Canada falls in CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter final

Canada’s men’s national team was eliminated from the CONCACAF Gold Cup tonight after an 0:1 loss to Honduras in the quarter-final stage. Canada lost after an unfortunate call led to the Walter Martinez goal from the penalty spot in the 36th minute.
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​Referee Joel Aguilar called the penalty because he thought Paul Stalteri was pulling Martinez down; Aguilar reached for his whistle before he knew Martinez was in fact falling down by his own accord to take a bicycle kick from within the Canadian 18-yard box.
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​Canada came back strong in the second half, but was unable to score the equaliser. Honduras advances to the semi-final stage while Canada returns home after what started out as a promising run in the confederation final.
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​“I am very proud of the team,” said coach Stephen Hart. “I think we showed a lot of character. We showed in the second half (today) that on another day we could have come away with a result.”
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​Honduras will play USA in the semi-final stage on 23 July in Chicago, IL. USA advanced after a 2:1 win after extra time against Panama. The two other semi finalists will be determined tomorrow after Guadeloupe plays Costa Rica and Mexico plays Haiti in the quarter-final stage in Dallas.
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​Canada was taking part in its ninth CONCACAF Gold Cup. It had previously reached the semi-final stage on three occasions: 2000, 2002 and 2007. Canada won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2000.
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​“Overall the guys did a great job throughout the whole tournament,” said Julian de Guzman. “We feel like a team again: that was the most important thing that we achieved in the tournament. That is something to feel happy about.”