Canada should look at this game as an opportunity salvaged. They had the better of play and created more chances. They put seven shots on target to Venezuela’s three, and they had several other chances that went begging. But they nearly handed the game to a tough Venezuela side that has some attacking power. As inexplicable as the referee’s actions were in delaying a throw-in to allow Venezuelan keeper Romo to get back to the goal, that doesn’t explain the team-wide lapse that allowed Rondon to chip the keeper and equalize. And teams that squander that many chances often rue the day. In the end, they won with maturity and poise. They avoided losing control in a chippy game with a lot of flying bodies hitting the ground. Then they took some supremely composed penalty kicks. Canada doesn’t have much to show from its men’s national team’s history. They have something now. Canada defeats Venezuela on penalties Davies made his shot look routine. Marseille’s Ismael Kone was even calmer, simply stepping and kicking it past Romo like he was kicking a ball back to a teammate during warmups. And that’s it. Canada vs. Argentina in the semi-final. PKs: Venezuela 3-3 Canada Crepeau save! Canada will shoot for the win. PKs: Venezuela 3-3 Canada What pressure? Alphonso Davies just nonchalantly takes three steps and rips the ball into the upper corner. PKs: Venezuela 3-2 Canada Cadiz does a stuttering short run-up, gets a sense of where Crepeau is leaning, and sends it the other way. Canada must score to continue. PKs: Venezuela 2-2 Canada Eustaquio shoots weakly and too close to the keeper. PKs: Venezuela 2-2 Canada Off the post! Off Crepeau’s hands first. Savarino hit it well but not far enough to the side, and the keeper knocks it off the post. The PA announcer warns fans not to use laser pointers. Thanks. PKs: Venezuela 2-2 Canada Bombito, who was beaten on the Rondon goal, is up next … And someone is shining a laser at his face. Referee Sampaio sees it and gives him a few seconds to settle himself. Bombito takes an awkward step forward, then follows through and scores. PKs: Venezuela 2-1 Canada Rincon shuffles his feet and somehow drills it almost through Crepeau. It whizzes just over the diving keeper. PKs: Venezuela 1-1 Canada Liam Millar returns the favor, sending his shot at least three feet over the bar. PKs: Venezuela 1-1 Canada Herrera drags his shot wide of the post! And Crepeau had gone the wrong way, leaving the goal gaping. That’s a shot taken by a tired player. PKs: Venezuela 1-1 Canada Jonathan David up for Canada. Romo looks huge in the net, but David drills it past him, even as the Venezuelan keeper guesses correctly. Well-struck shot. PKs: Venezuela 1-0 Canada Rondon sends Crepeau the wrong way. Easy finish. Mail Travis Giblin: “This is easily one of the top 5 games I’ve ever seen the Canadian men play. They’ve been exciting and effortful and creative like I’ve rarely seen. However... this ref is something else. How there weren’t 2 yellow cards shortly before half for Wrestling quality clotheslines, followed by fiasco from the Venezuelan keeper right before their goal has me, well, furious.” Hey now – you’re not allowed to do that in wrestling. Christy Goosen: “Not a longstanding soccer fan (usually watch hockey) but this is so reminiscent of Canada’s hockey games in the early days of international hockey. The officiating seems awful: do they not want Canada to move forward?” I don’t know that the officiating has been biased. Just curious. Mark Ireland accurately picks out the big problem, aside from the wasteful finishing, that led Canada to this point: “I admire the attacking intent, but when you’re defending a one-goal lead, was it really wise of Canada to push everyone - including the goalie - so far up the pitch? Very naive defending there for the Venezuela goal.” Sorry that’s all I can get to. Here we go … Full time: Venezuela 1-1 Canada (PKs to follow) Eustaquio whips the free kick on target, but there are just too many bodies in front. Off to PKs we go … 90 min +4: Millar gets past Aramburu, who uses a rugby tackle out of desperation to bring him down. Free kick Canada – probably the last chance of the game. 90 min +3: Crepeau punts the ball all the way to the top of the Venezuelan penalty area, but no one can settle. 