{"id":277474,"date":"2025-11-12T01:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/277474\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T01:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:22:08","slug":"friendly-against-ecuador-will-provide-a-unique-taste-of-what-soccer-in-canada-can-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/277474\/","title":{"rendered":"Friendly against Ecuador will provide a unique taste of what soccer in Canada can be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s Tajon Buchanan during a friendly against Colombia in New Jersey last month.Seth Wenig\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

In terms of encapsulating what it means to be a Canadian soccer player, men\u2019s national team head coach Jesse Marsch could barely have asked for a better sales pitch than Sunday\u2019s Canadian Premier League final. <\/p>\n

In a swirling snow globe of a stadium<\/a>, Atletico Ottawa rode a stunning bicycle kick \u2013 forevermore to be known as an \u2018Icicle kick\u2019 \u2013 to prevail in an unforgettable whiteout that captured global attention. While Marsch was there \u2013 one of 13,000 hardy souls in attendance \u2013 the drama played out across social media, with the coach saying he got 20 to 30 texts from European-based acquaintances asking about the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this was an incredible showcase of the league, an incredible showcase of the Canadian mentality, that we\u2019re not fazed by this kind of weather,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cAnd, yeah, I think it was a big moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

With three newcomers in his Canada squad for friendly matches against Ecuador on Thursday in Toronto, and against Venezuela next Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it\u2019s to be assumed that Marsch made sure that the trio watched the highlights when they arrived for training camp this week. <\/p>\n

After all, with exactly seven months until Canada opens its World Cup at BMO Field in Toronto, getting everyone up to speed with what it means to represent this country on the biggest stage is paramount.<\/p>\n

Hamstring injury leaves Canada fullback Alistair Johnston facing long injury layoffg<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, the lingering pitchside snow that was present on Tuesday will likely not be an issue come June. But in lieu of a red carpet, that early taste of Canadian winter should give Middlesbrough centre-back Alfie Jones, Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Owen Goodman, and Marcelo Flores (a Tigres UANL winger who was called up solely as a training player) a lasting memory of their first Canadian national-team camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the job, I think, of the coach and the coaching staff,\u201d Marsch said. \u201cTo try to make sure that even though we don\u2019t have a ton of [international] windows left, that if we want to give any of these guys a chance to actually make the World Cup squad, that we get them up to speed as quickly as possible with the idea of the way we like to play football and what the mentality of the group is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Marsch all but ruled out the possibility of the new goalkeeper starting games next summer \u2013 \u201cI think the World Cup starter will be Max or Dayne,\u201d he said, referring to incumbents Max Crepeau and Dayne St. Clair \u2013 he refused to rule out further new additions in the coming windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of others out there that could potentially feature in anytime here,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think we\u2019re putting together a really good player pool, like really deep, strong player pool, that has potential to be really strong for the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Jesse Marsch during the first half of June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final against Guatemala in Minneapolis.Abbie Parr\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

That theme of experimentation will likely not carry over to the two games in the coming week. While Jones may get a look in one of the games, Marsch added that the turnaround time between Thursday to Tuesday could allow him to start both games with much the same lineup as he bids to increase team chemistry.<\/p>\n

One player who will be hoping to make an impact, as ever, is Tajon Buchanan. The 26-year-old has found a new lease of life in his first season at Villarreal \u2013 alongside fellow Canadian forward Tani Oluwaseyi \u2013 in Spain, scoring four goals in 12 La Liga appearances so far this season, including a hat trick against Girona in September. <\/p>\n

The Brampton, Ont.-born winger started both games in the last window, but he and the rest of the forwards were unable to unlock the defences of either Australia or Colombia, with Canada getting shut out both times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re getting to the right spots, creating chances,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we just have to be more clinical in finishing those chances off. And yeah, we have many guys on this team that can score goals. So that\u2019s not anything anyone\u2019s worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his own form, following on from an injury-hit spell with Inter Milan that saw him play just 314 minutes in 13 months in Italy, which included missing half of Canada\u2019s run to the Copa America semi-finals last year, Buchanan says he\u2019s feeling healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeel good since the beginning of the season. Feel like myself again,\u201d he said. \u201cJust got to keep pushing, keep improving every day, and hopefully stay fit. \u2026 I feel back to my best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada’s Tajon Buchanan during a friendly against Colombia in New Jersey last month.Seth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-277474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}