Short-handed Canada digs deep to battle Ecuador to scoreless draw

Jesse Marsch, the head coach of Canada’s men’s soccer team, leaned into the fourth official’s ear to plead his hopeless case.

“Unbelievable,” Marsch shouted at him. “That’s unbelievable.”

In only the sixth minute of Thursday’s supposed friendly against Ecuador at a sold-out BMO Field in Toronto, Ali Ahmed was given a straight red card for a high challenge. The contact, on Alan Franco’s arm, was not as significant as it first appeared, but Fernando Hernandez, the Mexican referee, was unsparing in his judgments.

Ecuador, ranked 23rd in the world and on the rise, went on to dominate possession if not the sum of a contentious night. The visitors didn’t manage a single shot on target against the short-handed Canadians, who dug deep to earn an impressive scoreless draw.

“You know the guy beside you is going to go to war for you,” Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair said after. 

But that was only partial comfort for Marsch, who saw one of the last matches before next summer’s all-important World Cup, in front of the biggest home crowd of his tenure, unfold with one man missing.

“I do not think it’s a red card,” Marsch said. “You can put that on the record.”

There was still something to be said for the sturdy display that followed.

“I know we have character in this team,” Marsch said. “But when you add maturity, and intelligence, and savviness, then you can really access what that character is. That part made me really happy to be their coach tonight.”

The last several weeks have been challenging for Canada’s previously meteoric men, who began a string of international windows in September with what Marsch described as the “best 10 days” of his time in charge. His side won back-to-back games in Europe, against Romania and Wales, for the first time in the program’s often beleaguered history. 

October was less successful, after a late, scrappy loss to Australia in Montreal, and a scoreless draw against Colombia in New Jersey.

Now Marsch has endured watching a distraught Ahmed, one of his favourite players, beating the ground with his fists, and then his depleted team going scoreless again.

That’s partly a function of serious opposition and a litany of injuries. Alphonso Davies, Alistair Johnston, Moise Bombito, Samuel Adekugbe, and Luc de Fougerolles have all been sidelined.

But most of that damage has been sustained by the back, and the next players up, especially Richie Laryea and Niko Sigur at fullback, have been revelations — so good, in fact, that Marsch might face a dilemma or two when his former starters return.