Tuesday night at BC Place, the Canadian Men’s National Team opened their Concacaf Gold Cup campaign with a resounding 6-0 win over Honduras.

The evolution of this national team over the past 5 years has been pretty dramatic. That goes without saying for almost anyone who has followed the game in this country over that period, and this match at BC Place was a reminder of that shift. Not only was Canada completely dominant over the course of the 90+ minutes of play on the freshly installed grass, but they were absolutely clinical in the way they went about it.

I think that’s been the biggest shift in Canadian Soccer that I’ve seen over my time covering that game. The confidence and ruthlessness that these players play with on a regular basis is only something that can be instilled by a pattern of success at both the club and national team level, and Canada is certainly building that expectation within the group – you have to come in and perform immediately.

Speaking to that expectation, there were a number of relative newcomers to the national team setup who started in this match and highlighted the display.

Burnaby’s own Niko Sigur opened the scoring for Canada in the 27th minute after he made a great run into the Honduras area, linking up with Jonathan David on a quick give and go sequence before slotting the ball home.

Luc De Fougerolles and Joel Waterman were also rock solid in the centre of defence, and both provided notable on-ball value as Canada was very effectively able to break through Honduras’ press and get running forward in attack.

Nathan Saliba and Mathieu Choinière both had tidy days in the midfield, with Choinière being dangerous from set plays and Saliba scoring on a great strike in the 90th minute.

Up front, Tani Oluwaseyi made his made his fourth start and his longest appearance to date for his country, notching a goal and an assist. He adds those tallies to an impressive season in MLS play, where he already has 8 goals and 5 assists.

None of these players have been asked to shoulder a big load for Canada in the past, but this tournament will be a great opportunity for them to make their mark with more standout performances. Jesse Marsch has emphasized the importance of internal competition within the group, and with the World Cup looming less than a year away for these players, they know the importance of making an impression.

Someone who has been a bit more of a regular for Canada and that we are all pretty familiar with is Ali Ahmed, who also had a great performance, combining with Richie Laryea and causing the Honduras fullbacks headaches all night. We’ve seen Ali take a big step forward with his play in Vancouver this season under Jesper Sørensen, and his ability to be a contributor both centrally and on the wing for Canada is incredibly valuable.

Keeping an eye on the bigger picture at this tournament, Honduras was certainly billed as Canada’s biggest challenge of the group stage from the outset, though Curaçao is always a trendy underdog, even if they did not impress in a rather listless 0-0 draw against El Salvador in their tournament opener. Canada plays Curaçao on Saturday in Houston, and then will follow that up with El Salvador next Tuesday.

Ultimately, we’ll probably have to wait until early July to make any sweeping proclamations about this tournament in terms of Canada’s performance, as potential matchups with Mexico or the United States loom. For now, though, I think it’s fair to say that Canada is off the starting blocks in the best possible way, and that this is a group of players that looks incredibly hungry and ready to prove themselves.

(Images: Kevren Guillou)