MATCH PREVIEW: CanMNT look to wrap up first place in Group B vs. El Salvador
The Canadian men's national team will wrap up their Gold Cup group stage on Tuesday night, as they take on El Salvador with a chance to wrap up first place.
This Group B finale kicks off at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas — simultaneously with the Honduras vs. Curaçao matchup in San Jose, California.
It's an important game for Canada, who need to respond with a strong performance after a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Curaçao on Saturday. Les Rouges are still in good place to advance to the quarter-finals regardless of what happens on Tuesday, but they'll be keen to win convincingly against a Salvadoran team sitting 81st in the FIFA World Rankings.
Through two matches, Canada sit atop Group B with four points, ahead of Honduras with three, Curaçao with two, and El Salvador with one. The only way for Canada to miss the quarter-finals is for them to lose on Tuesday by a heavy margin, thanks to their +6 goal differential. They'll guarantee a first-place finish with a win — or even a draw, if Honduras don't beat Curaçao.
"We're looking at it now as, there's four elimination matches left," Canada manager Jesse Marsch said in a press conference Monday. "We can't have anything but the best mentality and understanding of how difficult this match will be, and the matter of inches or centimetres on the pitch that will make the difference."
Canada's attack struggled somewhat against Curaçao, with just six shots and 0.69 expected goals. The fact that Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi both went 90 minutes up front was a surprise, especially considering Promise David scored against Honduras and was an unused substitute. Perhaps he could be in line for a start, especially considering that David and Oluwaseyi have played heavy minutes over the past week.
Unfortunately, Marsch's options are becoming increasingly limited for his squad selection. Jonathan Osorio had already been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, and now Canada Soccer has announced Ali Ahmed has left camp and will be sidelined with an ankle injury. Derek Cornelius still hasn't been available yet this tournament, which is another big absence. That's not even mentioning the likes of Stephen Eustáquio (still away at the Club World Cup), or the long-term injuries to Sam Adekugbe and Alphonso Davies.
Marsch did tell media on Monday, however, that Cornelius and Alistair Johnston are ready to play, so both will likely feature, perhaps even in the starting XI.
In midfield, Nathan Saliba seems in line for another start, especially after Marsch praised him heavily in the media on Monday. Alongside him, Mathieu Choinière may return to the lineup; he was excellent against Honduras, and this may be a game where Canada need his set-piece delivery if El Salvador make it difficult to attack in open play.
That's certainly a possibility for how this one might play out; Canada haven't played El Salvador since 2022 World Cup Qualifying, but both their meetings in that Octagonal stage were physical, disjointed affairs where it was hard to establish an attacking rhythm. The most recent game, in February 2022 down in San Salvador, saw Canada unable to score until the 66th minute — and that was a bizarre goal that went in off Atiba Hutchinson's backside.
Marsch will hope for a more comprehensive win this time around, and it may help that El Salvador need three points to stand any chance of advancing to the quarter-finals, which might mean a more high-tempo, open game with both sides looking to score early.
El Salvador are still alive in their campaign, but they neet a big performance against Canada. Unfortunately for them, they're still yet to score a goal at this tournament, having drawn 0-0 with Curaçao and lost 2-0 to Honduras.
The vast majority of the Salvadoran team plays in the country's domestic league, with Águila the best-represented club with five players. Four players in the squad play for clubs outside of El Salvador: attackers Nathan Ordaz and Harold Osorio play for Los Angeles FC and the Chicago Fire, respectively, while striker Brayan Gil plays for Russian side Baltika Kaliningrad and Enrico Dueñas is in the Dutch second division with TOP Oss.
They've played pretty consistently in a 4-3-3 shape under head coach Hernán Gomez, who has been in charge since March. He has previously held other big coaching gigs, helming Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and Panama, so he's immensely experienced at the international level.
"The mentality of the El Salvador national team has always been to fight for everything and maximize everything of what their player pool is," Marsch said on Monday.
"It's a team that -- I think they have a lot of good players, but they don't have the high level players at big clubs in Europe. Nonetheless I think their overall autonomy, and their overall understanding of their identity and their commitment to that as a group really defines what it means to be Salvadoran. I've been to El Salvador several times, I think the people there are very friendly, are hard-working people that are very proud of their nation, and that's exactly how their team plays."
It'll be a test for Canada in the Texas heat, but this is a game where the expectation should be nothing short of a convincing win.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Canada: St. Clair; Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea; Choinière, Saliba; Buchanan, Shaffelburg; P. David, J. David
El Salvador: González; Tamacas, Sibrián, Cruz, Flores; Landaverde, Cartagena, Hernández; Henriquez, Gil, H. Osorio
ALL-TIME SERIES
Canada wins: 10 || El Salvador wins: 5 || Draws: 4
Last meeting:
February 2, 2022 — El Salvador 0-2 Canada (FIFA World Cup Qualifying)
KEY QUOTES
"I expect us to be ready for tomorrow. However, El Salvador — this is a team that I really love to watch. The passion they have, they fight for every inch on the pitch. They make their country proud, with the mentality they play with and the commitment they have with the group. We have our own reflection of that. When we're watching them, either live in the stadium against Honduras or when we're scouting them the last three months, there's been nothing but total appreciation and understanding that this will be a difficult game for us. We'll have to be at our best to find a way to get a win." — Canada head coach Jesse Marsch
"You're going to have a few bad games here and there, that's just how life is. Everyone in the locker room knew we were disappointed in ourselves after [Curaçao]. It's just about learning from what we can do better, and using that motivation we felt after that game and putting it into tomorrow against El Salvador." — Canada attacker Jacob Shaffelburg