90 min +1: It’ll be four minutes. Johnston blocks a shot. Venezuela sub: Martinez and Osorio out. Rincon and Angel in. 90 min: Free kick for Canada at midfield, and they knock it back into their own half. Then they turn it over. Waiting on a signal for stoppage times while Aramburo comes up to take a long throw-in. 88 min: CHANCE for Canada, and again, a smart buildup flowing through David ends with a weak shot from Ahmed that trickles wide of the far post. The xG stats for this game will be through the roof. Canada get it back, and Kone rips a quick shot just wide of the post. 86 min: Not sure what Johnston was doing that far up the field, but he turns expertly onto a ball from Ahmed and forces a tough save from Romo. 85 min: A chance in an alternate timeline for Venezuela – one in which Rondon wasn’t a full yard offside when he took the through ball. He still gets a chance to shoot, and Crepeau makes a spectacular foot save before the flag finally goes up and the whistle is blown. 83 min: Chance for Venezuela, but it’s not getting the bold-face treatment because the shot was taken so poorly. Navarro stretches out a foot and sends his shot far over the bar. Savarino (the former Real Salt Lake man) comes in, as does Matias Lacava – for his international debut. Jumping into the deep end, apparently. The dangerous Soteldo is out, as is Bello. 81 min: CHANCE for Canada, and it’s once again the impressive Oluwaseyi, bringing down a ball that David chipped over a couple of defenders. Romo comes out to cut down the angle, and Oluwaseyi’s best option is to chip it. The ball lands on top of the net. Sub – Ismael Kone replaces Osorio for Canada. 79 min: Corner kick to Venezuela, though I’d like to see a replay to see if anyone was offside in the buildup. They take it short, and one simple cutback move leaves two Canadian defenders flailing. 77 min: CHANCE for Canada, with Oluwaseyi firing just over the bar as he corrals a through ball. Promising. 76 min: Cornelius needs some treatment after taking an arm to the head. 72 min: Interesting double substitution for Canada. Larin and Laryea, who’ve been dangerous but wasteful, are out. Tani Oluwaseyi and Ali Ahmed are in. This is Ahmed’s first action of the tournament. 71 min: Reminder – there is no extra time in these games. This would go straight to PKs. 68 min: CHANCES for Canada, and these are a little bit better. Millar has made an impact as a sub, and he shoots from an acute angle, possibly nicking the far post. Gooooooal! Venezuela 1-1 Canada (Rondon 65) This game has had no shortage of breakaways. Venezuela play to midfield for Rondon, who races Bombito to the ball. Bombito ends up a yard away from the Venezuelan striker, which wouldn’t be such a concern if not for the fact that Crepeau has, for some reason, wandered 25 yards from his goal. Rondon simply chips it from just past the center circle. It bounces near the goal line and up into the top of the net. 64 min: This is horrible from Sampaio. Absolutely horrible. Comically awful officiating. Canada crosses, and Larin ends up in a foot race with Romo, the keeper. Romo plays it out. Larin tries to take the throw-in quickly, and Romo simply grabs the ball to stop him from doing so. Textbook yellow card. Mandatory. But Sampaio stops play and allows Romo to get back in goal. And then … 61 min: CHANCE for Canada, and Laryea made an absolute mess of it. A turnover left him going 2-on-1, and he just dribbled aimlessly into the penalty area with no convincing attempt at a shot or a pass. Shaffelburg has done everything a human being can do in this game, so he leaves, replaced by Liam Millar. 59 min: Larin is in the assistant referee’s face, thinking he has earned a corner kick. The call is goal kick. Not sure the call shouldn’t be free kick. Venezuela brings in Jhonder Cadiz, who had a goal in the group stage. 58 min: CHANCE for Venezuela, and Crepeau leaps majestically to tip over Bello’s deft chip from an acute angle. Nearly one of the best goals of the tournament. 56 min: This game is getting brutal. Navarro slides studs-up into Osorio, which finally draws a whistle from referee Sampaio but not a card. A lot of youth soccer referees hesitate to give cards because then they have to write a report. I’d think that wouldn’t dissuade someone at this level. 