The beat goes on for Canada in win over Peru, even if the song stutters - Toronto Star
Shaffelburg scores twice as Canadian men win two straight matches for the first time in a year.
Canada’s Luc De Fougerolles is tackled by Peru’s Jairo Vélez during the second half of a Saturday friendly at Montreal’s Saputo Stadium. Canada won 2-0.
In these parts it’s apparently called le trac. Irrespective of the language, stage fright can trip any tongue.
The singer booked for Saturday afternoon anthem duty at Stade Saputo is, despite limited evidence provided, a francophone. She had practised four times. By its nature, “O Canada,” should ease nerves because, well, the first two words are handy. Yet even by the second lyric — the intonation on Canada all wrong — it was clear le trac had struck.
TV cameras moving down the line of Jesse Marsch’s starting XI captured some wonderfully perplexed looks and side-eyes as the performer twice aborted her rendition before the Montreal crowd said “pas de probleme” and swept in. Another anthem calamity to add to the country’s fine compilation.
A couple hours later, locals were still in good voice as Samuel Piette beat the drum in front of a wall of hardcore fans to signal what was likely his Canadian farewell. Record books will show Piette went out with a win, Peru beaten 2-0 thanks to a brace from Jacob Shaffelburg.
The national team’s World Cup homecoming saw them find more comforts here. Three more international debuts were handed out as Canada won back-to-back games for the first time in a year, quietening the hefty Peruvian contingent. A final test of the window awaits in Saint Paul, Minn., Tuesday against the U.S., and you would expect it’ll be the sternest examination of this new era’s earliest days.
There was plenty for Marsch to like in this matinee. Shaffelburg’s autumnal glow continued, Nathan Saliba offered captivating box-to-box interventions, Daniel Jebbison fully justified his selection up front and Liam Millar was a constant threat. Goalkeeper Owen Goodman grew into his debut, keeping a clean sheet, while Richard Chukwu’s first international start hugely boosted the teenager’s reputation.
“These are two matches where we walk away feeling like we should score multiple goals,” Marsch said, with last Saturday’s victory over Chile bettered here. “The clarity on the pitch is at a high level. We’re able to control matches and make teams look bad.”
As our unfortunate crooner learned, words and deeds can be starkly different things. This Canadian group talk so often about brotherhood and showing up for each other. They’re consistently as good as their word.
Thirty minutes before kickoff, Maxime Crépeau slipped through a gate and was met by Ismaël Koné, who brought the goalkeeper in to a long, warm embrace. They were soon joined by Moïse Bombito.
Crépeau missed this window after the passing of his father and Canada players wore black armbands in solidarity Saturday. Koné is convalescing from the leg broken on World Cup duty while Bombito had surgery very recently. Yet all wanted to be here and, just as Crépeau appreciated every word of condolence, their presence was clearly valued by teammates. It all served to again put the absence of captain Alphonso Davies, on honeymoon, in a sharp light.
Marsch had been discussing the development of Saliba this week and said, “I’m challenging him to be a leader now, not in four years or when Steph’s gone”. That he reached for vice captain Stephen Eustáquio, who joined the group days after his wedding last week, and not Davies was likely a slip but out of sight is out of mind.
Canada should have disappeared from Peruvian sights by halftime. Shaffelburg started the scoring on 19 minutes, rattling home Jebbison’s flick-on from a Millar cross. Minutes earlier, Jonathan David had whipped wide after as slick an attacking move as Canada has produced in some time.
Ten minutes before the interval, Shaffelburg was again at the back post to nod in another Millar cross. The brace gave the resurgent Nova Scotian his first international goals in two years. He joked afterward his new moustache has given him strength.
Jebbison’s eighth outing in a Canada shirt was markedly better than any before, offering a dynamic focal point up front. Behind David and Cyle Larin, the pecking order is fluid and Jebbison impressed at a very good time. Yet, right on halftime, he got his feet all wrong when an open goal beckoned.
Marsch made almost a full line-change on the hour with a nine-man substitution, but saved a solo moment for Piette to be saluted. Mathieu Choinière’s late free-kick, which rattled the post, was as close as Canada came to another. Veteran Piette savoured perhaps his last lap in red. With one-time protégé Saliba thriving, his legacy runs deep.
“Sam spoke before the match about what it means to play for the Canadian national team, what it means to commit” Marsch said. “It was a really moving statement. Everybody really understood what Sam was about.”
On an afternoon of mangled words, it was good to hear. Marsch and Canada head south on a clear track of their own.
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Joe Callaghan is a Toronto-based sports and feature writer and a contributor for the Star. Reach him via email: joecallaghan84@hotmail.com or follow him on X: @JoeCallaghan84.
