The 2015 Gold Cup Matches in Toronto

I went out to BMO Field to watch a couple of Gold Cup Group B matches, which were Jamaica vs El Salvador and Canada vs Costa Rica. As someone who regularly goes to Toronto FC (and some Canada) matches, this would serve to be a rather unique experience for me, especially watching the Jamaica/El Salvador match, where I was a neutral.

It was a poor start to my evening, as I missed my train to the stadium and showed up in the 20th minute of the Jamaica/El Salvador match. The first thing I noticed was the amount of El Salvador supporters in the stadium. They vastly outnumbered the Jamaica supporters and they made a lot more noise. The stadium attendance itself was a bit sparse, but the El Salvador supporters made sure that they made their voices heard. I got the feeling that making noise came naturally to the El Salvador supporters, and they made more noise than Toronto FC supporters did on some TFC match days.

The match itself was decently entertaining despite the fact that it was low scoring. Both teams had their chances, but El Salvador were the more aggressive side, as they needed to get a result to have a chance of advancing to the next round, and they were also spurred on by the boisterous support. The overwhelming El Salvador support also affected the referee, as he made a number of calls in their team’s favour. It was a heated affair, as both sides looked like they would come to blows on multiple occasions throughout the match. Despite Jamaica being down a man due to the referee sending off Darren Mattocks and El Salvador applying pressure on Jamaica's back line, they managed to get a late winner and win the match 1-0. With El Salvador having all that pressure, they seemed more intent on passing the ball among themselves instead of getting shots on goal and testing the keeper. 

With Jamaica winning the group, the attention turned to Canada and Costa Rica. Canada had to win in order to advance. As the south end Canada supporters sections started to fill up and supporters started to make more noise, the rain came crashing down, which only made the Canadian supporters louder and more fervent. When the rain came down before the teams came out, it felt like I was in a pool of hungry piranhas.

Canada actually did not play too badly against Costa Rica. They were solid at the back, but they lacked the final product on offense, which were two major story lines of Canada's Gold Cup campaign. Costa Rica did not play like the team that made the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals, and it was an opportunity Canada wasted when the match ended scoreless. A Canada goal ruled offside and a shot cleared off the Costa Rica goal line only contributed to the visible anguish of the Canadian supporters. Many people point the blame of Canada failing to advance at Benito Floro, and I think that is fair. He felt more content to play for the draw instead of going for the win, especially for this match, and it reflected his game management and substitutions (putting in Andre Hainault, a defender, for example). On the other hand, Canada was missing a number of regular starters, and I think Floro's priority lies in progressing in the World Cup qualifiers, rather than the Gold Cup. Floro’s tactics raises some concern, but I would hold off on pulling the trigger and firing him.

Speaking of the Canada supporters, I think it was the loudest I have ever heard the Canadian supporters at BMO Field, in which the periodic, pounding rain and the Canadian team's "must win" situation contributed to it. I always thought going to Canadian national team matches produced a much stronger atmosphere than going to Toronto FC matches, and this match reinforced that thought, even though the attendances are much smaller. That night was something special, because everyone in the sections came together to create unified support. One particular moment from the supporters section came before halftime, where someone decided to let off a smoke bomb in our section. Personally, I have nothing against smoke bombs, even though it is against the rules, but it ended up being more of a nuisance than anything else. I was not able to watch the rest of the half because of it!

Overall, it was a unique and interesting night to go watch some football on a Tuesday, from El Salvador supporters fighting among themselves, to the smoke bomb incident in the Canada supporters section. I hope that there are more events like this in the future, because I had a lot of fun.