Canadian men’s soccer team ends 14-month goal drought in friendly
Canada scored its first goal in 14 months in a 1-1 draw away to Bulgaria on Friday.
Atiba Hutchinson (photo above) struck the lone goal for Canada from the spot in the first half, ending a 959 minutes goal drought at the friendly in Ritzing, Austria.
On Tuesday, Canada will look to end a 15-game winless run when it faces Moldova. That match will take place in Mauer, Austria.
The men’s national soccer team has endured a difficult time dating back to an 8-1 loss to Honduras in the fall of 2012 that ended the country’s hopes of qualifying for the upcoming 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
Canada experienced a miserable 2013, losing 10 of 13 matches against three draws during the year. In that stretch the only goal came from Marcus Haber in a 2-1 loss to Japan at a friendly in March of that year. That was the last goal for Canada until Hutchinson scored on Friday.
The only competitive matches Canada has played since the Honduras ouster were in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the men suffered an untimely exit after failing to score against Martinique, Mexico and Panama consecutively; their only point in the competition coming from a 0-0 draw with Panama.
Following the unsuccessful Gold Cup campaign, Spaniard Benito Floro took over the national coaching duties from former Canada international Colin Miller in August 2013 in hopes of reviving the men’s team.
Photo via Canada Soccer Association
