By Philip O’Connor
VANCOUVER, June 24 (Reuters) – Canada needed only a draw against Switzerland to remain in Vancouver for the World Cup knockout stage but instead they lost 2-1 and got a footballing lesson as they were outclassed by the Swiss who topped Group B and sent the co-hosts south.
A draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina and a resounding 6-0 win over Qatar had the thousands of fans that flocked to BC Place believing Jesse Marsch’s Canada side were on the verge of something big, but Switzerland’s grit and guile in the second half illustrated the gulf that exists between the two.
The Swiss will now play their next game in Vancouver, while Canada travel to Los Angeles, away from a fanatical home crowd that has taken them to their hearts during the tournament.
“We’d love to have been staying in Vancouver, of course, but look – we’re just going to need as many of those fans to travel down to LA with us and hopefully bring that same atmosphere for us,” Canada defender Alistair Johnston said, adding that he was still proud of the group.
However, faced with a side ranked 17th in the world compared to their 30th place, Marsch’s men lacked the punch and precision to threaten the Swiss, conceding possession far too readily and taking tame shots the few times they got a sight of goal.
The World Cup co-hosts had looked competent in their opening two games, but Qatar are ranked 56th in the world, eight places ahead of Bosnia, and the Swiss posed an entirely different set of problems on a clammy afternoon at BC Place.
Whereas the Qataris struggled to hold on to the ball for any length of time, the Swiss were comfortable, switching play from side to side and patiently probing for the kind of openings that led to their two goals.
Captained by Granit Xhaka, they also offered a physical bite that left the Canadians looking over their shoulders, aware that their red-clad opponents would be snapping into tackles if they dallied in possession.
TAME EFFORTS
Scorer of two goals already in the tournament, Canada striker Cyle Larin seemed to slow down with the ball at his feet, having a few shots that did little to trouble Gregor Kobel, who was only beaten by the first touch of substitute Promise David in an otherwise faultless goalkeeping display.
Still desperately chasing the draw that would have given them first place, Marsch decided not to risk throwing on Alphonso Davies, preferring not to risk his key player as he returns from injury and instead preserving him for the challenges to come.
That decision left Canada hurling speculative long throws into the box in stoppage time, vainly hoping one of them might be forced home and the Swiss dealt with them with relative ease.
“I think that we caused them a lot of problems – at the end of the day, though, they got the result, they’re going to top the group, and that’s something we’re going to have to live with,” Johnston said.
“But we’re in the knockouts, and we’ve got to take that.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, Editing by Ken Ferris)
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