Canadian fans are surprised at how easily their team won against the Ukrainian national team (4:2) in yesterday’s friendly match of the "Canadian Shield" tournament, which they consider to be a European mid-level team. Local fans humorously reacted to their team conceding two goals in the last minutes of the match, calling it "a gesture of goodwill towards the guests".
Photo — uaf.uaOverall, many were pleasantly surprised by Canada’s bright offensive play. They did not expect to see such a dull and weak performance from Ukraine, which they considered a serious opponent before the match. Interestingly, the Canadians believe that the upcoming match at the start of the "Gold Cup CONCACAF" will be more difficult, and Honduras, which they will play in the first round, is a stronger opponent than Ukraine.
Davies: A disappointing end to the match because we allowed the Ukrainians to score two goals. But I am sure our players will learn from this and become even stronger. I only feel sorry for Crepeau, because he had an excellent game and did not deserve to concede two goals. But overall, Canada was two heads stronger than Ukraine today.
Fray: A dominating victory over a European mid-level team. Of course, Ukraine is not the kind of opponent that can scare anyone right now, but they did participate in Euro 2024 and are generally considered a decent team. Therefore, I am happy for our guys; they pleasantly surprised us today.
Dedo: We should have won by a score of 6:0 or 7:0, but instead we conceded two goals in the last minutes. But even this will not ruin the mood for the fans. A pleasant victory over a worthy opponent.
Biff: It feels like at the end of the match we were ashamed of beating Ukraine 4:0, so we just let Ukraine feel good as guests and score two silly goals. Kind of a good gesture.
Frenzy: We conceded two silly goals after we relaxed, but overall the game is impressive. We could have scored not 4 but 6-7 goals against Ukraine. The final result of 4:2 does not fully reflect what happened on the field today.
Jacob: If Ukraine played as well as they claim in their pre-match interviews, the score would have been 4:0 in their favor. I didn’t expect them to have such big problems in football.
Drix: Ukraine scored two goals because we thought: "Let’s wait until they feel the taste of victory, because they don’t have much joy in life anyway." I hope they at least enjoyed themselves a little.
Wriggles: After Ukraine scored two goals at the end, we all in the stadium were like: "Seriously, two goals in the last minutes? Alright, guys, you can score a couple of goals, but no more!".
Tua: I thought Ukraine would be stronger today, but we only needed 80 minutes to feel that maybe it was time to give them a chance to play football. It’s funny that the only goal from the play was scored by their defender.
Lopy: Canada dominated the field for about 80 minutes. After the substitutions, we relaxed and allowed the Ukrainians to score two goals. Since this was a friendly match, you can understand our players; they no longer believed that the Ukrainians could come back and maybe finished playing football a little earlier than they should have.
Allan: Next time when Ukraine hints that Canada is a weak team in football, I will say: "Sorry that we scored you 4 quick goals and did not want to humiliate you further".
Hunter: Honestly, we wanted to win 4:0 but took a break for a couple of minutes so that the Ukrainians could have a little fun, as we saw their sad faces. I hope they understand that New Zealand will not be giving them such gifts.
Lou: We made a couple of substitutions, and they thought: "Oh, this is a chance!". But in reality, we just gave them a chance to lose not too embarrassingly. After all, it was a friendly match for charitable purposes.
Baker: It feels like we are philanthropists in football: we allowed Ukraine to score a couple of goals so as not to ruin their day. We won 4:2, but left Ukraine with the feeling that they were close to winning. It’s nice, right?
Nesker: Too easy a victory! Either Ukraine has forgotten how to play football or Canada is progressing so quickly that opponents of this level can no longer stop us. I had a higher opinion of the Ukrainians in football.
Jeffrey: It’s scary to imagine what the score would have been if Canada had played against Ukraine in ice hockey. But it turns out we are already much stronger than the Ukrainians in football. Who could have imagined that 10 years ago?
Enigma: The Ukrainians arrived in Canada with such pomp, as if they were the world champions. They brought a bunch of trophies, organized many events, and said a lot of beautiful phrases in interviews. And then they stepped on the field and, excuse me, crapped themselves. So maybe they need to show all their skills on the field instead of making beautiful videos in words or on social media?
Ramsey: This match could be seen as a preparation stage for the "Gold Cup CONCACAF". There are 10 days left until the start, and there is a feeling that Canada is ready to "make some noise" in this tournament. But it’s not worth believing in victory beforehand. Ukraine is like Honduras, but a little worse, so it will be harder there than today.
OrganicApple: There were times when Ukraine was considered a strong team in football, contending for something serious. Now I understand that I follow European football particularly closely, as I was sure Ukraine plays much better.
Saunders: When did Ukraine forget how to play football? I somehow missed that moment. Before the match, I was sure we would lose or draw if lucky. Or was it a reserve squad of Ukraine? I just don’t particularly follow their team; I know few players from the Ukrainian national team.
Dmitry Malyanov
