Canada got off to a decent start in the third round of World Cup qualifying with a 1–0 win in Cuba last Friday and a scoreless draw at home to Honduras at BMO Field in Toronto on Tuesday. The four points from two games is an acceptable result, although Canada feels like it dropped two points at home to Honduras.
In an exciting match, Canada dominated the play and spurned a handful of good opportunities against Honduras who had lost at home to Panama in their first match.
“We let them off the hook,” said Dwayne De Rosario in an interview with Sportsnet after the match. “The hardest part is just putting it in the back of the net.”
But Canada’s star player conceded that after two games and four points, “We’re in a pretty good spot.”
Coach Stephen Hart said as well: “Thought we should’ve come away with three points … There’s still everything to play for.”
The first half was characterized by some nasty fouls and five yellow cards; however, Honduras arguably had the best chance when Anthony Lozano chipped a shot from five yards out just wide. It was one of the few instances when Canada’s defence was caught woefully out of position.
The Canadian defence seemed to be their biggest goal-scoring threat with both captain Kevin McKenna and David Edgar heading just wide off corner kicks in the second half.
Win in Cuba
Canada’s win in Cuba was played under oppressive heat and humidity last Friday. At the start of the game the temperature was 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) with humidex of 43 C (109 F) in Havana. The pitch was also of extremely poor quality, similar to something seen at a local high school.
Canada had done well against Cuba in World Cup qualifiers with three wins and two draws in five games; another win in Cuba was seen as a must given that it was considered the most winnable of the three road matches Canada will have in the third round of World Cup qualifying.
Central striker Olivier Occean delivered the lone goal of the match with a well-directed header from a David Edgar cross about 10 minutes into the second half.
Ten minutes later, goalkeeper Lars Hirshfeld was sent off for preventing a Cuban goal-scoring opportunity with his hands outside the box. But Canada hung on with 10 men for over half an hour in the sweltering heat to preserve the victory.
“It was difficult for the players,” said Hart in a post-game interview on CanadaSoccer.com.
“The setback, Lars [Hirschfeld] being sent off … So we had to be more conservative in how we played.”
Hart commended the Cubans saying, “I think Cuba are going to take points from anybody they play here.”
World Cup Qualification
The CONCACAF region is left with 12 teams battling for at most four World Cup places.
The third round features three groups of four teams playing a round robin. The top two teams from each group will make it to the fourth round. From there, the top three out of the six teams left will make it to the World Cup. The fourth place team will take on the winner of the Oceania group (likely New Zealand) in a playoff with a birth in Brazil on the line.
Canada’s next World Cup qualifier is at home to Panama in September.
Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETSports
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