You get the point.
Martinique, a French-controlled island of 400,000 鈥� which isn鈥檛 even in FIFA 鈥� stunned sa国际传媒 1-0 in injury time Sunday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to open the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
Goalkeeper Simon Thomas and defender Adam Straith, both of Victoria, were dressed for sa国际传媒 but didn鈥檛 play. They get their next chance as group play continues Thursday against Mexico at CenturyLink Field in Seattle (8 p.m., Sportsnet World) in a game expected to draw thousands of fans from the Island and Lower Mainland.
Group play for sa国际传媒 concludes against Panama next Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver.
But not before the shock loss to Martinique 鈥� which comes on the heels of last fall鈥檚 8-1 debacle in Honduras that eliminated sa国际传媒 from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil 鈥� fully reverberates though the Canadian soccer family.
鈥淲e are falling way behind other countries in CONCACAF,鈥� warned Ian Bridge of Victoria, a standout defender for sa国际传媒 in its lone World Cup appearance in 1986.
鈥淲e were never technically the most sound but we always had big, strong athletes who could stand up to any players in the region,鈥� added the former sa国际传媒 women鈥檚 U-20 and men鈥檚 Victoria Highlanders head coach, Olympic team assistant and now assistant coach of the UVic Vikes men鈥檚 team.
鈥淣ow, we aren鈥檛 even that anymore.鈥�
sa国际传媒, of course, has a structural problem.
鈥淲hile 95 per cent of our top athletes go into ice hockey, 95 per cent of the top athletes in other countries play soccer,鈥� noted Bridge.
鈥淏ut there are ways to overcome that. Technically, we must watch and do exactly what the other countries are doing, if not better.鈥�
That will be the job of former Real Madrid manager and newly announced Canadian head coach Benito Floro, who takes over the reigns after the Gold Cup, and is tasked with getting sa国际传媒 to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Victoria Highlanders coach Steve Simonson 鈥� who counts both Bridge and Canadian Gold Cup interim head coach Colin Miller as his Highlanders predecessors 鈥� preached patience.
鈥淭hey picked a very young team for the Gold Cup,鈥� Simonson noted.
鈥淭he reality is the program is in transition with a new look. It is building for the future and will need time to sort itself out. It鈥檚 going to take time, support and patience.鈥�
That didn鈥檛 ease the sting of the immediate.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all feeling very, very disappointed about the way that we lost yesterday,鈥� said Canadian interim bench boss Miller, on Monday.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to make excuses but we are devastated by the result. But we now need to regroup. We have a lot of character in this group. It wasn鈥檛 from a lack of effort. We have a nucleus of the squad that is young and learning. The result is history now. We can鈥檛 do anything about it. We have to learn from it.鈥�
Mexico, the class of CONCACAF, will be surly after losing 2-1 to Panama in its Gold Cup opener.
鈥淲e have to be prepared for a Mexican team that, like ourselves, will be very disappointed with their result,鈥� said Miller.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not very often they lose. [But] we know there will be a good Canadian crowd coming down to watch the game and it will be a fabulous occasion.鈥�
