Final Score: Canada 4-2 Cuba
Goalscorers: Hoilett 21′ (pen.), Osorio 26′, Nelson 47′, Millar 61′; Paradela 45’+4′ (pen.), Reyes (pen.) 89′
2023 Concacaf Gold Cup

Match in a minute or less

Canada are off to the knockout stages at the Concacaf Gold Cup after a 4-2 victory over Cuba in their Group D finale. By finishing second in the group, Canada will now face the United States in the quarter-final round.

Jonathan Osorio looked to have opened the scoring in the 10th minute, but his effort from close range was deemed to be offside. Just eleven minutes later, however, Canada won a penalty and Junior Hoilett stepped up to score the opener — his fourth straight Gold Cup with a goal.

Osorio then got his goal in the 26th minute to quickly double Canada’s lead on a beautiful flowing movement. Canada were dealt a blow in first-half stoppage time, however, as a series of mistakes at the back led to Cuba getting an opportunity themselves from the penalty spot, which Luis Paradela calmly converted.

Canada quickly regained their two-goal lead in the second half, however. as substitute Jayden Nelson got on the end of the loose ball in the box to tap home in 47th minute. Liam Millar then scored his first goal for Canada in the 61st on a header. Cuba found a late consolation through another penalty kick in the 89th minute converted by Maykel Reyes.

After losing to the United States in the Concacaf Nations League Final on June 18, Canada will now have a chance for revenge on Sunday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on OneSoccer.

Three Observations

Formation change makes Canada significantly more dangerous

While the personnel to start Tuesday night’s match was very similar to the eleven that John Herdman started on Saturday against Guatemala, the Canadian manager tweaked the way they lined up, with positive results.

After playing largely in the 3-5-2 through the opening two matches of the tournament, Canada shifted to something closer to a 4-4-2 against Cuba — which paid off in a big way in getting more players in dangerous positions throughout the match.

Whereas Canada had been able to create a lot of opportunities out wide through Millar and Richie Laryea playing as wingbacks against Guadeloupe and Guatemala, they often struggled to then move that ball back into the box centrally in threatening positions.

Part of that was decision-making and the quality — or lack thereof — of crossing in the final third. Against Guatemala and Guadeloupe, they completed a combined just 10 of 49 crosses (just over 20 per cent). But equally contributing to that was the lack of crossing options available in the box. The new formation allowed for more runners in high positions, as well as more passing options through the middle of the park.

The clearest example of this in effect came from the brilliant second Canadian goal in the 26th minute. After winning the ball back near the halfway line, Hoilett and Liam Fraser quickly played a give-and-go prior to the latter playing a great ball into Millar. The striker then has multiple runners beyond him and was able to hold up the ball and give the time to get into the spaces needed before slipping through Lucas Cavallini.

GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦

Jonathan Osorio makes it 2-0 for the #CanMNT vs. Cuba in this Gold Cup clash, tapping home off a good bit of inter-play 🤝

It's goal no. 9 for the #TFClive star 💪 pic.twitter.com/vbOpkXu72P

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 4, 2023

There were still some puzzling tactical decisions, like playing Ali Ahmed, who has been Canada’s best midfielder at this tournament, as a left fullback while the Moïse Bombito experiment at central midfielder continued for the first 33 minutes.

But for the most part, the new formation put players in much better positions to succeed and led to the most cohesive performance for Canada at the Gold Cup thus far.

Liam Millar could be the answer up top for Canada

The biggest question coming into this match, and perhaps this tournament for the Canadian men’s national team surrounded where the goals would come from with so many of the regular attacking options not on the roster.

After scoring just once through two matches at the tournament, and getting another on an own-goal against Guadeloupe, Canada doubled their goal tally at the Gold Cup through a much better offensive effort. That was led by Millar, who shifted centrally to form a partnership with Lucas Cavallini.

With Millar up top, Canada had more speed in behind and more options in the middle when they moved the ball out wide, which had been an issue through their first two matches at this competition. Millar played a significant role in the buildup for Canada’s second and third goals, before scoring the fourth himself — his first for his country.

Millar had two key passes and completed two dribbles doing an excellent job of combining with teammates in the final third to make Canada more connected centrally than they have been. He also did a great job of leading the Canadian press, especially early on as Canada looked to establish the tempo.

Against an American side in the quarter-finals who will probably have most of the ball, having a player with Millar’s pace and quality in the middle could prove critical. The formation change undoubtedly got the best out of the 23-year-old.

Mixed results for new faces, as former CPLer Victor Loturi makes his international debut

Not much went to plan for Canada during the group stage of this Gold Cup, and as a result, they were unable to really do much roster experimentation and give new players significant opportunities as the need for results became paramount.

In their group stage finale, however, Canada was finally able to give some minutes to their extended squad and see what some of their options might look like, both in this tournament and beyond.

The unquestionable highlight was Jayden Nelson, who came on for Bombito in the 33rd minute and instantly gave Canada an injection of energy, confidence and inventiveness in the middle of the park. The 20-year-old scored his second goal for Canada on a good effort play following up on a chance — something Canada also didn’t do enough of through their first few matches.

GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦#CanMNT go up 3-1 over Cuba as Jayden Nelson finishes off a scrappy fight in the box by Lucas Cavallini 🥊 pic.twitter.com/bSKVgB1F9w

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 4, 2023

Nelson also completed 29 of his 30 passes and made three interceptions. Given his positional versatility and a solid start to life over in Europe with Rosenborg BK in Norway, Nelson is definitely worth giving further opportunity.

Former Cavalry FC midfielder Victor Loturi also made his tournament debut — which also happened to be his international debut, replacing Hoilett in the 69th minute. He wasn’t heavily involved but completed 9 of 10 passes and looked calm and comfortable on the Gold Cup stage.

Loturi’s lack of minutes at this tournament has been somewhat curious, especially as despite being involved in the last two Canada camps he has seen his position taken by Bombito playing out of position, and then Fraser and Nelson who were injury replacements. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we see of that talented young midfielder in a position of need for the national team at the Gold Cup.

The results were mixed for some of the other newer faces in the squad, however, as Dominick Zator, formerly of York United and Cavalry FC, gave up a late penalty on an unlucky handball call. With Milan Borjan out for the rest of the tournament injured, Dayne St. Clair made his third start for Canada in net — and unfortunately gave away a first-half stoppage time penalty.

These are the sort of mistakes that Canada won’t be able to score their way out of in the knockout stage. Nevertheless, the opportunity to see what certain players can do on the international stage is a big part of this tournament for Canada, and this Cuba match provided a solid look.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Liam Millar, Canada

His first goal for Canada was the reward for an energetic and dynamic performance on Tuesday afternoon. He put in an absolute shift wherever he was on the park, moving back to wingback later in the match and winning six of the nine duels he contested.

What’s next?

Canada will now take on the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Quarter-finals on Sunday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

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