Key events
84 min: Adams bowls over Sigur, though the US midfielder has an issue with it, perhaps thinking Sigur went down too easily. Free kick comes to nought,.
83 min: Save for Schwake at medium-close range. The US keeper still hasn’t done anything spectacular, unless he did indeed get a finger to the shot off the crossbar, but he has been flawless in whatever he has been asked to do.
80 min: Funny how “Neil Pierre” sounds a bit like “Neil Peart,” the late drummer for the legendary Canadian band Rush.
79 min: Jebbison beats his man on the right and sends in a sharp cross that Promise David heads a few feet wide.
Canada have had the better of play in this half by far, but other than the shot off the crossbar, nothing has really been threatening.
77 min: Resetting the US lineup – Schwake still in goal, then Robinson, Richards, Mehmeti and Freeman at the back, Pierre, Adams and Berhalter in midfield, Campbell and Dest on the wings, Hall up front. Eight subs.
76 min: Yet another corner kick for Canada, taken short and almost turned over right away. Adams gets the ball and is toppled by Saliba for a US free kick.
75 min: Laryea lifts an impatient cross over the box.
74 min: Mehmeti, Jedi Robinson and Pierre will replace Tillman, Trusty and George Campbell. All three of the departing US players had excellent games.
72 min: Tillman sees yellow after a professional foul.
Shaffelburg is out. Promise David has entered.
71 min: Hall is open in acres of space, and he’s one-on-one with St. Clair. It’s in the net, but it’s the side netting.
70 min: Through ball to the debutant Cole Campbell! But Laryea is back to defend.
68 min: The USA have their first attack in ages, with Dest involved in the buildup.
67 min: George Campbell (we’ll have to distinguish from Cole Campbell now) has an awkward moment facing his own net and playing the ball just wide of the goal under pressure. Canada get yet another corner.
66 min: Canadian subs – Jebbison and Russell-Rowe replace Millar and Oluwaseyi.
64 min: OFF THE BAR! It’s a great Choiniere free kick that drops to De Fougerolles on the doorstep, and his shot clangs off the top of the goal.
Replay suggest Schwake got a fingertip to it.
62 min: Adams’ first action is a foul to give Canada a free kick dead center, maybe 28 yards out.
61 min: It’ll be Campbell and Tyler Adams entering for Raines and Albert.
Chris Richards dashes over to hand the armband to Adams.
60 min: Cole Campbell laughs as Mauricio Pochettino preps him to come in for his US debut at age 20.
58 min: Yellow to Jonathan David after a nasty collision with Trusty.
56 min: Shaffelburg stays on the right and earns a corner kick. Fotmob’s ratings only have Shaffelburg at 6.4, which is ridiculous. He’s been the best player in the Canadian side, if not the best player on the field.
55 min: USA on the break … nope. Shaffelburg switches to the right side of the field and makes a textbook clean tackle.
54 min: TNT’s Brian Dunseth is convinced the referee’s whistles have been inconsistent. I’m biased as a semi-retired extreme low-level ref, but I don’t think so.
52 min: Foul. Another foul. Another foul. I haven’t heard this much whistling since Guns N’ Roses released the song Patience.
51 min: Freeman and Shaffelburg have an epic battle for the ball deep into the US half. Freeman wins out in the end, drawing a foul.
50 min: Long cross into the US box, but no one is near Schwake, and the keeper easily collect.
48 min: Nice ball ahead for Shaffelburg. Campbell makes another vital intervention – impressive game for the little-capped US defender.
46 min: Subs have been made. Reyna, Musah and Ellis leave. Berhalter, Hall and Dest are in.
Eustáquio is out, replaced by Choiniere, a name I can absolutely spell.
Meanwhile, Chicago leads Vancouver 1-0. Yes, that’s another 1-0 for the USA over Canada. Still early.
Foul count for the half ended up 13-10 Canada. Credit to Canada for cutting back, but these were all pointless fouls. Some fouls come from intimidating challenges, some are “good fouls” that slow down an attack. These were neither.
Halftime: USA 1-0 Canada
Weird game that probably won’t please either coach. Canada have created a bevy of half chances but nothing of major consequence, and they’ve committed a lot of easily avoided fouls. The USA don’t seem quite as sharp, but they have the goal – maybe slightly against the run of play at the time, but the USA have looked better later in the half.
45 min +3: Freeman tries to volley the hard-driven ball into the net, but it careens well wide.
45 min +2: Reyna’s free kick nearly finds Richards, but Oluwaseyi is there to head it over for another corner.
45 min +1: Misplay for Canada, and it’s another corner kick for the USA. It’s taken short, played back to Reyna, and Jonathan David commits a silly foul just outside the box. Why give up a free kick there? Reyna wasn’t even headed toward the goal.
45 min: USA corner, and Eustáquio, who has remained in the game for now, nearly matches Ellis’ feat of putting the ball in the Canadian net while injured.
43 min: Eustáquio gets bumped again, and he can’t continue.
Laryea kicks the ball at Pochettino but goes over for a smile and handshake.
42 min: Play resumes. The air has gone out of the stadium a bit now. Booming home crowd for most of the first half hour, but now you can here individual voices.
40 min: Canada play the ball out deliberately as Eustáquio is down holding his shoulder. Reyna gets a yellow card.
39 min: Ellis brilliantly sets up Albert, and it seems for a moment that the US youngster might create a promising angle to shoot, but he loses possession, and Canada end up with another free kick deep in their own half.
37 min: I’m trying to think who Shaffelburg, with his mustache and semi-mulleted curls, resembles. Maybe a member of .38 Special? Some other 70s or early 80s band?
He’s a persistent thorn in the USA’s side in any case.
36 min: Shaffelburg again draws a free kick to the side of the box, this time on a foul from Freeman.
35 min: Bad US pass picked off, but Eustáquio squanders the opportunity with a shot that Schwake easily smothers.
34 min: Foul on the USA – second time in a few minutes that they’ve ended their possession with an unnecessary infraction.
33 min: Trusty does well to leap high and get a head to a menacing Canadian cross.
32 min: The USA test the other side of the field for the first time in a while, but they end up retreating.
30 min: Yellow card to Oluwaseyi at his old home ground. Clearly late, and he caught a US player’s foot. Can’t argue with that one.
GOAL!! USA 1-0 Canada (Ellis 29)
Freeman and Tillman combine wonderfully down the right, and Freeman rips one toward the far post. Ellis, last seen with a woeful limp, bangs the ball into the net from about two feet away.
Replay shows he was … maybe offside?
28 min: Resume passing around on the US back line.
And it’s … a goal?
26 min: The USA have looked a bit dangerous down the right when they’re not griping about no-calls.
US fans may disagree, but I think Madrigal, the referee from Costa Rica, has done well thus far.
25 min: The referee can’t ignore this one, as Tillman is late to a challenge. Shaffelburg sends the free kick somewhere toward the border.
24 min: Another good ball from Canada, and it’s Campbell making the vital intervention.
Potential fouls each way, but the referee is probably getting tired of blowing the whistle.
