Canada 2-3 USA (AET): 2009 Senior ConfedCup

Canada crashes out: Magee golden goal sends the States into ecstasy and the Canucks into heartbreak.
The first real chance of the game came when Carlos Eldridge stole the ball from George Carr and shot from distance. It should have been an easy save for Rashad Bradshaw, but the ball ended up going in and Canada had a 1-0 lead! The Americans, who were poor up until then, responded well, and nearly equalised with another long-range effort, but Terence Cortes could only hit the post. Eldridge missed a great chance to go two goals up with a little over half an hour gone when his shot whizzed well over the bar, and Cortes hit the post again not long after a free kick of his went just wide. The Americans would finally get the equaliser they needed in the 43rd minute, but it was an ugly and very lucky one. After Angel Vang had saved Ross Ferguson's shot, Isidore Paige was about to clear, but because of some mix-up between him and his keeper, the defender accidentally ended up kicking the ball into his own net! A catastrophic turn of events, and so Canada would be heading into the break level with their rivals at 1-1, and still shocked about what just happened.
Early in the second half, Ferguson seemed like he could be in on goal before Sal Covington fouled him just outside the area. Covington received his second yellow of the tournament, meaning he would miss out on the final should Canada make it. His disappointment grew when Cortes, instead of shooting, made a decoy pass to Rey Judd, who quickly shot into the top corner just past Vang's right hand and in; the Americans were leading for the first time. The Americans then had another free kick in a dangerous position, and, this time, Cortes took it, forcing Vang into a fine save. It seemed everything was going the Americans' way, until a Covington free kick found Eldridge, who saw his header saved. However, the ball bounced right to a lurking Perry Ferreira, who equalised for Canada. Cortes and Collin McCain continued to keep Vang in action, and although the States had controlled most of the game thus far, Ferreira gave them a scare by hitting the bar with a 30-yard effort, and so did substitute Terrance Bryson when his shot was saved impressively by Bradshaw. From the resulting corner, the ball sailed over Bradshaw and ended up going all the way to Bryson, who had an open net. However, the striker was at a tight angle, and shot wide. When Bradshaw easily saved a Ferreira header, time had gone up. For the second year in a row, Canada had made it to the semi-finals and taken it to extra time. Though they'd lost in extra time in 2008 to Australia, they were hoping they could do the opposite in 2009.
Blake Thornton had the first chance, but his long-range shot was saved easily by Bradshaw. He kicked the ball down the field and it came to Burt Hatch, who had come on in place of Paige. If Paige had made a huge error, so did Hatch. He gave the ball away to McCain, and although there seemed to be no danger then, McCain then passed to Brock Magee who raced towards the penalty area. Cyrille McCullough tried to close him down, but Magee shot from the edge of the box just before his opposite #26 could reach him. The low shot went just inside the near post, and, with that, the game was over. Canada had lost in extra time again, and the Americans were into the final, where they would face *gulp* China.
The line-up was the same (4-1-2-1-2) than the one we played against Indonesia, except Thornton started in place of the suspended Fabian Currie. The USA played a 3-2-1-2-2, with the left attacking midfielder slightly more advanced than the right. Canada played well, and could have won it, but we, Bryson in particular, wasted our chances in the last 10 minutes. In the end, the Americans deserved to win, and hopefully they'll beat the dreaded Chinese in the final, but Canada is left to wonder what might have been.
The man of the match was probably Cortes for the Americans, but he received a yellow card in that game: his fourth of the tournament, which means he's suspended for the second time in the Confederations Cup! Marc Krause will also be unavailable for the final, with him getting his second yellow of the cup, while Lenny Justice and Dana Wilburn each received their first. Canada's only booking was Covington, who, of course, will miss the 3rd place match against Colombia.
Canada's best player was probably Paige...nah, just kidding. Eldridge had a good game, but Covington performed admirably despite the set-back of missing the final, and he's proven throughout the tournament that he deserves a firm place in the National Squad. So, he's Canada's man of the match!