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By Michael Lewis
CONCACAF.com
KANSAS CITY, Kansas — London, Ontario, isn't London, England - especially this summer.
Canada's Olympic hopefuls fell one victory short of the Summer Games, generally accepting with their performance at CONCACAF Olympic qualifying and not second-guessing their seminal 3-1 exit to Mexico.
"What they take from this tournament is high," coach Tony Fonseca said. "I think we're going to be very, very proud of them.
"This could be an historic moment for them. What they can learn and take from those four games is tremendous."
The 10-day excursion included a 2-0 victory over the United States, Canada's first win against its southern neighbor in a U-23 encounter in 20 years. It ended Saturday against Mexico, which dispatched Canada in the same thorough manner that it did with Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras and Panama.
"At the end of the day, we gave it our all," forward Marcus Haber said. "It just wasn't meant to be. We got beat by a very good Mexico squad. We gave it a good fight. We should be able to hold our heads high."
Considered by many as outsiders to claim one of CONCACAF's two berths in the Olympics, Fonseca acknowledged the accomplishment of just reaching the knockout playoff against Mexico.
"We knew coming in that they would have a mountain to climb," he said. "I am very proud of the boys. They fought with everything. They left everything on the field. Unfortunately, we faced a team that was better than them. Some lessons learned today."
One of those lessons was not to celebrate too much after scoring a goal, a difficult lesson that Canada learned in the 33rd minute.
After falling behind in the 20th minute, Canada equalized with Haber's goal in the 32nd minute. But it took less than a minute for Mexico to reclaim the lead for good on Alan Pulido's tally.
"You're back in the game and all of sudden you go down again, it makes an impact on the team," Fonseca said. "I thought they kept fighting and battling for things. Unfortunately at that particular moment, it was painful to watch."
Fonseca said his players were "upset" over the loss.
"When you lose the dream [of the Olympics], it is painful," he said. "You pay a high price."
The price this time was a ticket to London, England.
