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Game: Jamaica vs. Canada
Date: Thursday, July 20th
Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 p.m. Central, 4:30 p.m. Pacific, 11:30 p.m. UTC
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
Television: United States - FOX Sports 1, Univision, Univision Deportes, AFN Sports; Canada - TSN2, RDS for all other countries check here for your listing
Streaming: fuboTV, FOX Sports GO, Univision Deportes En Vivo, Univision NOW, FOX Soccer Match Pass, TSN.ca, RDS GO
Radio: Futbol de Primera Radio, Westwood One Sports
What Canada will look like
Canada was able to get into the playoff round by dispatching French Guiana 4-2 and then drawing Costa Rica 1-1 and Honduras 0-0. 16 year old Alphonso Davies has been the tournament’s best player thus far, scoring three goals and being a danger on Canada’s attacking front. Orlando City forward Cyle Larin will be joining Canada for this round, which should augment Canada’s offensive capabilities. Davies, Larin, and Junior Hoilett will present big problems for Jamaica’s defense.
Defensively, Canada has been able to remain relatively steady. Goalkeeper Milan Borjan has given up just one goal in his three appearances in the tournament (Maxime Crepeau gave up the two goals to French Guiana), and the center back pairing of Dejan Jakovic and Steven Vitoria is inexplicably working. Don’t be fooled though, the defense is suspect and if they don’t execute against the Jamaicans it could be a very long night for the Canadians.
What Jamaica will look like
Jamaica made no changes going into the knockout stage, so they’ll look to line up like they did in the group stage matches. Andre Blake is far and away the Reggae Boyz’ best player, and his defense has been playing as well as any in the tournament. Conceding one goal in three games is a good achievement, especially considering they faced El Salvador and Mexico (and Curacao too) in the group stage.
Jamaica’s offense hasn’t been great, but they’ve been effective when needed. Darren Mattocks has scored twice and Romario Williams once thus far in the tournament, however both players have had opportunities that they weren’t able to capitalize on. They’ll need to step up if they’re going to redeem Jamaica for their lackluster showing against Mexico in the 2015 Gold Cup Final.
What to expect
It’s CONCACAF, and neither of these teams have really found what they’re about on the pitch thus far in the tournament. Anything can happen, and probably will.