MIAMI, Florida – Concacaf is using this time to reflect back on some of the history-making matches in the region both at the club and international level.
In this edition, it is not necessary to travel too far back in time. The date was October 15, 2019 and the place was BMO Field in Toronto, Canada.
For the 18th time since 1985, Canada were squaring off against their rivals to the south, the United States, in Group A of League A of the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League.
The Canadians had gone 17 straight matches without a win over the U.S., including a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals.
But this Canada side had arrived into this fall match-up brimming with confidence after a prolific 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, in which they set a Canadian Men’s National Team record for Gold Cup goals with 12 scores in the group stage and another two in their narrow 3-2 quarterfinal defeat to Haiti.
With young stars like MF Alphonso Davies and FW Jonathan David in the mix, Canada fancied their chances against the 2019 Gold Cup finalists.
It was a cagey, scoreless first half between the two sides, with Canada enjoying the better scoring chances. That momentum carried into the second half and led to the opening goal in the 63’.
Canada MF Richie Laryea dispossessed U.S. MF Michael Bradley and started a break that was initially foiled by U.S. DF Tim Ream. However, the rebound went back to Canada and ultimately a Scott Arfield cross met the stabbing foot of Davies at the far post to make it 1-0 to Canada.
The goal sparked an emphatic celebration among the fans at BMO Field and they urged their team on for another goal. It would arrive in stoppage time in the 90+1’ when FW Lucas Cavallini polished off a one-two combination with MF Jonathan Ororio to complete the historic 2-0 scoreline.
For Canada, their seventh victory in 12 attempts against the U.S. on home soil snapped a 17-match winless streak against their North American rivals., while also improving Canada’s all-time record vs. the U.S. to 9W-11D-14L.
