Canada gets Panama as Iran’s replacement for Sunday soccer international in Vancouver

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As fill-ins go, Canada Soccer managed to get a pretty good one: Panama.

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While they’re not the same class as the Iran team that Canada had hoped to play on Sunday as a World Cup tune-up match — 61st in the world vs. 21st — it won’t be a Panama banal.

The men’s national team will take on a country that beat them in their last game, 1-0 in Panama City on March 30, spoiling their coronation as CONCACAF World Cup qualifying champs. In Panama’s last visit to Canada, the hosts won 4-1 in a game that featured the sublime (Alphonso Davies’ glory goal) and saliva (a dust-up sparked by a Panamanian player spitting at Canada’s Richie Laryea).

It sets up Sunday afternoon’s game at BC Place Stadium (4 pm PT, OneSoccer, Telus channel 980) to be an interesting and entertaining one, even if it’s not against a World Cup-bound team.

Canada has beat Panama in all four home meetings since 1996, but is winless (0-6-2) away against the team that finished fifth in the regions World Cup qualifiers.

It’s the first of three matches Canada will play in this international window. The Reds host Curaçao on Thursday, June 9, at BC Place in their Nations Cup opener (7:30 pm) before traveling to Honduras for a June 13 matchup at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula.

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The game against Iran was canceled after pushback from several fronts, who protested holding a game against a country that shot down an airliner with 172 people on board, including 55 Canadian citizens and another 30 permanent residents.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “it wasn’t a very good idea” while players on the team had discussed boycotting the game. Public protests were also highly likely, with many of the victims’ families expressing extreme frustration over the game before it was canceled last Thursday.

Canada Soccer had to scramble to find a suitable opponent that would fit the requirements: Competitive, able to secure travel visas and, most importantly, available. It seemed it would be a long shot until Panama came to the table.

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Now coach John Herdman can focus on the most important stretch of men’s soccer in this country since the 1986 World Cup run. There are still positions he’d like to strengthen before the team heads to Qatar for the World Cup in November, as games against CONCACAF opponents — while useful — aren’t at the level they’ll face this fall.

“These are three opportunities to take steps forward with this group of players in preparation for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar,” Herdman said in a statement.

“Every minute together is crucial as we prepare to work collectively to give us the best chance to perform against some of the world’s best on the biggest stage. There isn’t a minute that can be wasted at this moment. Our group of players that competed across 20 matches as part of World Cup Qualifiers created a foundation of trust, belief and confidence in each other, so bringing them together and continuing to find that next level will be key to our success in Qatar.”

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NEXT GAME

sunday

Canada vs. Panama

4 pm, BC Place Stadium. TV: OneSoccer, Telus channel 980.

This window’s team skews young, with only four players with 50 or more caps: Goalkeeper Milan Borjan, midfielders Samuel Piette and Atiba Hutchinson and forward Cyle Larin. This is a chance for Herdman to consider his options from him.

Los Angeles FC left back Raheem Edwards, currently third in Major League Soccer assists, gets his first call-up to Canada since 2017.

Teenager Luca Koleosho just made his La Liga debut with RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. The 17-year-old winger had multiple options of countries to represent, having been born in the US to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother, and represented the States at the youth level.

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He’s another signing coup on the level of Troyes striker Iké Ugbo — a UK-born Nigerian Canadian — who scored five goals for the Ligue 1 side. He’s on loan from Genk in Belgium, which launched the career of another emerging Canadian superstar in Jonathan David.

David will be back with the Canadian squad this window, along with Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan and Stephen Eustáquio.

Lucas Cavallini will make the bike ride from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Canada this week, along with former Caps teammates Maxime Crépeau and Doneil Henry from Los Angeles FC.

Tickets to Sunday’s game will be just $30 for a lower bowl seat, and will be available on ticketmaster.ca starting at noon on Wednesday.

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