With Canada’s home World Cup on the line, Jesse Marsch used his captain, Alphonso Davies, as a “decoy”. A shrewd Switzerland side, alas, never took the bait and so the switch is now Marsch’s lot as his team are forced to become road warriors.
A pulsating second half in the sauna of BC Place followed a dogfight of a first. At the end of it all, despite a gatecrashing intervention by the Canada supersub Promise David, Switzerland had won Group B and with it the rights to call Vancouver home through the first week of the knockout stages.
Yet there would be a peculiar footnote when, after a 2-1 defeat that consigned his side to a last-32 trip to Los Angeles on a four-day turnaround, Marsch admitted Davies was never going to play a part in this finale. On Tuesday he had guaranteed the Bayern Munich star would make his first appearance of this World Cup. Chasing the draw which would have kept Canada here, Davies was unused. “Alphonso wasn’t ready yet so I was using him a little bit as a decoy,” said Marsch. “I wanted Switzerland to have to think about it.”
Murat Yakin’s impressive Nati, with Ruben Vargas and Johan Manzambi rewarding his faith when scoring both goals in a 12-minute burst at the start of the second half, hadn’t been fooled. “Right now we only react on what is happening on the pitch,” responded Yakin, who will return here on 2 July when ending a run of seven-straight defeats in World Cup knockout games will be the aim. “We delivered as a team and deserve to be where we are right now.”
Marsch said Davies will be ready for LA but can we trust that? Either way the shorter turnaround surely hurts an injury-hit Canada. Ismaël Koné’s absence was rammed home in Canadian minds by his prominent presence. Six days after having his leg shattered here the midfield dynamo was wheeled back in off the Canada team bus. On crutches he hobbled along the side of the pitch to a huge ovation.
Marsch weighed up Nathan Saliba and Mathieu Choinière as replacements but in the end had to deploy both, the vice-captain, Stephen Eustáquio, not fit enough to start. Not ideal in most circumstances. Against Granit Xhaka and a richly experienced Swiss midfield it had the potential to be a gamechanging blow. Yakin made four changes of his own, Manzambi and Vargas handed starts.
If Eustáquio’s absence was to have dampened home expectations, Vancouver never got the midday memo. The intricate curtains of this place were drawn, the closed roof giving the humidity and electricity nowhere to go. For a Wednesday matinee, the crackling atmosphere was impressive. But this is what Marsch and Canada were desperate to create: a football nation ravenous for more.
After a turgid start, Ricardo Rodriguez said enough was enough and, soon after, fizzed a ball through the left side of Canada’s defence. Breel Embolo controlled and bore down but Maxime Crépeau looked every inch an NHL goalie as he raced out and made himself big.
Neither Saliba nor Choinière got a foothold but, again, a hydration break swung momentum. Canada looked much sharper finishing the half, Cyle Larin’s pantomime toe-poke at Xhaka earning both cheap yellows but weirdly giving the hosts a lift. On 37 minutes, the screen hanging from the roof updated that Bosnia were 2-0 up on Qatar down in Seattle, the huge nine-goal swing needed to drop Canada into third just looming a little. But the tension lifted with a Qatar goal and Canada finishing the half with a flourish, Ali Ahmed’s scuffed low shot palmed away by Gregor Kobel. It was as close as they got.
In truth it wasn’t very close at all yet a first half of toil would pay off near instantly – for the visitors. The sense that Canada’s defence had yet to be truly tested in this tournament was brought into sharp light just 40 seconds after the restart. It all came from those key Yakin changes, Manzambi firing across a ball from the left which made it all the way to Vargas at the back post, Alistair Johnston dragged too far in. He took it so well it felt out of kilter with the contest.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Canada | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Qatar | 3 | -8 | 1 |
Marsch looked for a lift and called Eustáquio and two others to strip off for duty. With the trio lined up to come on, the Swiss took off. Manzambi was the beneficiary of the worst series of mistakes we had seen from Canada in some time, Derek Cornelius and Luc de Fougerolles unable to clear and Embolo teeing up Manzambi to bundle past Crépeau who had to do better. Canada’s changes were made but in the space of just 12 minutes it already felt time to change itineraries. Los Angeles was calling Les Rouges. When Nico Elvedi pulled off a heroic block to deny Jonathan David on 67 minutes, hope faded further.
The other David had made a promise last month, telling local media that he would score a World Cup goal in Vancouver. One minute after coming on he fulfilled that, stretching at the back post to volley Saliba’s wonderful touch and cross. The prime minister, Mark Carney, roared his approval.
Fifteen minutes to go and everything back on. Hope rose and fell and Canada now head south. “We wanted to be here in Vancouver, but we still have a massive opportunity ahead of us, to still electrify the nation,” said Marsch. “Even though it’ll be from Los Angeles.”
