The bad grass got the better of Canada. A harmless long-distance shot that Busti looked sure to capture took an awkward bounce off a divot and came up into the keeper’s face. The ball then caromed to Diaz, who scored his second off a nothing play.

The Canadians needed a late second-half goal from FC Dallas draft pick Adonijah Reid to save them some serious blushes — Canada got out of the match with a narrow 2-1 win over Guadeloupe.

After a weather delay in Bradenton, Fla. delayed the kickoff of Canada’s opening match at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship by nearly an hour, Noble Okello Ayo brought the thunder.

But, with yet another loss to the Americans in which the Canadians didn’t generate enough to be competitive, it’s OK to be nervous about what Canada will do when it gets to the World Cup.

Canadian men’s national lteam coach John Herdman has made it something of a trademark to throw young players right into the mix. With six teenagers seeing the field in Canada’s 5-0 win over Dominica, it appears its steady on with that philosophy.

So, even though Canada played Dominica in the most recent World Cup qualifying cycle, Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio admitted that he and his teammates have what amounts to a very limited scouting report on the team from the island nation.

The formality of World Cup qualifying is done and dusted for the Canadian women's team.

Now, only months into the plan as he works to rebuild the men’s program from scratch, we’re already seeing Herdman ask players to buy into the program on a much deeper level than get off the plane, go to training, put on the shirt, play the game, fly back to your club.

Canada will play Panama Sunday, with the winner getting one of CONCACAF’s qualification spots at the Women’s World Cup.

Here’s a suggestion. What would be a hell of a lot better than streaming a World Cup qualifying match from a mostly empty 9,700-seat USL stadium in Edinburg, Tex.? Seeing Canada playing World Cup qualifiers in Ottawa or in Toronto or in Vancouver or in Winnipeg or in Edmonton. Or Victoria. Or Moncton. Heck, there’s a decent stadium in Fort Mac.