54 min: CHANCE for Venezuela, and Martinez sends a shot over the bar from 10 yards out. Unlike Larin, he didn’t have a lot of time, and the ball wasn’t in a great spot. 53 min: CHANCE for Canada, and it’s another one squandered. A cross gets through to Larin, who has all day to play the ball 15 yards from goal but rushes a shot over the bar. These misses may come back to haunt Canada like a sentimental Arcade Fire song. 52 min: “That looked like a foul from here” is becoming a common refrain. 50 min: Soteldo has switched from the left to the right flank, and he draws a foul from Cornelius. That’ll be the second yellow card to Canada on the evening. 49 min: Venezuela have a firm grip on the game so far in this half, but they’ll need to tend to Ferraresi after the center back took a nasty tumble upon landing from an aerial duel. 47 min: Soteldo is a fun player to watch, a live wire who darts in different directions and still maintains possession. He might maintain it too long, though, because he tends not to make any sort of connection with his Venezuelan teammates. And we’re back … After I add Rachel Homan to the list of great Canadians. Mailbag Matan Prilleltensky is surprised that I’m not Canadian. To make it even more surprising – I am a member of a curling club. James Roberts says Canada looks like a soccer nation tonight. Jesse Marsch will surely have some points of emphasis about the defense and the need to tidy up their passes, but yes, they’ve been sharp in attack. Or as Philip Bull puts it: “Balanced as it is on the knife edge of skill and haplessness, this is pure entertainment.” Liz White adds the Parachute Club, a band with which I’m not familiar to the list of famed Canadians, along with an actual soccer player: “You have to include Craig Forrest in your list of Canadians. One of 13 internationals in the first season of the Premier League, Canada’s MNT captain and mvp of the Gold Cup tournament that Canada won. Before that win I was usually about a third of the Canadian support at “home” games at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.” And Paul P takes issue with the omissions of kd lang and Gordon Lightfoot. Sometimes, I think it’s a shame when I overlook someone like that. Halftime: Venezuela 0-1 Canada A gloriously fast-paced and occasionally sloppy half of soccer ends with Canada still holding the lead. Venezuela’s attackers haven’t turned any turnovers into goals and haven’t troubled Crepeau that much, while Canada squandered two great chances and had another brilliantly saved. Deserved lead for Canada, but certainly not a comfortable one. 45 min +3: I counted four players getting knocked to the ground, all likely legal, on one sequence while Venezuela attacked. Canada go the other way, and Shaffelburg is dumped to the ground again. That might have been a foul. 45 min +1: Whatever Venezuela tried to do on that free kick must have looked cool on the training ground. Here, it’s a turnover. 45 min: We’ll have four minutes of stoppage time. Venezuela have used the first of those minutes setting up a free kick from 30 yards out. 44 min: Good possession for Canada with a couple of half-dangerous crosses. Venezuela get back to midfield, and Rondon angrily lectures Laryea about something. No idea what. 41 min: Venezuela lofts the ball toward a precise point at which two attackers and two defenders converge, and a couple of them end up down on the ground. Alistair Johnston stays there and will require help. Crepeau has to scream and yell to get referee Sampaio’s attention at the other end of the field, where Casseres hauled down David on the counterattack to give Canada a free kick. 40 min: Canada has to deal with a bit of pressure, but they play over the top and win a throw-in deep in Venezuela’s half. Then Crepeau decides Romo isn’t the only keeper who can venture out of his area, and he ends up with the ball at his feet at least 40 yards from his goal. That’s one way to unnerve your coach. 37 min: They’re still playing at indoor soccer pace, apropos in a stadium with the roof closed but a difficult pace to endure when you don’t have indefinite substitutes. I did see that the indoor MASL is keeping all its teams intact for next season. Congratulations. 