The U.S. men’s soccer team takes Canada’s challenge very seriously on January 30, when the two teams take to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton for their World Cup qualifier, which will be played in Qatar, in 2022.
After eight games, the representatives of the maple leaf are enthroned at the top of the CONCACAF team standings, with 16 points, which is still undefeated. The Americans are just behind, with 15 points.
During the first duel, on American soil, the members of the Maple Leaf managed to draw a 1-1 draw. This result, all in all positive, occurred almost two years to the day, after one of the most surprising results in a match involving these same two formations.
On October 15, 2019, John Herdman’s men defeated their southern neighbors 2-0 at BMO Field in Toronto in the Nations League, ending a 34-year winless drought against the country of Uncle Sam. This defeat had also opened the eyes of the Americans.
“We weren’t suspicious of Canada,” admitted United States defender Sebastian Lletget, who is attending his country’s winter training camp and whose remarks were picked up by the Major League Soccer (MLS) website. . They come back from afar. It’s not the same team anymore. They are a good team and they have all our respect.
“It was a turning point for all the players present, individually and as a team, remembers Lletget. From that point on, the message was that it all starts with our level of intensity.”
“It was obvious that we were going to lose at some point,” added Aaron Long. It was one of those times when we went back to the locker room and we were like, ‘That’s the kind of thing that happens, it’s not always going to be easy. There will be difficult times, but everything is a question of how we will recover.”
Gregg Berhalter’s men recovered well, they who finally won the League of Nations, a little later, then the Gold Cup, in 2021.
For this new shock, the Canadians will however be deprived of the services of their best player, Alphonso Davies, who suffers from mild myocarditis which appeared after contracting COVID-19.
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