As the Canada – Haiti match coincided with part of the FSR last night I didn’t get a chance to see the full game until today.

An improved performance by Canada – they played at a higher pace and kept Haiti under pressure when they had the ball. Toronto’s Chris Pozniak came into the side to play as the defensive midfield player, while Atiba Hutchinson dropped a bit deeper to play alongside Julian De Guzman in the centre of midfield. Over the ninety minutes the two moves gave Canada a more solid look in the engine room although the price paid was a lack of support to Rob Friend who played as the lone striker. 

Dwayne De Rosario’s two goals inside five minutes just after the half hour mark of the first half put Canada in the driver’s seat. The first came after a Stalteri cross that bypassed striker Rob Friend but dropped to De Rosario. The Haiti keeper got caught out badly at his near post. The second was from the penalty spot when the lively Issey Nakajima-Farran was fouled after nipping around a defender. The power in De Rosario’s spot kick compensated for a placement that was a bit to close to goalkeeper Gabart Fenelon for comfort.

Either side of half time Haiti enjoyed their best spell and that lasted for around twenty minutes. During that time Canada lost their way defensively and needed keeper Pat Onstad to come to the rescue on at least three occasions. In one case Onstad took a sickening shot to the head as he dove at an on-rushing Haitian forward. After a delay of over five minutes Onstad continued on.

Going into the last eight of the Gold Cup (opponents still not known) the centre of the Canadian defense is probably the biggest concern. Under any sort of pressure Hastings and Hainault look very uncomfortable. Despite De Rosario’s two goals against Haiti there were long stretches of the game when he was not involved in the game as he was left marooned out on the left wing. To be consistently successful Canada has to find a way to bring De Rosario into the game for longer stretches.

Ian Hume was left on the Canadian bench again – something that I think surprises many people while Rob Friend could have benefited with more support up front. He was left to plough a lone furrow with minimal support from midfield.

A post-script to how Guadeloupe stacks up against other teams in the region. In the Shell Caribbean Cup of 2007 – the qualifying competition for this Gold Cup – Guadeloupe played eleven games, winning seven and losing four. They beat French Saint-Martin, Dominica, Martinique, Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They lost to Guyana twice, Haiti and Cuba. In total they scored 22 goals and conceded 14.