An amazing weekend of stylish play and well-struck goals left Canadian soccer fans looking foward to the week ahead.

Both Toronto FC and Team Canada scored emphatic wins in what was, arguably, the best weekend Canadian soccer fans have seen in many years. And that's taking into account the 0-1 home loss suffered by the Montreal Impact to the Charleston Battery in USL play.

Ahhh, that Montreal-Charleston rivalry. Those teams HATE each other. Don't they?

Well, that loss aside, Canadian fans had to be up on their hind legs and howling at the feast of goals served up in Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of Guatemala by Canada, followed by Sunday's 4-0 branding by Toronto FC on an FC Dallas squad that looked all too eager to mount up and ride home.

For those who viewed both matches, there was extra satisfaction in watching two days of misery for Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz. The serial dive artist is known to his fans as El Pescadito(The Little Fish) , perhaps because his flopping antics make him look like a well-hooked bass on a dock.

He was on the losing end for both games, earning a yellow card for a nasty elbow that split open Canadian defender Richard Hastings head, then 'showing up' for Dallas a day later and getting another yellow for chirping. Is their a Spanish word for 'schadenfreude"?

Toronto FC couldn't have found a better way to bid a temporary goodbye to the friendly confines of their BMO Field. They'll be on the road for their next six games as the U-20 World Cup tournament evicts them until late July.

They'll set off brimming with confidence, having raised their W-L-T record to 4-6-1, an impressive turnaround from an 0-4-0 start. And for a team that couldn't find the net through that initial four-game losing streak, Toronto has begun delivering goals that are pure eye candy.

It continued on Sunday, as defender Kevin Goldthwaite sold the Brooklyn Bridge on a cutback move that almost had his Dallas marker sliding into the beer garden behind the goal. His follow-up cross resulted in a first-ever goal for top rookie Maurice Edu.

Carl Robinson honored his daughter's Father's Day wishes to get a goal and planted a neat header in off the bar for his first goal in Toronto colours. Even the near misses are drawing oohs and ahhs.

Coming a day after Canada demolished Guatemala with three first-half goals, with Ali Gerba slicing home a sharp right footer to cap a dazzling, seven-pass masterpiece,  Canadian fans have to wonder what has happened to the stodgy punt-and-plod that was a hallmark of their game for decades.

Respected for defending well and breeding decent goalies, Canada has never been associated with eye-catching buildups or highlight-reel goals. It looks like it's all about to change.

This edition of the national team is full of atheticism, skill and quick minds, but most importantly, high-level playing experience .

No longer forced to rely on a conservative game plan based on defending well and making the most of set pieces, Canada can mix the power of sturdy veteran Dwayne De Rosario and the distribution and work rate of winger Martin Nash with the agile close control of Atiba Hutchinson and the playmaking and decisive touch of Julian De Guzman.

Thursday's Gold Cup semi-final with the United States in Chicago should provide an excellent examination of this blossoming soccer program. When you factor in these results with the promise of Canada's U-20 side, it's becoming clearer that the Canadian game has never been healthier.

And with a club side like Toronto FC giving Canadian youngsters an attractive  target to aim for in their future playing aspirations, the chances of this country experiencing another loss of talented players like Owen Hargreaves or Jonathan De Guzman become smaller all the time.