Canada beats Guadeloupe at Gold Cup
Posted June 11, 2011 9:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. — Dwayne De Rosario scored a second half penalty to give Canada their first three points of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 1-0 win over 10-man Guadeloupe.
De Rosario scored his first goal of the tournament in the 49th minute after Canadian forward Ali Gerba was brought down in the 18-yard box.
Guadeloupe was reduced to 10 men just under three minutes into the game when Jean-Luc Lambourde was given a straight red after a reckless and late tackle on midfielder Will Johnson.
Players from both teams surrounded the referee but Lambourde had little complaint as he was very late on the tackle and left his feet with his studs raised dangerously.
With a man up for almost the entire game in hot and humid conditions, Canada patiently maintained possession to wear down their opposition.
But Guadeloupe packed their defence and clogged up the field, and while Canada carried the bulk of the possession they had difficulty breaking through and Guadeloupe managed created a few chances.
Canada did get the ball in the net on 16 minutes when a de Rosario cross found Gerba, whose shot found its way in but the striker was ruled offside.
Milan Borjan, starting in place of Lars Hirschfeld, had little to do until almost 30 minutes in. On a Guadeloupe counter-attack, Brice Jovial had a low shot across the box but Borjan got down well to make the stop.
The half would end scoreless with the game played at a slow pace as both teams struggled under the heat and humidity.
Canada still seemed to lack urgency coming out for the second half and Guadeloupe had a chance just seconds in when David Fleurival forced Borjan to dive to his left to make the save with a hard shot.
Canada’s goal came four minutes into the second half when Gerba went down in the box after Stephane Zubar grabbed the back of his jersey, holding him back.
De Rosario stepped up and put the ball low to Franck Grandel’s left, sending the Guadeloupe goalkeeper the wrong way.
With the win, Canada is in a position to qualify for the quarter-finals. Their final game is Tuesday at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City.
