Canada 9-1 Angola: Senior ConfedCup

A new-look Canada cruises to first place in group 1.
Carlos Eldridge had to wait nine minutes to score the first goal. He picked up the ball in his own half, sprinted towards the Angolan net, and beat Francis Cobb to give Canada the lead. Angola managed to test Angel Vang in the Canadian goal a few times, but either Eldridge or striker partner Perry Ferreira would've scored at least once if it wasn't for Cobb. Finally, Eldridge scored a goal almost identical to the one we had scored half an hour earlier, and Angola were trailing by two. Joseph Authier, making his first competitive appearance for Canada since the World Cup, saw his long-range effort go in; Cobb should have dealt with it. The floodgates were clearly wide open by now, and Eldridge got his hat trick on the brink of half-time.
The Africans, to Canada's great surprise, managed to get themselves on the score sheet, thanks to Ian Weeks' accurate twenty-yard effort in the 57th minute. However, Terrance Bryson, fresh off the bench, scored with his first touch of the game, a header which looped over Francis Cobb and in. Just four minutes later, he notched up his second, beating Cobb at his near post after an unselfish pass by Shad Marcus. He managed to record a hat trick in injury time, and this after Ferreira, who had been almost invisible thus far, scored in the 79th and 87th minutes.
So, Canada cap off the group stage with a 9-1 win with a very different line-up as opposed to the one we saw in previous games during the tournament. Mikexvi went with a 3-2-3-2, with Fabian Currie not starting or even making the subs bench! Ferreira and Eldridge were the two lone strikers, with Marcus playing as the central attacking midfielder. Authier and Sterling Manuel played on the wings, as Julian Crosby started in defensive midfield alongside Blake Thornton. Cyrille McCullough stayed in right defence as Horacio Vachon played on the left side and Denis Rodrigue replaced Valere Kendall in the centre. Angola, meanwhile, fielded a 4-3-3, with a diamond defence, and three midfielders all in attacking positions.
Ferreira certainly didn't have an exceptional game, but Eldridge was good, as were Authier and Manuel, both of whom we hadn't seen since the world cup. Marcus impressed me as well, as did Vang in net, but for me this was Terrance Bryson's day, and I'll give him the man of the match award.
There were three yellows in this game: one for Angola (Thom Milner), and two for Canada (Denis Rodrigue and Shad Marcus). Since that's Marcus' second yellow card of the tournament (he got one against Bolivia), it looks like he'll be suspended against Brazil in the round of 16! This would be a major blow as we will be short of one of our best players against one of the best teams in the tournament. You can never count Canada out at the Senior ConfedCup, but December 9th will be a very hard test as Canada plays Brazil in the first round of the knock-out stages.