Canada remains unbeaten atop World Cup qualifying group with victory over Honduras
CBC
Canada maintained its unbeaten record and took a step closer to Qatar 2022 with a 2-0 victory over Honduras in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying play Thursday.
The win kept Canada (5-0-4, 19 points) atop the eight-team qualifying standings although the second-place U.S. (5-1-3, 18 points) and third-place Mexico (5-2-2, 17 points) kept pace with victories of their own.
The Canadian men went ahead in the 10th minute on a Honduran own goal, looked comfortable through the first half and managed to hold off the Hondurans in the second half as the home side showed more on offence.
Borjan made another remarkable save in second-half stoppage time, pushing away an Alberth Elis Honduran header.
Other games Thursday saw the 11th-ranked U.S. defeat No. 70 El Salvador 1-0 in Columbus and No. 14 Mexico beat No. 57 Jamaica 2-1 in Kingston. No. 63 Panama played at No. 49 Costa Rica in a later start.
WATCH | David scores highlight reel goal to clinch victory:
The 40th-ranked Canadians now return home to face the Americans in a top-of-the-table tilt Sunday at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field before making the 3,400-kilometre trip to San Salvador to face El Salvador next Wednesday.
It's back to the drawing board for No. 76 Honduras (0-6-3).
Three games remain for Canada after this international window. Come March, the top three teams will represent North and Central America and the Caribbean at Qatar 2022 while the fourth-place side faces an Oceania country in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
Canada and the other top sides are creating some separation in the standings.
John Herdman's team is on track to make it to soccer's showcase for the first time since 1986, its only visit to the men's World Cup.
Canada went ahead in the 10th minute via an own goal from Denil Maldonado, set up by some fine work by Tajon Buchanan. The Club Brugge wingback, after a give-and-go with David, danced around defender Diego Rodriguez near the by-line and fired in a hard cross that Maldonado, with Cyle Larin behind him, had to address just in front of goal.
His attempted block went straight into the Honduran goal, giving the Canadians an early cushion. Defender Steven Vitoria started the attack with a fine ball from the back.
Canada need an enormous save from Borjan in the 70th minute to preserve the lead. The 'keeper got his left hand to a well-placed Kervin Arriega header off a Honduran free kick.
Sarah Fillier spent her first two seasons with the New York Sirens accustomed to staring at empty blocks of seats across the bench during home games.
Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O'Neill acknowledges the team’s showing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games wasn't the same as past years.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith capped their memorable Paralympic debut with bronze in the men's visually impaired slalom on Sunday at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
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