Canada's men's national team won 3-0 over CONCACAF rival Guatemala today in an international friendly match played in Oxnard, CA. Ali Gerba scored two goals while Patrice Bernier scored the other in Canada's second win of the 2009 season.
“In the first half, we played extremely well and created a number of chances, but still lacked that cutting edge in finishing it off,” said coach Stephen Hart. “We talked about it at half time. Then in the second half, we kept the tempo of the game high, created the chances, and scored.”
Canada went on the attack from the opening whistle, pushing forward and getting its first corner kick in the opening minutes. A few moments later, Canada was on the scoreboard with the opening goal from Gerba. It was Marcel de Jong who played the ball in from the left side before Gerba headed it in.
As the half progressed, Canada continued to maintain pressure on its opponent. Canada had the better part of possession and won four corner kicks while conceding none. Wagenaar was hardly tested behind the defensive line of Kevin McKenna, Dejan Jakovic, Paul Stalteri and Mike Klukowski.
Canada also came close to scoring a second goal in the first half. Will Johnson fired a shot just wide of the net on one opportunity and de Jong hit the crossbar on another terrific chance late in the half.
Late in the first half, Guatemala’s Fredy Thompson took down Julian de Guzman. The play brought both teams to the centre of the pitch. As this was a friendly match, both Thompson and de Guzman were replaced for substitutions.
Before the second half, coach Stephen Hart made three more changes. He switched goalkeeper Greg Sutton for Wagenaar, defender Richard Hastings for Jakovic (who had a cut on his chin), and forward Josh Simpson for de Jong. He made three more changes in the second half: Simeon Jackson for Jaime Peters, Issey Nakajima-Farran for Johnson, and Adrian Cann for McKenna.
Early in the second half, Bernier made it 2-0 on what was his first international goal with Canada’s national team. Simpson made a good run into the Guatemalan end before Klukowski played the ball to the other side of the pitch. Johnson controlled the ball in the box six yards from the line, but he pushed the ball back to an unmarked Bernier who entered the play at the top of the box. Bernier fired home the low shot past the diving goalkeeper.
Ten minutes later, it was another Canadian substitute causing trouble in the Guatemalan end. Jackson had control of the ball in the Guatemala box before he was tripped by captain Gustavo Cabrera. Canada was awarded the free shot from the penalty mark, so striker Gerba made it 3-0 with a shot to the top right corner of the goal.
Canada had more chances late in the game, but could not connect for a fourth goal against its opponent. Canada had two more corner kicks in the second half while both Simpson and Jackson had good chances to score in the final 10 minutes.
Goalkeepers Wagenaar and Sutton shared the clean sheet For Wagenaar, it was his first clean sheet in just his second game at the national level. Bernier, meanwhile, scored his first goal while Gerba scored his 12th and 13th goals. Gerba moved into fifth place on the all-time national list.
“We defended well as a whole team,” said Canada's defender and man of the match McKenna. “When we score goals, we score goals as a team; when we keep a clean sheet, we keep a clean sheet as a team. We were just a hard unit to beat.”
Canada has one more day in Oxnard before packing up and moving into Los Angeles for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada opens the biennial confederation championship this Friday 3 July at the Home Depot Center against group opponent Jamaica.
Posted on Wednesday 01 July 2009 - 10:53:37 |
LARNACA, Cyprus - A second-half goal from Simeon Jackson gave Canada a 1-0 away win over Cyprus in an international friendly on Saturday. Jackson scored in the 53rd minute when he picked up a pass at the top of the box from a quickly-taken free kick that seemed to catch the Cypriot defence off-guard.
Canada's men's national team defeated Cyprus today at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaka. Striker Simeon Jackson scored the lone goal in a 1:0 victory while goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld picked up the clean sheet with the help of captain Kevin McKenna and a strong back line.
A number of players had strong games, including man of the match Richard Hastings at left back. Hastings was making his 54th career appearance - his 50th as a starting player. Julian de Guzman was also strong, especially in the first half as he controlled the play through the midfield.
From the kickoff, the match started with both sides pushing each other back and forth, but little was made in terms of offensive chances. Jaime Peters did drive a low shot wide in the third minute and Cyprus did create half a chance with a long bouncing ball in the 23rd minute. Cyprus forward Marios Ilia went up and over goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, but Canadian defender Kevin McKenna was there to clear the ball with ease.
In the 28th minute, Cyprus was awarded a free kick from 28 yards out after Canadian Richard Hastings collided with an opponent. Cyprus fired a low hard shot that went straight into the Canadian wall. Cyprus had an even better chance five minutes later as captain Yiannis Okkas fired a shot from the top of the box. The shot, however, sailed wide of the net.
In the 41st minute, Canada put the ball in the box on successive plays, first on a swinging shot from the right and then from the corner on the left. Julian de Guzman started the play from the midfield by sending Issey Nakajima-Farran down the right side. Nakajima-Farran's drive went over Jackson's head, but bounced to the Simpson who unfortunately had little angle with which to play. Still, Simpson fired the shot which bounced out for Canada's first corner kick.
A minute later, Cyprus came back with a couple of drives of their own from the left side into the Canadian box. Both attempts were cleared. Before the half was through, Peters had another shot in the right direction, but this time it went over the net.
Canada finally broke through in the 53rd minute as Jackson scored his first goal with the national team. Simpson battled his opponent and maintained possession before the referee blew the whistle for a free kick. Without a moment's hesitation, Simpson played his kick over to Jackson on the left side who strode in and scored the goal. Jackson was keeping pace with the defender when he fired his shot with the outside of his right foot past the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net.
After about 15 minutes with the lead, Canada fell back on its heels as Cyprus pushed into the Canadian end. After a Cyprus corner kick in the 75th minute, however, Canada settled down and pushed the play back into the middle of the field. Along the way, Canada made its first substitution in the 68th minute as midfielder Tyler Hemming made his first career appearance (he came on for Nakajima-Farran).
Canada made three substitutions in the last 10 minutes, but it also fell back on its heels as Cyprus pushed again for the tying goal. Canada's three changes were Andrzej Ornoch in for Jackson in the 81st minute, Chris Pozniak in for Simpson in the 83rd minute, and Dominic Imhof in for Peters in the 89th minute. Like Hemming, Imhof was making his first appearance.
As for Cyprus' late chances, the team created a few tense moments in the dying minutes, including a pair of chances of consecutive corner kicks. Kevin McKenna, however, was strong to clear the ball. In the end, there simply wasn't enough time for Cyprus to even the match.
As for Canada, Stephen Hart picked up his first win in his first match back in his second stint as head coach. He improves his career record to six wins, one draw and four losses.
Source: CanadaSoccer
Posted on Monday 01 June 2009 - 14:19:44 |
Posted on Monday 01 June 2009 - 13:58:29 |
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