35 min: You don’t see this every day. Shaffelburg tries to re-enter the game before a Venezuela free kick, but he apparently didn’t have permission from the referee, and that’s a yellow card, as I know from my annual recertification exams. (If I gave Under-12 players yellow cards when that happened, we’d finish with no players left on the field.) 33 min: Venezuela play back to Romo, who hits a wayward long ball under a bit of pressure. Shaffelburg is down after an awkward collision. 31 min: CHANCE for Canada, and this is starting to sound like a scratched Joni Mitchell record. Shaffelburg crosses, it’s not cleared convincingly, and the ball winds up with Laryea in the penalty area. He shoots or crosses to the far post. A better-placed cross would’ve been redirected into the net by Larin’s outstretched foot. 29 min: Free kick to Venezuela, and it’s not defended well. With clinical finishing, this might be 2-2 by now. (Yes, Philip, I saw your email!) 26 min: CHANCE for Canada, and they’ll regret missing this. Venezuela overcommit to a scramble in the Canadian penalty area, and Davies blasts the ball ahead to Shaffelburg, who is racing against a lone Venezuelan defender … with David trailing in the center. Shaffelburg duly plays it to David, and it’s almost like an old-school NASL/MLS shootout – 1-on-1, keeper vs. attacker. David dawdles, then puts his shot wide. 24 min: CHANCE for Canada, with good work down the right before Laryea centers it to Shaffelburg, who forces an outstanding diving save from Romo to punch it wide. 23 min: Venezuela is getting a lot more of the balance of play now. Soteldo puts in a dangerous cross from the left, then drifts inside and does a bit more buildup work. No good shot comes of it, but Canada are absorbing a lot of pressure here. 20 min: CHANCE for Venezuela, and how did no one manage to get that? A cross sails through the top of the 6-yard box, and Crepeau merely waves at it as a teammate plays it out. The ensuing corner kick yields a solid shot on goal but right at Crepeau’s hands, and he gladly holds it. 19 min: Canada have ramped up the pressure a bit, and we’ve already seen Venezuela make a few poor decisions. This probably won’t end 1-0. 17 min: Sloppy passes could end up being Canada’s undoing here. A gift at midfield yields a long, harmless shot wide from Rondon, but they can’t count on him missing those. 15 min: The lead is no more than Canada deserve at this point. Venezuela has done very little going forward … And as I type, they cross to Rondon off a Canadian turnover, and the target forward misses the target with a 10-yard header. Should’ve done better with that. Gooooooaaal!! Venezuela 0-1 Canada (Shaffelburg 13) David battles his way down the right and bulls his way into the penalty area, then spots Shaffelburg making a run a few yards away at the near-post. Quick, short pass, one-timer shot, goal from 6 yards out. 12 min: CHANCE(S) for Canada! Romo races out again and slides to knock the ball away, but it goes to David, who tries a lob from 40 yards out that forces Romo and a defender to scramble back. 10 min: Canada enjoy a bit of possession in the Venezuelan half, then make a couple of awkward passes and send it back to Crepeau. Here’s what I believe to be the authoritative word on leading scorers in international soccer history – the leading men’s scorer, a mere 60 goals behind Christine Sinclair, lost a heartbreaker today. 8 min: David Jones points out that Christine Sinclair is the top scorer in women’s OR men’s international soccer. I’m nearly positive that’s correct and will look it up at halftime, but the number of goals he cites (85) is off by … maybe 100? Great player in her prime and still a very good player at an advanced age. Nothing of substance to report in the game at the moment. 5 min: A good buildup for Canada, and American coach Jesse Marsch wants a penalty call. On first glance, that would seem to be harsh. On second glance, Aramburu grabbed Shaffelburg’s shirt and gave it a solid yank. But after a brief pause while the off-field officials take a look, we play on. 3 min: CHANCE for Venezuela, and that came out of nothing. And would’ve come to nothing, because Rondon was quite clearly offside, so anything that happened after that would’ve drawn the attention of our VAR. But Crepeau will be happy with his effort to save the ensuing shot, anyway, though the rebound was in a dangerous spot. 2 min: Romo does his best Manuel Neuer/Jorge Campos, racing out of the penalty area to head a direct Canadian ball clear. (No, not Tony Romo. Right stadium, though. Or was it not yet built when he played?) 