鈥淚n difficult conditions, I think we played a decent away game,鈥� said defender Adam Straith of Victoria, named Canadian player of the match, following the scoreless draw Tuesday against El Salvador in San Salvador.
With the result, sa国际传媒 sits on four points after the first two games of the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The round opened with sa国际传媒鈥檚 1-0 victory over Honduras on Friday at sa国际传媒 Place.
Regional-power Mexico, which opened with a 3-0 home win Friday over El Salvador at Azteca Stadium, blanked host Honduras 2-0 on Tuesday and sits on a perfect six points. El Salvador has one point and Honduras none. The top-two teams out of this Group A will advance to the fifth and final round of CONCACAF qualifying, out of which three and potentially four, teams will qualify for Russia 2018.
鈥淲e have set ourselves up nicely after two games. But we know there is still a long way to go before we鈥檝e accomplished anything,鈥� said Straith, from San Salvador.
The Bays United and Lower Island Metro product thought sa国际传媒 could have had even more Tuesday.
鈥淎t the end of the day, it was probably a deserved tie. But we did have a couple of good chances to steal three points,鈥� said Straith, who again started and played the full 90 minutes for sa国际传媒 at centre back to earn his 32nd cap.
The best of those opportunities was when sa国际传媒鈥檚 lone striker, Cyle Larin who scored against Honduras, struck a header off the Salvadoran crossbar in the first half. But earlier, only the quick hands of Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan prevented a breaking Dustin Corea from putting El Salvador ahead 1-0.
Borjan started, with fellow-goalkeepers Simon Thomas of Victoria and Kenny Stamatopoulos dressed in reserve.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 next Group A games are March 25 against Mexico at a home venue to be determined, followed by a fixture March 29 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The concluding games are Sept. 2 in Honduras and Sept. 6 at home against El Salvador.
鈥淣ow we are just looking forward to March against Mexico. But first, some down time back in Victoria,鈥� said Straith.
