Larin and Jonathan David, both scored goals for the national team.
- Ali Ahmed delivered a fantastic pass to Larin for Larin’s 30th goal.
- Liam Millar provided a fantastic pass into the box to Jonathan David, who with a first touch, puts it into the back of the net.
Jesse Marsch talked about both Cyle Larin and Jonathan David scoring their 30th goal on Tuesday against Panama.
“Cyle’s the leading scorer of Canadian history, and then Jonathan, and then Kyle, and then Jonathan,” head coach Marsch said. “Those guys love each other, man, they have a cool relationship. Really cool.”
To add to what Marsch is saying, there is probably some truth to it. This is because Larin and David have started together called the Strikers Corners, which specializes in talking about Canadian soccer.
It is also important to note that both Millar and Ahmed both had big contributions in today’s game as Ahmed is starting to show some stellar performances this year with a Canadian shirt.
Moïse Bombito Was Excellent Defensively
Moïse Bombito’s defence was one to marvel at as he made some big plays for Canada down the stretch. Some examples of this includes:
- In the 27th minute, the way Bombito closed the space with his speed to get back to defending was something to marvel at.
- Bombito made great defensive plays such as the 20th minute and made a fantastic play in the 85th minute of play.
There is a lot to like about Bombito’s performance on Tuesday. Some credit defensively also must be given to Alphonso Davies and Derek Cornelius. Davies defended the net well when CANMNT goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau, was out of his position and Derek Cornelius made some key defensive plays and played a role in the goal scored by Jonathan David.
The Panama Goalkeeper Was Excellent
The Panama goalkeeper, Orlando Mosquera, was fantastic against the CANMNT. In particular, the two stops he made in the latter half of the game were stellar and was the big reason why Panama stayed in the game so late. In particular, the one where he went diving to save a ball that was going into the back of the net, shows that he is a quality goalkeeper.
He was also forced to face ten shots on goal, and saved eight of them, the two goals he gave up, he was in a vulnerable position against Canadian strikers that play in the top leagues in Europe and had really no chance of saving them.
Other Factors: Panama’s Defence Was Solid
Panama’s strategy in the game, was to defend Canada’s players and wait for the counterattack. It almost worked to perfection in the early part of the game, but their goal was called off for offside. Their defence came up big in tough situations, some examples of this include:
- In the 16th minute of the game, Carlos Harvey and Aníbal Godoy player played well to defend Canada’s attack.
- Panama did a great job of closing space collectively on the Canadian defence as they made sure Canada had to deal with numbers when the Canadians went forward.
The other factor that should be mentioned is Canada’s passing. It was not crisp, and they were a lot of unforced turnovers, with one of them resulting in the back of the net for Panama. A few examples include Stephen Eustaquio’s pass and even earlier in the game with Jacob Shaffelburg (he played better as the game went on). A factor that might have played a role would be the turf/grass at BMO Field.
Marsch also talked about honouring the caps of players before the game such as Richie Laryea, when he played his 50th game for the national team in the 2024 Copa América competition:
“Thought it was really cool how we honored the guys before the match. And we’re continuing to try to build like experience, like rewards for the separate players.”
This is what Marsch said about the pitch:
“And by the way, I want to say that we when we first arrived here in Toronto, we came to the stadium and we saw the pitch,” Marsch said. “And we knew that the grounds crew and everyone at TFC was doing a lot to try to help this pitch recover as quickly as it could.”
For those who do not know, BMO Field is also where both the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and MLS’s Toronto FC teams play and with both teams playing at the same stadium the grass takes a bit of a hit and sometimes makes the pitch (particularly the Argos, who plays a different sport) not great to play on such as on Tuesday. However, this is something Canada needs to get used to as they play next month in the Concacaf Nations League competition against Suriname.
READ MORE: Canada v Panama: Both Teams Battle for Concacaf Ranking Points
Games Coming Up for Both Teams
READ MORE: 2024 CANMNT October Roster: Kwasi Poku Makes the Roster
Both teams will now get ready for the games coming up in November. Canada finished second in the Concacaf rankings and Panama finished fourth in the Concacaf rankings. Panama will face their rivals Costa Rica again in an away to home series while Canada will also have an away to home series against Suriname in November.
Photo Credit: CANMNT X Account on October 15, 2024.
