Canada wasn’t intimidated by Scotland’s superior soccer pedigree and lore in recording a credible 1-1 draw in a friendly Wednesday at Easter Road in Edinburgh.
Defender Adam Straith and goalkeeper Simon Thomas, both from Oak Bay, played notable roles for Canada.
Six-foot-three Thomas started and played the first 45 minutes to earn his seventh cap, before handing over the Canadian crease in the second half to Jayson Leutwiler, from England’s Shrewsbury Town.
Fellow Islander Straith, among Canada’s most reliable defenders, played the full 90 minutes to earn his 42nd cap.
“It was a very positive performance from the boys tonight,” Straith said from Edinburgh.
“We showed how good we are on the ball and also how difficult we can be to break down.
“Some of the younger players that saw the pitch tonight were our shining stars, and I think it is an exciting time for anyone who’s involved or follows the team.
“To come to Scotland and get a result against a side that was at home, and also obviously needing a result as they are going through some tough times, speaks to how we are progressing.”
It was, perhaps, only appropriate that Fraser Aird — who plays for Falkirk of the Scottish Second Division and whose parents were both born in Scotland — scored Canada’s goal. Aird, a native of Scarborough, Ont., counted at 11 minutes with a well-taken shot.
The Scottish tying goal came in the 35th minute after a stretching Thomas parried a shot, only to see the ball bounce off his hands to the feet of Tom Cairney at the top of the box.
Cairney’s shot took a hockey-type deflection in front of the net off Steven Naismith and got past Thomas for Naismith’s seventh goal for Scotland.
Thomas faced 10 Scotland chances from eight players. They included a fine save off Oliver Burke in the 31st minute and a deflected long shot by Robert Snodgrass that hit the post after 13 minutes.
Aird had two more good scoring chances as Canada was perhaps unlucky not to win.
“To play for your country is amazing and to score my first goal for the country is just amazing,” Aird said in a statement.
“If it wasn’t for [Scotland's Allan McGregor] in goal, I probably should have had another one.
“I thought our boys were excellent. Every man, to a man, was brilliant. We can only take positives out of this game.”
The performance was indeed heartening for a Canadian side that has been eliminated from the 2018 World Cup in Russia and fallen to 117th in the world.
“We had an opportunity to win this game, but it wasn’t to be,” Canadian interim coach Michael Findlay said.
“We were still very pleased with the performance. We had sections of the game where we displayed our qualities and abilities at this level. That is a very positive situation for the players and the program moving forward.”
Straith plays for FC Edmonton in the North American Soccer League and Thomas plays in the Norwegian Premiership with FK Bodo/Glimt. The two 26-year-olds grew up in adjacent neighbourhoods in Oak Bay and came through Bays United and Lower Island Metro.
Canada is preparing for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, being held from July 7 to 26 in 13 major stadiums across the U.S.
“We hope to continue to get better in preparation for the Gold Cup,” Straith said.
Scotland, with a world ranking of No. 67, is in the midst of European qualifying for World Cup 2018 and Gordon Strachan’s squad faces a must-win game Sunday at Hampden Park in Glasgow against Slovenia.
