The Canadian men’s national team and supporters were left heartbroken earlier this week as Jamaica came back from a goal down to win the match 3-2.
Following a 2-1 win in Kingston, Jamaica, expectations were the Canadians would defend their advantage at BMO Field in Toronto and move on to the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals. And why not, being undefeated in 22 straight games since September 2010.
The highly anticipated match started strong with a goal from Alphonso Davies in the first half to make it 1-0 and an Ismaël Koné header in the second half tied the game 2-2, however these efforts were not enough.
Two goals from Shamar Nicholson and a converted penalty by Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the second half saw Jamaica go through on away goals with a score of 4-4 on aggregate and secure guaranteed qualification for the Copa America.
“We were too casual,” said Mauro Biello, the interim head coach for the Canada men’s national team. “We lost easy balls and they took some momentum, were able to score, and then we weren’t able to get ourselves and get out of that.”
He said he felt the team had control of the game following their first half performance.
“I thought in different moments we looked really good, we created opportunities and they didn’t really have much in the first half,” Biello said.
“When you look at that part of the game and you say ‘okay we’re in control, we got the goal that put us ahead’ and then in the second half you can make mistakes and we made mistakes,” he said.
National team captain Milan Borjan said the team needs to hold themselves accountable for the loss.
“We’ve got to sit down all together, look each other in the eyes and see what went wrong because this is unacceptable,” he said. “This team, to have players like that, to do something like this, it’s not acceptable.”
Borjan said he apologizes to fans for the result and hopes the team can recover.
“I’m very, very angry,” Borjan said. “As a captain, I’m sorry to the nation that we didn’t go to the semis but we have another chance in March for the Copa America and we’ll try to do everything to bounce back and try to make our nation happy.”
Not all hope is lost for Canada’s Copa America qualification hopes, as they will face Trinidad and Tobago in one game play-off in Frisco, Texas, on March 23, 2024, for one of the last two qualification spots.
Many fans left the stadium feeling disappointed by the team’s performance in the second half and some were critical of Canada’s energy and decision making during the match.
“I felt like they thought the game was in the bag and they let it slip,” said Mateo Rodriguez, Canada men’s national team supporter.
“We had everything we needed to win this game and we just couldn’t do it,” said Rodriguez. “I hope the team figures it out and finds their form, or we won’t be ready for 2026.”