Herdman drawing on positives to ease pain of Canada's Gold Cup loss to U.S.

John Herdman still feels the sting of Sunday's penalty shootout loss to the U.S. at the Gold Cup. But the Canada coach believes the tournament will pay real dividends in the future.

The 45th-ranked Canadian men were missing a slew of marquee names following their 2-0 loss to the 11th-ranked Americans in the June 18 CONCACAF Nations League final loss that preceded the Gold Cup. They made it to the Gold Cup quarterfinal, pushing the U.S. to the limit in a back-and-forth contest.

Despite the final result, Herdman believes the summer campaign turned out to be a "really important step" for his team.

The CONCACAF Nations League final, Canada's first in 23 years, provided big-game experience. The Gold Cup offered something different but just as worthwhile.

"Because I felt it just pressed a little bit of a reset button for our culture," Herdman told The Canadian Press. "It showed what it really means for players to represent our country — young, hungry players — and then put them around a veteran group that has bought into the brotherhood, the culture, leading the country to the next level.

"It was invaluable, an invaluable experience, to just get that feel that there's a crop of players here that want it really bad and they're going to prevent this country falling into some kind of complacency trap. And that's how it's going to be now for the next two years."

WATCH | Soccer North breaks down Canada's Gold Cup performance:

Canada opened play June 27 against unranked Guadeloupe in Toronto, having to settle for a 2-2 tie after conceding a 93rd-minute own goal. The Canadians then flew to Houston where they tied No. 116 Guatemala 0-0 and defeated No. 165 Cuba 4-2 to finish second in Group B behind Guadeloupe.

That set up the