Canada on Sunday established themselves as the dominant nation in the North and Central American and Caribbean region, taking a big step toward reaching the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time since 1986 with a 2-0 victory over the US.
Cyle Larin scored in the seventh minute and Sam Adekugbe added a goal in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage-time as Canada beat the US for just the second time in 37 years, remaining unbeaten in qualifying through 10 of 14 games.
Included are a win and a draw against both the US and Mexico, traditionally the region’s dominant soccer nations.
Photo: Reuters
“I genuinely believe that these men have an opportunity to really leave a proper football legacy on this country moving forward,” Canada coach John Herdman said.
The US have one win and two draws in five qualifiers away from home, but remain on track to return to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014 with wins in their remaining two home games, the first a chilly encounter with Honduras tomorrow in what is forecast to be a single-digit or sub-zero temperature in St Paul, Minnesota.
“Our focus right now is finishing off the window with a win,” US coach Gregg Berhalter said. “If we can do that, we’ll be in good position.”
On sunny, but breezy minus-6°C day, central defenders Miles Robinson and Chris Richards were the only US outfield starters in short sleeves, while just two of Canada’s players wore long sleeves: Jonathan David and Steven Vitoria. Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan wore long pants, while US goalkeeper Matt Turner wore shorts.
Canada went ahead after Turner’s goal-kick failed to reach midfield. Kamal Miller headed the ball back toward goal and Jonathan Osorio touched ahead to Larin.
Larin exchanged passes with David, then beat Turner with a right-footed shot for his Canada record 23rd international goal, one more than Dwayne de Rosario.
“I decided to stay tight with him, and then the one-two got through us and then we collided almost and he tripped me up just a bit,” Robinson said.
Berhalter said that Turner might have mishit the ball.
“The wind killed the ball flight... On a smaller field, smaller mistakes make bigger differences,” Turner said. “It’s frustrating because it was so early in the game. It set the tone and they knew from there they could just pack it in and absorb pressure.”
Canada got their second goal when Adekugbe ran onto Miller’s long pass, dribbled around Robinson and then beat Turner with a left-footed shot for his first international goal.
“One thing that separates Canada from most of the other teams in the group is the quality of their strikers and their ability to finish a really small amount of chances,” Berhalter said. “It’s a play out of nothing that two quality players make and it gives them a win.”
The US had 63 percent possession and outshot Canada 13-8.
“It’s hard for me to remember a performance away from home this dominant without getting a result,” Berhalter said.
Elsewhere, Panama edged Jamaica 3-2, Mexico were held to a goalless draw at home by Costa Rica and El Salvador won 2-0 away to Honduras.
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