Following a historic 2-0 win over the United States on Sunday, the Canadian Men’s National Football Team are on the verge of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The CMNT are looking to qualify for the country’s first World Cup since 1986, and with the result over the USMNT that dream is inching closer to becoming a reality.
With the result this keeps Canada has 22 points in 10 matches keeping them on top of the CONCACAF table, with four points separating them from the USMNT and Mexico who are both on 18 points, and finally giving them a bit of breathing room in the highly contested group.
The Canadians rolled back home to Hamilton after beating Honduras 2-0 on Thursday at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
This win ensured Canada remained unbeaten in the Octogonal qualification, and has their chances of automatic qualification to the World Cup at the highest in the group.
It was a frigid afternoon in Hamilton with temperatures at -6C but that didn’t stop the 12,000 fans in attendance from what turned out to be a historic match at Tim Hortons Field.
After seven minutes of play USMNT goalkeeper Alex Turner watched as his goal kick hang up in the air, that let Canadian center-back Kamal Miller head the ball down for Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio who played a quick pass up to Besiktas forward Cyle Larin and played a sublime one-two pass between him and Lille forward Jonathan David who slid the ball through for Larin to blast the ball past the outstretched USMNT goalkeeper for the opener.
With his goal on Sunday, Cyle Larin passed legendary Canadian forward Dwayne De Roasario for most goals in CMNT history with 23.
From there the Canadian team set up for a low-block against the United States as they allowed for them to maintain possession for long stretches of the match, but the United States weren’t able to muster many real chances.
The Canadian played physical all game with defenders throwing themselves into tackles as they physically dominated the US team, leaving them frustrated all game.
Just before the half the US had a great opportunity to equalize, but the big glove of Canadian keeper Milan Borjan nudged USMNT and Juventus midfielder Weston McKinnie’s header off the bar and out.
The heroics of Borjan over the course of the qualifying rounds have been something to admire and he has saved some of his biggest saves for the past couple of games, especially with his save off of Honduran midfielder Kervin Arriaga, which helped inspire a series of events leading to Liam Miller booting the ball 40 yards upfield for David to provide an immaculate first touch and cheeky chip over the Honduran keeper to give the Canadians the 2-0 lead.
Borjan plays with his heart on his sleeve and in front of his hometown faithful at Tim Hortons Field he showed his jubilation after full-back Sam Adekugbe scored his first international goal after making a darting run forward in stoppage time and getting the ball past the USMNT defense and slotting it past Turner to clinch the game for Les Rouges.
This victory over the USMNT marked the first win for the Canadians since 1980.
The Candians will finish this window of games on Wednesday night at the Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador where they look for their 6th win in a row.
BD Sports 