Ukraine was shown lots of love in a losing cause. Canada, despite fielding a young squad, showed its teeth.
Tajon Buchanan scored a goal and set up two more by Jonathan David as Canada defeated Ukraine 4-2 on Saturday in the opening game of the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament. Promise David, no relation, also scored for Canada in his senior debut.
Both Ukraine goals came in the dying minutes, from Illia Zabarnyi in the 89th minute and Oleksandr Zinchenko, from the penalty spot, in stoppage time.
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It was an impressive outing, full of offensive flair, by the 30th-ranked Canadian men in their first outing since finishing third at the CONCACAF Nations League Finals in March. And when No. 25 Ukraine threatened, goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau was up to the task for the first 88 minutes.
Marsch, who said he planned to use his entire roster across the tournament's two games, fielded a relatively inexperienced squad. The starting 11 went into the game with a combined 241 caps, with 186 of those supplied by Buchanan, David, captain Stephen Eustaquio and Derek Cornelius.
Five Canada starters — Promise David, Zorhan Bassong, Luc de Fougerolles, Nathan Saliba and Niko Sigur — went into the game with three caps or less.
The average age of the Canadian starting 11 was 22.5 years.
"Rotating players, new faces on the pitch … and the challenge was to see could we understand our roles and could we commit to all the ideas of what we're trying to establish and who we are as a team — and deliver a kind of performance that we would be proud of," said Canada coach Jesse Marsch. "And I think that we did that."
Canada led 3-0 at the break.
"Basically this was a very good test for next year," said Eustaquio, referencing the 2026 World Cup. "I think our first half was pretty amazing."
Jonathan David upped his Canadian men's record goal total to 34 in 62 appearances. Buchanan, meanwhile, looked back to his electric self on the wing.
No. 86 New Zealand, with star forward Chris Wood and veteran defender Michael Boxall coming in off the bench in the 82nd minute, upset No. 41 Ivory Coast 1-0 in the late game at BMO Field. Elijah Just scored in the 41st minute, taking advantage of an Ivory Coast giveaway, and the All Whites held on for the win.
On Tuesday, Canada plays Ivory Coast after New Zealand faces Ukraine.
There were plenty of yellow- and blue-clad fans in Saturday's announced crowd of 20,145, cheering on Ukraine which has not played at home since Russia invaded in February 2022. There are more than 1.3 million Canadians of Ukrainian descent and Canada has accepted some 300,000 refugees from Ukraine since the war started.
"A lot of Ukrainian people. I saw a lot of Ukrainian flags," said Zabarnyi, who plays for England's Bournemouth. "It's always nice to see in this time."
However, he was not happy with his team's performance, saying Ukraine had conceded "easy goals."
The Ukraine starters came out with Ukraine flags draped on their shoulders. Mykola Matviyenko's captain's armband was emblazoned with the chevrons of Ukraine's combat brigades.
The Ukraine anthem was sung with gusto on a sunny 17 C afternoon. And pro-Ukraine chants started soon after the kickoff.
But Canada went ahead in the fourth minute with Buchanan as playmaker down the right flank. Buchanan beat two defenders and then floated a cross to Jonathan David whose initial header was cleared off the goal-line by a defender. The ball came right back to David who made no mistake with a second header.
That drew chants of Canada, Canada.
Buchanan and Jonathan David combined again in the 24th minute with David, off a Buchanan cross, deftly, flicking a header backwards past goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, who plays in Portugal for Benfica.
Promise David, who scored 24 goals in all competitions for Belgian champion Union Saint-Gilloise this season, made it 3-0 in the 31st minute, pouncing on an errant pass by defender Valeriy Bondar before sliding a low shot through Trubin to open his Canada account. David, a local boy who had friends and family in the stands, celebrated with an enthusiastic slide toward the corner flag.
Buchanan added a fourth in the 81st minute, outmuscling a defender in front of goal to knock home a ball headed his way off a Canadian free kick. Buchanan, who broke his leg last summer at Copa America, celebrated with a joyous double somersault.
Zabarnyi replied for Ukraine eight minutes later, tapping home a teammate's header to cheers from the pro-Ukraine crowd. Arsenal's Zinchenko added another from the penalty spot after Buchanan was pinged for handball in the Canadian penalty box.
Missing three members of its usual backline in Alphonso Davies, Moise Bombito and Alistair Johnston, Canada paired de Fougerolles with Cornelius at centre back and the 19-year-old Fulham defender did not look out of place.
Canada improved to 7-4-5 under Marsch with one of these ties turning into a penalty shootout win over Venezuela and another into a shootout loss to Uruguay, both at last summer's Copa America. Canada's previous scoring high under Marsch was a 3-0 win over No. 137 Suriname in November 2024.
Ukraine also brought a young squad, with six of its starters from domestic clubs. The other five were from clubs in England, Greece, Portugal and Spain.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2025.
