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.
Shekai Mills-Knight, a freshman running back for Ole Miss, will earn some attention Thursday night when his Rebels take on the Miami Hurricanes in an NCAA semifinal football game in Glendale, Ariz., but he first made news a decade ago as a grade-schooler deemed too big for the local little league.
Not so long ago, the prospect of two Canadians meeting in Italy’s Serie A would have seemed an unlikely turn. But on Tuesday night in Reggio Emilia, in the crisp, anxious minutes before the whistle blew and host Sassuolo dug in against Juventus, Ismael Koné and Jonathan David stood on opposite sides of the pitch, pretending not to know each other.
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