What went wrong?

Canada bows out of tournament in disgrace

By John F. Molinaro, CBCSports.ca

A day after Team Canada's disappointing first-round exit from the FIFA U-20 World Cup, soccer fans across the country are likely asking one main question: Why?

Why did a team that had the benefit of playing on home soil not qualify for the second round? Why did Canada not only fail to win a game, but didn't even score a goal? Why did Canada struggle so badly?

Why?

Canadian defender David Edgar buries his face after Canada was eliminated at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. (Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press)

One reason is because the Canadians registered only eight shots on goal in their three losses and struggled to create offensive scoring chances.

"It's devastating really," Canadian defender David Edgar told CBC Sports after Sunday's 2-0 loss to Congo.

"All the boys put everything we could into this. We knew the results in the past two games haven't gone our way, but we put ourselves in that position. We were really up for this game, but we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net."

Canada's first-round group wasn't easy - it included Congo, Austria and Chile - but the Canadians had enough skill, talent and depth to at least compete and fight for a second-round berth. They couldn't even manage that, though, losing all three of their games by a combined score of 6-0, becoming the first host nation in the 30-year history of the tournament not to score a single goal.

After back-to-back poor performances in their first two games - a 3-0 loss to Chile and a 1-0 loss to Austria - the Canadians played with much more urgency against Congo, but by that time, Canada needed to win by three goals to have any chance of moving on.

"What it came down to was it being too little, too late," CBC Sports commentator Bob Lenarduzzi said of Canada's improved effort against Congo.

"They put themselves in a big hole by not showing up for the first two games, and as a result, it was too much for them to make up."

Errors hurt home country

Canadian forward and team veteran Will Johnson believed the pressure of playing in the World Cup on home soil was too much for some players.

"We came out there and were a bit shell-shocked. It's the first experience for a lot of these guys and I think nerves played a bit into it," Johnson explained.

Defensive errors also cost Canada dearly.

In Canada's first game against Chile, central defender Marcus Haber couldn't control a dangerous cross played into the penalty box from the right wing, and the ball ended up at the feet of Chile's Nicolas Medina, who blasted it into the roof of the net.

That defensive mistake was the first of many and set the tone for the rest of Canada's first round.

"Our opponents are getting breaks and we're not, and they're capitalizing on all the chances they have. That's how it is at this tournament - you make a mistake and you get punished," Canadian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic said ahead of the Congo contest.

Showed no 'will to win': Edgar

Canada also failed to receive solid performances from several key players, including forward Andrea Lombardo (who couldn't put away the few scoring chances he had) and midfield playmaker Jaime Peters (who was virtually anonymous the entire tournament).

"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Me, and Jaime and David, some of the leaders, we haven't exactly done as well as we could have," Johnson said before Sunday's game.

With that in mind, serious questions have to be asked of departing under-20 team coach Dale Mitchell, who was tactically naïve at times in this tournament, as he prepares to take over the senior men's team.

What's even more frustrating is that Canada looked impressive in exhibition games against Argentina, the U.S., Czech Republic, Brazil and Scotland in the last year.

Sadly, that Canadian team, the one that showed so much heart and played with pride, was nowhere to be found.

"We let ourselves down with the way we played in the first two games and didn't show the will to win," Edgar said. "We were playing in the World Cup in front of our home country and to not play with all of our hearts is really disappointing."