Losing. so nice, we did it twice! part one.

So, after a whole bunch of friendlies away from home, Canada returned to Toronto for the first time since 2008 to take on Peru, and all in all it was a bit of a disappointment.  The game itself wasn't terrible, and the loss certainly wasn't unexpected, Peru are after all ranked much higher than Canada.  The first half was quite like watching TFC play, we defended well, without ever looking like scoring, De Guzman looked good but did his usual share of giving the ball away, while De Rosario looked our most dangerous player.   A big difference though was that we actually played with wingers and looked like we were trying to create something that way.  Simeon Jackson's poor crossing gave away the fact that he's usually a striker, and maybe that's where we should start playing him as Rob Friend was a big non-factor.  In the second half, Peru eventually showed their class, and after they scored two quick goals, Canada never looked like getting back into it, and 2-0 was the final score.

 The biggest disappointment though was the crowd, out of the 10,000+ there, probably about 50-60% was cheering on Peru, and with their support spread throughout the stadium and the Canada fans mainly concentrated in the southeast corner, It certainly felt like an away game.  Unlike others I'm not going to complain about the Peruvian-Canadians that came out to support their team, or tell them to leave the country.  I may not like the fact that they chose to cheer against the country they live in, and they didn't have to be quite as confrontational about it as some were, with one of them even going so far as to "show his little flagpole" to the nearby Canadian fans when Peru scored, but I understand why they do, and it's always going to be a fact of life in Canada.

I'm more disappointed in all the other Canadians, well Torontonians I suppose, I'm not going to the game on tuesday in Montreal, so I won't bitch at the out of towners.  But all those who were celebrating on the streets of Toronto during the world cup, where were they?  All the TFC fans who didn't make it, whether casual, occasional attendees or season ticket holders, where were they?  I get that it was just a friendly, that it was in the middle of a long weekend, and that the CSA did next to nothing to promote the game but still.

Maybe I had unreasonable expectations after the only other Canada game I've been to, the world cup qualifier against Jamaica, when the place was full and largely pro-Canadian.  This was actually a record in that it was the 5th consecutive game with attendance over 10,000, so I guess it's steady progress being made, but I can't help but think it could have been more.  In the tweeted words of Toronto mayor David Miller "Hey Soccer Canada: some marketing, eh? Our lads deserve a full house".  On to Honduras in Montreal, hopefully at least one of the team or crowd will be better there.