By Canadian Press

Canada opens Gold Cup campaign with comfortable 4-1 win over Martinique

Jul 11, 2021 | 5:45 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Canada conceded an early goal but quickly restored order with three first-half goals in 10 minutes to open its Gold Cup campaign with a comfortable 4-1 win over Martinique on Sunday. 

Tajon Buchanan and Junior Hoilett played provider as Cyle Larin, Jonathan Osorio and Stephen Eustaquio scored to give 70th-ranked Canada a 3-1 lead at the half. Substitute Theo Corbeanu added an 89th-minute goal, his second in four Canadian appearances, with a tap-in off a Lucas Cavallini setup.

Emmanuel Riviere replied for a physical Martinique side before a limited number of spectators at Children’s Mercy Park.

Canada dominated possession and was on the front foot much of the game, with Martinique largely restricted to counter-attacks. But the underdogs looked dangerous at times and scored first.

With the game in hand, the Canadians cooled off as the second half progressed and coach John Herdman rang in the changes.

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Officially part of France, Martinique is unranked because it is not a member of FIFA. But it is an associate member of CONCACAF which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The Canadian men face No. 83 Haiti next on Thursday before wrapping up Group B next Sunday against the 20th-ranked U.S., also in Kansas City.

Canada is without Alphonso Davies, Scott Arfield, Milan Borjan, Jonathan David and Atiba Hutchinson at the 16-team tournament. Davies, a star fullback with Bayern Munich, was in camp but injured his ankle in training and has returned to Germany.

Steven Vitoria captained Canada, whose starting 11 came into the match with a combined 179 caps. Larin (37), Osorio (37) and Hoilett (31) accounted for 105 of those.

Martinique went ahead in the 10th minute after a sloppy back pass by Mark Anthony-Kaye. Riviere got to the ball before Kamal Miller and, with goalkeeper Max Crepeau in no-man’s land, poked it in off the goalpost.

Herdman had identified Riviere, who plays for Crotone in Italy’s second division, as a player to watch before the game, calling him “a definite goal threat.” Riviere celebrated his goal with a well-executed forward double-somersault.

Canada responded in the 16th minute with Larin outmuscling defender Romario Barthelery to head home a Hoilett corner for his 16th international goal in 38 games. The Besiktas forward has been red-hot this year for Canada with eight goals in seven games. He has scored in six of those matches, including the last three.

Larin is now tied with Alex Bunbury and Cavallini for fifth on the all-time Canadian men’s scoring list. Dwayne De Rosario holds the record at 22.

Four minutes later, the elusive Buchanan left Barthelery in his dust and fed Osorio, who corkscrewed his body from in-close to flick the ball past goalkeeper Gilles Meslien.

Buchanan helped set up the third in the 26th minute with another marauding run down the left flank before feeding Hoilett. The veteran winger sent the ball to a wide-open Eustaquio, who had plenty of time to pick a corner from the edge of the penalty box for his first for Canada. 

Canada had 65 per cent possession in the first half. Martinique replaced the outmatched Barthelery at the half.

Canada had more scoring chances, with Meslien getting a hand to a long-distance shot by Vitoria in the 34th minute. Buchanan came close in the 60th but his shot was blocked. Larin just missed connecting on a diving header in the 62nd.

Referee Ivan Barton of El Salvador laid down the law early, booking Martinique’s Patrick Burner and Canada’s Eustaquio in the first eight minutes of a scrappy start. Kaye, Vitoria, Cavallini, Liam Fraser and Alistair Johnston were also cautioned as the game wore on, as were two other Martinique players judged guilty of dangerous tackles.

The Canadian men came into the game with a 2-1-2 record against Martinique, which has won a match in each of its last three appearances at the CONCACAF championship. One of those, in 2013, was a 1-0 victory over Canada thanks to a 93rd-minute long-range rocket by Fabrice Reuperne.

Canada needed a penalty shootout to defeat Martinique in the quarterfinals of the 2002 tournament.

The Canadians won 4-0 last time out when they met in group play at the 2019 Gold Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Canada made a couple of roster changes ahead of kickoff.

Frank Sturing, a defender whose last club was Den Bosch in the Netherlands, came in for the injured Scott Kennedy. Vancouver defender Cristian Gutierrez was named as a replacement for Davies although Canada Soccer said he will stay with the Whitecaps until needed.

Midfielder Harry Paton is with Canada but was ruled out of Sunday’s match because of COVID protocol resulting from a situation with his Scottish club Ross County.

Canada went into the tournament on the back of six straight World Cup qualifying wins, outscoring the opposition 31-1 en route to the final round of qualifying in the region. That run included a two-legged 4-0 aggregate win over Haiti last month.

Haiti played the U.S. in a later match Sunday despite the fact that five Haiti players and one assistant coach returned positive COVID test results last week. CONCACAF said those in question had been isolated and that the rest of the delegation had tested negative.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2021

The Canadian Press