But the best part of it was the colour commentary from the Maestro and the play-by-play work from his partner. Mad Bull, two man who never met a metaphor they didn’t like. And, even though Canada started off sluggishly, Canadian fans could ignore the quality of the soccer, and make the surreal viewing experience the focus of their chat.

With his brace on Friday night against Belize, Tosaint Ricketts now has 12 goal in 43 appearances for Canada. That puts him at 0.28 goals per appearance, slightly better than De Ro’s standard. But, more interestingly, Ricketts has seven career goals in World Cup qualifiers; De Rosario had nine in his career.

Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro re-affirmed his belief in Kyle Bekker, but said that the return of veteran midfielders Atiba Hutchinson and Will Johnson meant that there was no room at the inn for Jonathan Osorio.

But, as more and more North American Soccer League players get the calls to play for their countries, that league should also be subject to the same scheduling scrutiny. In fact, you could argue that NASL teams are less equipped than the MLS teams are when it comes to dealing with games on international dates.

It says something when the three Canadian MLS teams put a grand total of four players on the national side — and none of those four players are what you’d consider “regulars” for their club sides.

The play of Brampton’s Cyle Larin has kickstarted Orlando City’s season; the team can thanks its Canadian rookie, not its star veterans, for getting its first MLS season into top gear...

We begin our look back at the 2015 Women’s World Cup with a salute to the champions — this tournament was held on Canadian soil but, by the time the final kicked off, the Americans had made it theirs — on the field and in the stands...

Then, the replay; it showed Haber was a step ahead of those three defenders when the ball was struck. The linesman had got the offside call correct. We couldn’t even have the cold solace of a conspiracy theory.

Now, two years later, it’s looking like the cabal of Miller critics owe the man an apology — at least for the criticisms of how he handled the national side. While Canada flounders through another goalless Gold Cup (as Morrissey once sang: Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before), Miller’s FC Edmonton leads the NASL in goals scored.

“We have three teams who are playing in MLS,” said Floro. “But only two or three players are starting. That’s a bad position for us, no?”