Canadian U-23 men’s soccer team’s Olympic dreams dashed by Mexico, but the future’s bright

The Canadian U-23 men's soccer team's wild ride towards an Olympic berth ended with a thud in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament Saturday night, as Mexico's 3-1 victory gave them one of the two Olympic berths for North America, Central America and the Caribbean and knocked Canada out in the process. However, the news isn't all bad for Canadian soccer. While the end result was ultimately disappointing, and there were several key stumbles along the way that led to it, this team still made it much further than many had expected and came within one game of qualifying for the Olympics, which a Canadian men's soccer team hasn't done since 1984. In doing so, they showed that there's plenty of up-and-coming Canadian talent out there, and that's a bright sign for the future.

The highlight of the tournament for this Canadian team will undoubtedly be their 2-0 victory over the United States, and that result turned out to be a significant game-changer for CONCACAF. While the Canadians didn't make it through to the Olympics in the end, that win still helped them get out of their group, something that not many had predicted heading into the tournament. Moreover, thanks to a 3-3 draw with El Salvador in their next match, the Americans didn't advance to the semifinals and also missed out on London. Mexico picking up one of the two Olympic berths was anticipated, but Honduras picking up the second one (thanks to a 3-2 extra-time win over El Salvador in the early semifinal Saturday) was unexpected, and that combined with Canada and El Salvador advancing out of a group ahead of the Americans suggests that the tides of CONCACAF soccer may be changing. The U.S. is still a power to be feared, and they still have incredible talent at the U-23 level, but other sides like the Canadians are getting to the point where they can perhaps pose a real challenge to American dominance on any particular day.

However, while that win over the U.S. showcased this Canadian team at its best, it will be hard for Canadian fans not to think about what could have happened if that form had showed up more consistently. Canada was listless in a tournament-opening 0-0 draw with El Salvador and downright disappointing in a 1-1 draw with Cuba, and the Canadians also struggled for much of Saturday's match against Mexico. The Canadians had their moments Saturday, including an early attempt that was cleared off the line and a crucial goal by Marcus Haber that tied things up at a goal apiece in the 32nd minute, but they also looked atrocious at times, particularly on Alan Pulido's breakaway goal that came within a minute of Haber's and gave the Mexicans a lead they would never relinquish. There were also terrible disciplinary breakdowns throughout the tournament, including Randy Edwini-Bonsu's late red card against the U.S. and Doneil Henry's red card against Mexico with 13 minutes left that put the final boot to hopes of a Canadian comeback. This team has plenty of talented players who could make a significant impact for the full national team in the future, including Haber, Edwini-Bonsu, Henry, forward Lucas Cavallini, midfielder Phillippe Davies and keeper Michal Misiewicz, but many of those players are going to have to display maturity and consistency going forward if they want to make any impact at the international level.

It's the final round-robin game against Cuba that stands out as the real missed opportunity for Canada. The low-ranked Cubans were outscored 10-0 in their first two games against the U.S. and El Salvador, and they apparently had a player defect shortly before the Canada game. A victory there should have been easy for the Canadians, who had a notable edge in talent, but neglected to bring any intensity. Instead, they played like they had already locked up a berth in London, and while their uninspiring performance still was good enough to give them a 1-0 lead through 90 minutes, Cuba grabbed a late equalizer in stoppage time. That forced Canada into the second qualifying spot from Group A and set up a semifinal match with the dominant Mexicans for an Olympic berth, whereas a win would have put them up against lesser-regarded Honduras. The Hondurans still wouldn't have been easy to beat, but a Canadian victory against them seemed much more feasible on paper. Unfortunately for Canadian fans, the late draw with Cuba means that will forever be a might-have-been scenario.

There are plenty of good takeaways from this competition, though. This Canadian squad showed they can go into hostile situations (the whole tournament was played in the U.S.) and pull out big victories, and they demonstrated that there's plenty of young Canadian soccer talent out there. What's also interesting is how many of these players either are currently affiliated with Canada's four primary professional teams (Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Montreal Impact and FC Edmonton) or came up through academy systems at those clubs before moving on elsewhere. That suggests that all the money being invested in academies is paying off, and that's tremendously good news for the future of Canadian soccer. The end result wasn't there quite yet, but this team accomplished much more than many expected them to, and for Canadian soccer, that's an excellent starting point.