Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 1:0 to earn an important first leg victory in the Second Round of Qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Cyle Larin’s goal in the 14’ earned Canada the critical away goal. Canada will now head back to Chicago for the second leg on 15 June looking to secure their spot in the Final Round.
Fans can watch the second leg Tuesday 15 June at 9 p.m. ET,
\u200b6 p.m. PT LIVE on OneSoccer. Fans will find
\u200bextended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter,
\u200bInstagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.
“This is about getting to the Octagon, it’s about getting
\u200bthe result we needed, one goal, a win, away goal and now we’re headed back to
\u200bChicago,” said John Herdman, Men’s National Team Head Coach. “In the second
\u200bhalf, we weathered the storm, we weathered the chaos. The guys that came in did
\u200bthe job that they were primed to do and I’m really proud of them.”
Larin’s goal was the 14thof his international
\u200bcareer and 10thin FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, moving him into second
\u200bplace behind Alex Bunbury (11) on Canada’s all-time goals list in the
\u200bcompetition.
HIGHLIGHTS: #CANMNT 1:0 HAI #WCQ2022 https://t.co/yCaEJrDsm8 — Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) June 13, 2021
Canada started the game against an aggressive Haitian press
\u200bearning them a yellow card in the 2’ as Pierrot Frantzdy chopped down Alphonso
\u200bDavies. Centreback Scott Kennedy got his head up and played a brilliant ball
\u200bover the top to Cyle Larin in the 5’ that was flagged for offside.
Canada took the lead that earned the win in the 14’. Richie
\u200bLaryea found room on the wing and played back to Stephen Eustáquio who laid off
\u200bfor Mark-Anthony Kaye. Kaye played through to Jonathan Osorio whose ball into
\u200bthe box skipped over Haitian GK Johny Placide and Larin made no mistake.
Larin nearly made it 2:0 in the 18’ on a direct ball over
\u200bthe top, but Haitian goalkeeper Placide was up to the task. Defender Alistair
\u200bJohnston made his presence known meeting the Haitian aggression with a well
\u200btime, tough tackle in the 28’.
The Hatians’ forceful play against Alphonso Davies continued
\u200bin the 41’ as Jeppe Friborg picked up a card after dragging Davies down by the
\u200bjersey after a burst of speed from the winger.
Canada’s best chance to equalize came early in the second
\u200bhalf as Jonathan David was played through on goal. With a clear path to goal,
\u200bDavid worked to get onto his favoured left foot and Placide was able to block
\u200bthe shot from the Canadian attacker in the 52’.
Just a minute later Haiti forced a massive save from
\u200bCanadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan. Borjan’s back-pedalling tip kept Canada’s
\u200blead. Borjan again made a big save in the 57’ after Pierrot was played over the
\u200btop.
Davies and David, who were instrumental in the 4:0 victory
\u200bin the last match against Suriname, nearly found that spark again in the 75’
\u200bafter Davies showed his pace on the ball in the middle of the park. Davies
\u200bplayed David wide left at the top of the box but the tough angle shot was
\u200bhandled by Placide.
A late free kick for Stephen Eustáquio
\u200bfound second half substitute Lucas Cavallini who knocked it down for Scott
\u200bKennedy with a pass that wasn’t quite heavy enough and Placide took the ball
\u200baway.
A pair of late corners allowed the
\u200bCanadians to eat up the final minutes of injury time to secure the 1:0 victory.
“It was a very good win and we wanted to have a clean sheet
\u200bas well, we accomplished that on turf which was difficult for the lads but we
\u200bstuck together and won,” said Stephen Eustáquio. “You just have to be smart and
\u200bsecure at the back. We have players in our attack that can decide the game like
\u200bCyle did today. The early goal gave us confidence of course and we just had to
\u200bmanage from there.”
Canada’s starting XI featured Milan
\u200bBorjan in goal, Alistair Johnston at right back, Steven Vitória at centre back,
\u200bScott Kennedy at left back, and Richie Laryea, Alphonso Davies, Stephen
\u200bEustáquio, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Osorio, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin
\u200bfrom the midfield up through to the attack. In the second half, coach John Herdman
\u200breplaced Kaye with Samuel Adekugbe (61’), Laryea for Tajon Buchanan and Larin
\u200bfor Doneil Henry (78’), and David for Lucas Cavallini and Osorio for Samuel
\u200bPiette (82’).
FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022 ™ QUALIFIERS
In all, 35 Concacaf nations are competing
\u200bin FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers, with already 24 nations eliminated.
\u200bThere are six nations in the Concacaf Second Round, from which three winners
\u200bwill advance to the Concacaf Final Round to join Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica,
\u200bMexico and USA. The three head-to-head series in the Concacaf Second Round are
\u200bCanada against Haiti, El Salvador against St. Kitts and Nevis, and Curaçao
\u200bagainst Panama.
Canada were perfect 4-0-0 in the Concacaf
\u200bFirst Round Group B, the first-time ever that Canada won four-straight matches
\u200bin FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers since they entered the competition in 1957.
\u200bCanada’s 4:0 victory over Suriname marked the first time since 1985 that Canada
\u200bwon a FIFA World Cup Qualifiers round finale in which a loss would have
\u200beliminated them.
“We’ve created something here, a
\u200bbrotherhood based on a shared purpose to qualify this team to the FIFA World
\u200bCup,” said Herdman. “They care about each other and that’s the first thing.
\u200bThey care about taking this team to the FIFA World Cup and you saw it in March
\u200bwhen they had a chance to be back together and build on that spirit in the
\u200bCanada shirt.”
CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
\u200bPROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team,
\u200btwo-time Concacaf champions, were one of only four nations that have finished top-six
\u200bacross all three of Concacaf major tournaments across the past three years:
\u200bfifth place in Concacaf Nations League A and sixth place at both the 2017 and
\u200b2019 Concacaf Gold Cups. In 2019 against Concacaf’s top three nations, Canada
\u200bearned a victory against USA in Concacaf Nations League as well as eliminated
\u200bboth Mexico (U-15) and Costa Rica (U-17) in Concacaf youth competitions.
It will be an exciting yet busy summer of
\u200bsoccer for Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Program in 2021. On the heels of
\u200bFIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers in June, Canada will participate in the
\u200b30th anniversary edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, with their Group B match-es
\u200bscheduled in Kansas City on 11 July against Martinique, 15 July against a
\u200byet-to-be-determined Caribbean nation from the preliminary round, and 18 July
\u200bagainst USA. The top-two nations from Group B advance to the final round with
\u200bthe Quarterfinals on 24 July, the Semifi-nals on 29 July, and the Final on 1
\u200bAugust.