Bulls Abroad: Karl Ouimette wins first minutes since THAT kick

For both Canada and Karl Ouimette, the result of a summer friendly against Azerbaijan in an Austrian backwater does not matter much.

As it happens, the match was drawn, 1-1. As it happens, Ouimette was responsible for the penalty that let Azerbaijan back into the game after Tesho Akindele had put Canada ahead.

1-1 Azerbaijan convert from the spot after a Karl Ouimette foul in the box. Dimitrij Nazarov with the goal.

— Mitchell Tierney (@mitchelltierney) June 3, 2016

The whistle seemed a little harsh, but maybe things looked different from the ref's angle:

The only result in Canada's immediate future that will matter is whatever happens in Honduras on September 2. That game will go a long way to deciding if Canadians retain a rooting interest in CONCACAF qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, and it is what the current excursion to Austria is about.

Canada would surely have preferred to beat Azerbaijan and Ouimette would surely have preferred not to have been whistled for a foul in the penalty area, but both team and player have bigger priorities. In Ouimette's case, his substitution into the game in the closing minutes of the first half (to relieve Marcel de Jong) was his first playing appearance since THAT kick. And that is really the only significance of this game for the New York Red Bulls' defender: he is, officially, back.

Canada and Ouimette now move on to prepare for a match against Uzbekistan in Bad Waltersdorf on June 7.