The Canadian men’s national team played to a 2-2 draw in an international friendly with Bahrain on Friday in what was ultimately an uneven performance on a fairly uneven surface at Khalifa Sports City stadium.

The match, however, did give Canadian coach John Herdman an opportunity to test out some depth options, while also providing critical minutes of match fitness for several out-of-season MLS players who will be important pieces for the national team in Qatar.

That included two players making their senior international debuts, both of whom formerly played in the Canadian Premier League. Former Cavalry FC central defender, now with CF Montréal, Joel Waterman went the full 90 minutes. He spent the final 19 minutes in a centre-back pairing with Lukas MacNaughton of Toronto FC, who won the North Star Shield in 2021 with Pacific FC.

Waterman earned his first international start, and appearance, on incredibly short notice as Doneil Henry, who was also supposed to wear the captain’s armband during the match, was injured during warmup.

Potentially because he did not expect to be in the starting lineup, the 26-year-old Waterman was a bit shaky during the opening minutes of the match. His pass in the 14th minute missed the foot of teammate Mark-Anthony Kaye, and then was caught scrambling and unnecessarily dove in during the move that would lead to Bahrain’s opening goal.

After that, however, Waterman settled into his role and demonstrated his strengths as an excellent distributor of the ball, looking confident in small pockets of space. He completed 90 per cent of his passes, including two of four accurate long balls, and showed some clever dribbling late in the match to get himself out of trouble.

Henry’s health will now loom large, but Waterman appears to be a distinct option to make the final roster of 26 players who will represent Canada at the World Cup in Qatar.

MacNaughton, meanwhile, replaced Kamal Miller in the 71st minute and looked solid in his international debut. The 27-year-old won his only aerial duel of the match and completed three of four passes as Canada scored late to earn a draw in this match. While it might be a little bit before MacNaughton sees his next international action, he certainly looked confident at the level.

MacNaughton had actually considered retiring from professional football back in 2019 to focus on a career in architecture before Pacific FC recruited him to join them in their inaugural Canadian Premier League season. Now representing his country, MacNaughton’s is yet another sign of the way the league is providing opportunities to players who otherwise might have slipped through the cracks.

Herdman will announce his 26-man roster for the 2022 World Cup on Sunday, Nov. 13. Canada open the tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 23, when they take on Belgium, currently second in the World in the FIFA Rankings.