1 min: Keeper passes to wing … back to keeper … back to wing … back to keeper … keeper holds it … holds it … Yeah, Canada isn’t exactly bringing high pressure to start here. Venezuela finally gets bored and goes direct. The roof at AT&T Stadium is closed. The ball is in the center circle. I have finished my soda. Kickoff imminent … Speaking of music, O Canada is a far above-average national anthem. It’s playing now. Brett Schrewe notes that this game is taking place near the 100th meridian, a Tragically Hip reference. In non-musical news, Kari Tulinius reminds me that no list of notable Canadians would be complete with Christine Sinclair, the top scorer in international women’s soccer history. As tempted as I am to play the clip of Eric Cartman and the South Park gang that led into Rush playing Tom Sawyer live, I think that’ll be it for the music videos tonight. But yes – Metric and July Talk. Check them out. With Metric, start with Gimme Sympathy. Best entry point for July Talk is Summer Dress. Philip Bull, I’m guessing, is Canadian. He successfully guessed the one (1) band universally loved in Canada and added that they don’t expect us non-Canadians to understand. I may not fully understand, but it’s hard to argue with this: Tonight’s officials … This is the group charged with making the officiating in this Copa a little less … shall we say idiosyncratic? Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) Assistant referees: Bruno Pires and Bruno Boschilia (Brazil) Fourth referee: Juan Benitez (Paraguay) VAR: Rodolpho Toski (Brazil) Sampaio is a veteran of several World Cup games including Netherlands-USA. Peter Oh speaks to my Gen X soul: “The Canadians might not be filling the onion bag with goals but they’re fun to watch, and have some top-notch names. Crepeau? Smooth as batter. Cornelius? All aboard the Soul Train! Alistair Johnston? Cue Flower of Scotland! Jonathan David? Utterly biblical! Moustachioed Eustáquio! Do the Shaffel-burg! Bombito? ...Bombito!!!” For those of you under 40, watch and learn … Like Joe, Peter would add Leonard Cohen to my list of Canadians, along with Cowboy Junkies and Kim’s Convenience. I’ll also add Barenaked Ladies and July Talk, but there is one (1) band that is universally beloved in Canada that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Can anyone name the band? Philip Bull adds some notable musicians and sees a Canadian analogue at the Euros: “No love for (clears throat, checks notes) Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell? Away from, er, legacy acts, agree completely about Metric, but counter with Feist. Also, Canada has actually scored (as in scored, not was able to enjoy going into the net) as many goals as France, and nobody begrudges them their semi final ...” Quite true. That said, I think they’ll need to score another one or two to win tonight. I don’t see Venezuela being held scoreless here. Joe Pearson chimes in with a prediction: “After last night’s pyrotechnic display (not the match, but in my neighborhood), I expect a fairly sedate scoreless match to go to penalties. If all I can contribute is a jinx, I have done my part.” I heard fireworks in my neighborhood well past midnight. And I just heard one tonight. The rockets’ red glare, indeed. Venezuela lineup Transfermarkt says this bunch is worth 67.6m Euros, of which 25m is tagged to Girona midfielder Yangel Herrera. Salomon Rondon and Eduard Bello have two goals each. Jhonder Cadiz and Eric Ramirez each have one. Cadiz and Bello had the goals in the 2-1 comeback win over Ecuador. Rondon’s penalty was the lone goal against Mexico. They made a few changes to the lineup for the group finale and still coasted to a 3-0 win over Jamaica, but tonight’s starters are the same as the 11 that faced Mexico with the exception of Cristian Casseres in place of Jefferson Savarino, who did two stints with Real Salt Lake. Goalkeeper: Rafael Romo (Universidad Catolica, Chile) Left back: Miguel Navarro (Talleres, Argentina) Center back: Yordan Osorio (Parma, Italy) Center back: Nahuel Ferraresi (São Paulo, Brazil) Right