Canada rebounds with a 1:0 victory over Guadeloupe at 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Canada rebounded with a decent effort against Guadeloupe on a hot and humid evening in its second Group C match at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. A goal from Dwayne De Rosario proved to be the difference in a 1:0 victory for Canada in Tampa, FL at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night.

This match was just the second time the two countries have played one another at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Guadeloupe previously defeated Canada 2:1 in the group stage of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Guadeloupe received a red card for a nasty, mistimed challenge on Will Johnson inside the first four minutes. Jean-Luc Lambourde was ejected for the hard tackle at Johnson’s feet, the second ejection in as many games for the team known as the ‘Gwada Boys’. Johnson was down for a couple of minutes but stayed in the game.

The 23-year old Milan Borjan was given the chance to start in goal for Canada over Lars Hirschfeld who started the previous match against USA. Down to ten men, Guadeloupe found it very difficult to press forward and rarely tested Borjan in the in first half. In the 28th minute, however, Brice Jovial was able to sneak ahead on the right side on a decent ball before testing Borjan on a right-footed strike, but the Canadian goalkeeper did well to get down and make the save. Jovial scored a brace for Guadeloupe in its first game against Panama.

Canada with the extra man owned possession in the first half, but was unable to create many dangerous scoring chances as Guadeloupe kept turning Canada back on almost every attack. As he did when he came on as a substitute against USA, Gerba came close to scoring a goal in the 33rd minute. Josh Simpson put a great ball to the Canadian striker in the goal area, but Gerba could not get all of it, directing the ball just wide of the goal.

In the opening minute of the second half, Canada had a sloppy start and Borjan had to make an impressive diving stop on Guadeloupe’s David Fleurival.

Canada quickly settled down and took advantage of another booking against Guadeloupe – this time a penalty kick. Guadeloupe’s Stéphane Zubar was given a yellow card for knocking down Gerba in the 18-yard box. De Rosario calmly stepped up to the penalty spot and side footed the ball low and to the right past Franck Grandel to give Canada a 1-0 lead. The goal was De Rosario’s 16th international goal.

The rest of the second half was uneventful for the most part. In the 90th minute, Guadeloupe substitute Livio Nabab slammed into Borjan on a high, late challenge for the ball. Nabab was rightly booked for a yellow card while Borjan stayed down for a couple of minutes and seemed to hurt his shoulder. Since Hart had already used up all three of his substitutes, Borjan was forced to stay in the match, but fortunately was not tested in injury time.

Canada’s starting XI featured Milan Borjan in goal, Nik Ledgerwood at left back, André Hainault and Kevin McKenna at centre back, Mike Klukowski at right back, and Julian de Guzman, Terry Dunfield, Will Johnson, Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Simpson and Ali Gerba from the midfield up through to the attack.

In the second half, coach Stephen Hart’s three substitutions were De Rosario replaced by Simeon Jackson (64th minute), Gerba replaced by Rob Friend (64′), and de Guzman replaced by Pedro Pacheco (81′).

Guadeloupe’s starting XI featured Franck Grandel in goal, Miguel Comminges at right back, Stéphane Zubar and Eddy Viator at centre back, and Jean-Luc Lambourde at left back. In midfield, the ‘Gwada Boyz’ deployed Therry Racon, Thomas Gamiette, David Fleurival, and Stéphane Auvray in the middle, with Brice Jovial, and Richard Socrier forming the attacking duo up top.

In the second half, coach Roger Sainot’s three substitutions were Fleurival replaced by Loïc Loval (58th minute), Racon replaced by Julien Ictoi (65′), and Socrier replaced by Livio Nabab (73′).

Canada’s final match in Group C play is against Panama on 14 June in Kansas City, KS.