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Terry Dunfield just after unleashing a strike for Canada’s first goal
BMO Field a "Sea of Yellow" Ecuador Jerseys
Canada received last minute heroics from substitute Tosaint Ricketts to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw with Ecuador at BMO Field Wednesday night.
Down 2-1, Canada was awarded a free kick in injury time. With a handful of Ecuador players protesting the call to the referee, Julian de Guzman took a free kick and passed ahead to Ricketts who was open ahead to his left. After a couple of touches, Ricketts moved around one defender and fired past Ecuador goalkeeper Marcelo Elizaga to tie the game.
“It’s always good scoring but the first one for Canada I can’t describe the feeling right now,” said Ricketts who came on for Simeon Jackson in the 85th minute. “It was kind of sudden.
They were arguing and so we played the ball quickly and I was surprised at first. I took a couple of touches and put it in.”
After the final whistle, Ecuador players continued to argue and surrounded the referee in further protest in what the team thought was a controversial call.
“To be honest all we tell the player is to look for opportunities when you have free kicks to take a free kick and take advantage of disorganization,” said Canadian Head Coach, Stephen Hart. “It is our right to take a quick free kick and we did.”
The international friendly between 76-ranked Canada and Ecuador, 64th in FIFA rankings, was an entertaining match from beginning to end. Both teams created chances forcing its keepers to make big saves and finished with highlight-reel goals.
Dunfield (right) gets a high-five from Kevin Dunfield (left) in celebration of his goal
Terry Dunfield also scored for Canada to open the scoring in the 23rd minute when he unleashed a strike from 30 yards out to give his team a 1-0 lead. The goal was also Dunfield’s first for Canada and he celebrated in fine style. In a wonderful moment, he ran over to the Canadian supporters in the South stands and jumped in the air with a pumped fist. He then jumped into the crowd with most of his teammates to continue the celebration.
“First one for Canada, it’s brilliant,” said a happy Dunfield. “I’ve been waiting and dreaming of that day for 29 years so it’s pretty special.”
“The fans were going crazy over there and I just wanted to go over there and celebrate with them. It’s a great feeling having ten other guys follow you in as well.”
Ecuador pulled even and took the lead within a three minute span in the second half leaving Canada stunned. First, an unmarked Christian Benitez connected with a header directly off a corner kick in the 62nd minute to tie the game at 1-1. Then in the 64th minute, Michael Arroyo scored a first-class goal on a brilliant long-range strike that blew past Canadian ‘keeper Milan Borjan to give Ecuador a 2-1 lead. Borjan was not at fault for either goal and had played extremely well until that point even thwarting Benitez three times in the first half.
Then in the last minute came the dramatic game-tying goal by Ricketts.
“I realized most of the Ecuadorian players were protesting a long time and I was close to the ball,” said de Guzman. “The first thing I saw was a bunch of our guys to the left at top of the 18.
My first instinct was to play it. Even if the referee called it back we would still have the free kick, but once the ball was played, he let the play go. Then Tosaint took the very first touch and finished and we got the tying goal at the right time.”
Canada’s Head Coach Stephen Hart
Despite the fact that Canada came from behind to salvage a positive result, Hart was not pleased with his team’s performance on the night.
“I have to be honest and I don’t think we played very well. Too many of the players didn’t want to accept the responsibility to keep the ball and to do what was right. Even though at times we played in spurts it was not good enough on the day, but in the end we pulled off the tie.”
“I thought we created some good chances in the first half but it’s the same old story. You don’t take your chances and no team dominates for 90 minutes. In your period of domination you have to take your chances and even when the score was 2-1 we had two very good chances and we failed to take them.”
Not Enough Support
In what was supposed to be a ‘home’ game for Canada, BMO Field in Toronto was exactly the opposite. Of the 14,356 fans in attendance, majority of them were cheering for Ecuador in a sea of yellow jerseys. Chants of ‘Ecuador’ drowned out the one big section of Canadian supporters and their chant of ‘Canada’. Over the past few years, the Canadian Soccer Association has had trouble attracting fans to its national team home games, especially in multicultural Toronto, and are often outnumbered by supporters of the opposing team.
“Disappointing,” said De Rosario. “At the end of day, hopefully with these results more and more fans come out and show their support. I think going into the locker room every guy was disappointed. I think it’s time that we see a wide support from the Canadian people.”
Ecuador celebrate Michael Arroyo’s great 2nd half strike with ‘sea of yellow’ supporters in the background
“A lot of them are first generation but I think it’s time we start supporting our local sports across the board, not only for hockey but for other sports as well, especially for soccer because we have great product out there. For those fans that did come out in the red and white, we definitely appreciate them showing their support and hopefully it can come to Detroit.”
In Detroit on June 7, Canada will face the US in the first match of the Gold Cup, a biennial CONCACAF tournament held in the United States. Ecuador was the perfect opponent since their style of play resembles those of teams Canada will play in the upcoming tournament.
“I think Canada plays better against European teams,” said Hart. “There’s more predictability in how they play and how they shape themselves. Teams from South America, there’s a sort of flexibility in which they play, there’s a lot of interchange of positions and movement and it causes us trouble. I think it was very healthy for us to play this game.”
Midfielder Josh Simpson thought the opponents were perfect considering Ecuador’s style of play and penchant for diving, embellishing and arguing to referees.
“That was perfect preparation. That’s exactly what we’re expecting in the Gold Cup,” said Josh Simpson. “It’s always going to be a tough game these CONCACAF games with these kinds of referees. For us it’s a little bit difficult. These games prepare us well so it served its purpose well.”
Canadian players salute their supporters in the South stands after the match. Fans are seen waving their red and white colours on the video screen above the Ecuador supporters section in the background
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