Canada managed to bring an end of five straight matches without a victory with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in a friendly game.
The national team had not won a game of football since the 1-0 success over Honduras in a World Cup qualifying game back in November 2015. Since then, and they have suffered two defeats in World Cup qualifying games and one draw – against El Salvador – before recently only managing a draw in a friendly against Azerbaijan. Even against Uzbekistan, Canada may have not secured the victory had it not been for the late own goal.
Captain David Edgar, though, does not since he says that the dressing room is especially buzzing after this victory. It may just be the kind of impetus that the national team needs before the qualifying games against Honduras and El Salvador in September. If Canada to qualify for the next round of the World Cup qualification, they need to win both these games. At the moment, they are level on points with Honduras while having a two-point advantage over El Salvador. Mexico have managed to win all their group matches to maintain a 100% record in the group. Manager Benito Floro admitted that the game against Uzbekistan was much better than the friendly against Azerbaijan.
“The other game [against Azerbaijan] was awful. It’s true. Today, I am happy because, not only because the other team is good, but I think the players have been capable of doing a very good press and increasing the level of combined attack,” said Canada manager Benito Floro. “You can feel the buzz, especially after the game today,” said Canadian national team captain David Edgar. The next game away at Honduras may be in front of 40,000 fanatical supporters and could be extremely tough for the Canadian national team.