ORLANDO, Fla. – On a brisk Florida afternoon, Canada’s attempt at revenge fell just short against Iceland.
After falling 2-1 to the Europeans in a friendly, also in Orlando, on Friday, Canada met Iceland once again on Monday, trading penalty kicks from Dwayne De Rosario and Holmbert Fridjonsson for a 1-1 draw at the University of Central Florida.
Both countries featured largely inexperienced sides for the non-FIFA date friendly, though De Rosario, who scored in the previous friendly, started the match up top, and he seemed to help Les Rouges find the rhythm that eluded them on Friday. Canada had the better of the play in the first half, but Iceland had a number of dangerous chances as well.
Fridjonsson almost put Iceland up early with a rocket in the 13th minute, but Canadian keeper Kyriakos Stamatopoulos parried it over the bar. Canada escaped again in the 25th as an Iceland free kick was headed off the crossbar.
Canada was aggressive down both wings throughout the half, and it paid off in the 30th minute. The Montreal Impact’s Karl Ouimette was pulled down in the box by Hordur Arnason after a nifty move to beat the Icelandic defender. The MLS veteran De Rosario stepped up and calmly buried the spot kick in his 81st cap for his second goal in as many matches.
Stamatopoulos came up huge again just minutes later, denying Iceland midfielder Thórarinn Ingi Valdimarsson on a breakaway chance. From there, the action was sloppy and disjointed as Canada held onto the 1-0 lead through the halftime whistle.
It was more of the same to start the second half, as neither side was able to string together many passes in the attacking third. It was Canada’s turn to concede a spot kick in the 64th minute, as defender Manjrekar James clattered into Icelandic attacker Matthías Vilhjálmsson in the area. Fridjonsson stepped up to slot home the penalty for Iceland and level the score at 1-1.
Second-half substitute Iain Hume seemed to energize the Canadians in attack, and his scissor kick attempt in the 69th forced a save from the Icelandic keeper. The teams traded chances throughout the half, with Vilhjálmsson just inches from scoring a winner for Iceland in the 86th.
Despite failing to hold a lead, Canada head coach Benito Floro can take heart that his young squad was able to draw with an Iceland side 79 spots ahead of them in the FIFA Rankings. With their first result of 2015, the Canadian national team can now look ahead to a big year, one that includes the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the start of their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
