Canada Falls to Jamaica in Gold Cup Quarters

It was a tough loss at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona as Les Rouge falls to the Reggae Boys of Jamaica by a final of two goals to one. Canada couldn’t avoid the bad start and got caught napping.

In the 6^th minute, It was the Philadelphia Union’s starting goal keeper Andre Blake who drilled the goal kick all the way down the field and as the touch of the ball fell to Darren Mattocks, who crossed the ball and a wide open Shaun Francis side foots the shot top shelf for the early lead.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

In the second half, Mattocks once again finds a way to unlock the Canadian defense as he found Romario Williams who ply’s his trade with the USL’s Charleston Battery.

As soon as Mattocks slots that ball to Williams all he needed to do was bend it inside the far post and he made it two goals to nil inside the 50^th minute, but this is still Zambrano’s Canada as they have heart and fight. They pulled on back for a magical moment.

David Hoilett looked to have some trouble in this Gold Cup during the group stage, but somehow found a way to get a goal for Canada to make it look interesting.

Eleven minutes later Hoilett got a nice ball and found a way to crack thru the Jamaican defense, then as he got close to the Jamaican area he ripped a beautiful ball inside the back post upper 90 and Canada was back in business.

Hoilett tried to get Canada level a few times, but sadly he couldn’t get a second goal to force at least extra time into this one and Canada who had a fantastic start to this Gold Cup has fallen out in the Quarterfinals.

Cyle Larin who was brought in to be a replacement player for Canada had a glorious chance to level the score at one a piece just after Francis opened the scoring in this match.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

When a fantastic ball from Scott Arfield was bent towards the Jamaican goal, Larin leaped in the air and tried to snap head the ball inside the net. But sadly his header chance pushed the ball wide and away from the far post.

That was the chance Canada needed to force things before getting towards the second half and now Jamaica advances to the Semi-Finals to face Mexico for the right to play against either Costa Rica or the USA in the final.

Seeing Octavio Zambrano manage the MetroStars of MLS I can definitely say to all Canadians that your future is in solid hands. I do understand there is still some frustrations that Canada’s Men’s National Team could advance to the next round and maybe make a big push for the Championship Final.

But this is a solid start in this new era and while Alphonso Davies has become the new breakout sensation, it looks like the future for Canada is bright and now they will look forward to the next qualifying cycle of CONCACAF as 2022 will start once Russia is over.

Yes, there is some sadness to see Canada’s run end like this, but the coaching staff is the best that Canada has to hopefully get to the Hex and qualify for the next World Cup.