Canada maintained its unbeaten record and took a step closer to Qatar 2022 with a 2-0 victory over Honduras in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
The victory kept Canada (5-0-4, 19 points) at the top of the qualifying standings for eight teams, while second place USA (5-1-3, 18 points) and third place Mexico (5-2-2 , 17) points) kept pace with their own victories.
READ MORE: Canada’s World Cup Qualifier against USA at Tim Hortons Field Sold Out for the 2nd Time
The Canadian men took the lead in the 10th minute with a Honduran own goal, looked comfortable through the first half and managed to hold the Hondurans back in the second half as the home side pointed more to the attack.
The Canadian took control again, with a big save by Milan Borjan halfway through the second half followed by a Jonathan David goal that kept Canada on the winning path.
Canada’s Jonathan David celebrates his team’s second goal against Honduras during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
(AP Photo / Delmer Martinez)
Borjan made another remarkable save in the second half of halftime and pushed away an Alberth Elis Honduran header.
Other matches On Thursday, U.S. No. 70 defeated El Salvador 1-0 in Columbus and No. 14 Mexico beat No. 57 Jamaica 2-1 in Kingston. Panama, no. 63, it later in Costa Rica, no. 49, played.
The 40th-seeded Canadian is now returning home to tackle the Americans in a top-of-the-table tilt Sunday at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons field before embarking on the 3,400-mile journey to San Salvador around El Salvador to pack next Wednesday.
It’s back to the drawing board for no. 76 Honduras (0-6-3).
Three matches remain for Canada to this international window. In March, the top three teams will represent North and Central America and the Caribbean at Qatar 2022, while the team will face an Oceanian country in an intercontinental play-off in fourth place to see who they are with. join.
Canada and the other top teams create some separation in the points ladder.
John Herdman’s team is on track to penetrate soccer’s showcase for the first time since 1986, his only visit to the World Cup.
Canada took the lead in the 10th minute through an own goal by Denil Maldonado, set up by good work by Tajon Buchanan. The Club Brugge wing, after a give-and-go with David, danced around defender Diego Rodriguez near the long line and shot into a hard cross that Maldonado, with Cyle Larin behind him, had to address just in front of goal.
His attempt to block went straight into the Honduran goal, which gave the Canadian an early cushion. Defender Steven Vitoria started the attack with a fine ball from behind.
Canada needed a huge save from Borjan in the 70th minute to maintain the lead. The goalkeeper got his left hand from a well-placed Kervin Arriega header from a Honduran free-kick.
David added an insurance goal three minutes later and slashed the goalkeeper after Liam Fraser’s perfectly measured long ball found the Lille forward alone behind two defenders. It was David’s 19th goal in 25 games for Canada and it was a beauty.
Thursday’s game matched the top and bottom teams in the final qualifying round at CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Honduras drew Canada 1-1 at Toronto’s BMO field in September, but have since drawn just two.
Canada were without Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, who was sidelined by myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after testing positive for COVID. Influential midfielder Stephen Eustaquio was also missing, with the Portuguese report saying he tested positive for COVID. Herdman said before the game that he hopes Eustaquio can play a role in the games ahead.
READ MORE: Canadian soccer star Alphonso Davies has heart muscle problems after COVID fight
But there were plenty of attacking shots even without Davies, with David, Larin and Junior Hoilett leading the attack in a starting eleven that came into the game with a combined 406 caps.
Canada’s Jonathan David (20) scores his team’s second goal against Honduras during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Thursday 27 January 2022.
(AP Photo / Delmer Martinez)
And Davies was there in spirit and celebrated the first half of the Canadian goal while watching live broadcasts on Twitch.
Veteran midfielder Atiba Hutchinson led the team and earned his 91st game – a record for Canadian men.
It was a shaky start for Canada, conceding two corners in the first two minutes. But the Canadians rode the early rough waters and began to find their footsteps.
Honduras struggled to penetrate the final third with Canada showing its teeth on the counterattack.
There was some Honduran rebounding for the goal in the 24th minute when Rodriguez threw Buchanan to the ground, which provoked protest from Canadian players.
There was no yellow card at stake, but Honduran Alfredo Mejia went into the book in the 29th minute because he hacked at David as more of the same followed.
Canada’s Samuel Piette needed treatment after his ankle was caught in a clumsy challenge by Edwin Rodriguez in the 34th minute. Jamaican referee Daneion Parchment reviewed the play on a sideline monitor, at the urging of the video assistant referee, but there was no further sanction.
Piette could not continue and made way for Fraser in the 39th minute.
Borjan was brave in the 44th minute and stormed out to beat CF Montreal forward Romell Quioto with the ball on the edge of the penalty area. The Red Star Belgrade’s goalkeeper needed help from Vitoria in the first half of half-time when he collided with a Honduran player in the air to try and hold on to a cross.
Borjan needed treatment on his left arm, but persisted.
David shot wide in the 48th minute after a great play by wing Sam Adekugbe to keep the ball in play at the corner flag. David got another chance in the 55th minute using his speed to beat a defender, but Honduran’s keeper Luis Lopez made the save.
Borjan stopped Anthony Lozano’s header in the 58th when Honduras managed to find an attacker in the penalty area.
One concern was that Fraser and Hutchinson earned yellow cards. Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio, who came off the bench, earned his 50th game for Canada.
The match was played at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, where Canada’s 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign ended in October 2012 in a humiliating 8-1 drubbing that prevented the Canadians from reaching the final round of qualifying in the region.
Most recently, Canada lost 2-1 there in September 2016 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier. The Canadian men entered the stadium on Thursday with a 0-4-1 record.
But capacity Thursday at the venue with 37,325 capacity was limited to 50 percent on Thursday due to the pandemic, with wide stretches of empty seats. The field cut up as the game progressed, with pieces kicked up.
Canada has had little success on Honduran soil in the past, with a 1-7-3 career record there ahead of Thursday’s meeting,
Canada’s only previous victory in Honduras was in August 1985 in the capital of Tegucigalpa with substitute George Pakos scoring the only goal of the match.
Canada’s overall record against Honduras improved to 8-11-7.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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