back: Jon Aramburu (Real Sociedad, Spain) Holding mid: Yangel Herrera (Girona, Italy) Holding mid: Jose Martinez (Philadelphia Union, MLS) Left mid: Yeferson Soltedo (Gremio, Brazil) Attacking mid: Cristian Casseres (Toulouse, France) Right mid: Eduard Bello (Mazatlan, Mexico) Forward: Salomon Rondon (Pachuca, Mexico) Canada lineup Let’s start by listing all of the goal-scorers for Canada in this tournament so far … Jonathan David (74th minute vs. Peru) That’s all. That goal was enough to earn a 1-0 win in that game, and Canada held on for a 0-0 draw against Chile to advance from its group in second place behind Argentina. David plays for Lille and is valued at 50m Euros at transfermarkt, as is captain/left back Alphonso Davies. The rest of the squad combined is listed at 81m. Not exactly the 805m it would take to buy all the players from Argentina’s roster at the transfermarkt valuation. Even the US team that flopped out of this event at home is valued at 345.6m. Tonight’s starting lineup, unchanged from the draw with Chile: Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau (Portland Timbers, MLS) Left back: Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich, Germany) Center back: Derek Cornelius (Malmo, Sweden) Center back: Moise Bombito (Colorado Rapids, MLS) Right back: Alistair Johnston (Celtic, Scotland) Holding mid: Stephen Eustaquio (Porto, Portugal) Holding mid: Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC, MLS) Left mid: Jacob Shaffelburg (Nashville SC, MLS) Attacking mid: Jonathan David (Lille, France) Right mid: Richie Laryea (Toronto FC, MLS) Forward: Cyle Larin (Mallorca, Spain) Preamble The Kids in the Hall. Rush. Georges St-Pierre. Sarah McLachlan. Metric. (Trust me. Look them up on your favorite streaming service.) Several stalwart Saturday Night Live cast members. A lot of hockey players. Canada has given a lot to the world and sought so little in return. They haven’t even won an NHL championship in three decades and change. Might they claim a World Cup before they claim another Stanley Cup? Maybe we shouldn’t get carried away. But these Canadians are showing that its soccer prowess isn’t limited to controversial losses to the US women’s team and the avenging thereof. In the last World Cup qualifying cycle, Canada’s men finished first in Concacaf, beating the USA and Mexico north of the border and earning draws in Nashville and Mexico City. And now, in this combined Concacaf-Conmebol extravaganza, Canada is the last of the large North American countries left standing. (Panama is the other remaining Concacaf team.) Tonight’s opponent is even more of a surprise. Fifa has hosted the World Cup nearly every four years since 1930 without Venezuela’s presence. In the last two qualification cycles, Venezuela finished last in Conmebol’s brutal 10-team double round-robin. Tonight, they can match their best-ever international performance by reaching the semi-finals of the Copa América for just the second time, having last advanced this far in 2011. So this game will be a bit of a gear shift after today’s spectacular Euro doubleheader with four of the most glamorous national teams in the world playing a game of “let’s see who can come closest to scoring without actually doing so.” But if you like underdog stories, you’re bound to enjoy this game no matter the outcome. Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Jesse Marsch on the USMNT’s failings in the last few weeks: Canada coach Jesse Marsch has spoken of his disappointment at the poor performance of the USMNT at Copa América as his side prepare to take on Venezuela in the quarter-finals on Friday. The 50-year-old American coach led Canada to the last eight with a 1-0 win over Peru to finish second in Group A behind holders Argentina, while the US failed to progress from the group stage after a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay. “I’d like to say that I’m only focused on what we’re doing here in Canada, but obviously I’m paying attention to the US men’s national team as I always do, and like you, I’m sad,” the coach said on Thursday. “I’m disappointed with the performances, the lack of discipline. There are a lot of things that I think we’ve tried to embody about the game in the US, and we’ve always believed in this group of players.”