CANADA 1
PANAMA 0
The Canadian women got a pre-game ovation. And then it was the Canadian men's turn.
And while they took their time to pull ahead, the men ended up savouring their own curtain call after a key 1-0 win over Panama moved them atop their World Cup qualifying group.
More challenges lie ahead just to make it to the final round of qualifying in the region. First up is a tricky rematch in Panama City on Tuesday.
But the Canadians showed flashes Friday of a team with real speed in attack, midfield guile and some defensive steel.
"I thought the first half was one of the best first halfs I've seen from sa国际传媒," said coach Stephen Hart.
It was 0-0 after 45 minutes, however, despite two good headed chances by defender-captain Kevin McKenna.
The Canadians, who have now recorded five straight shutouts, had pressed the action. A canny Panama side was able to soak up the Canadian attack in the first half before showing more on attack in the second half.
"We held our nerve," said Hart. "Defended with some intelligence and we got the result on the back of good defending."
A heads-up play turned the tide in the 77th minute.
Simeon Jackson was taken down on the side of the penalty box and Panama fell asleep at the switch on the ensuing free kick. Atiba Hutchinson immediately floated the ball in and an unmarked Dwayne De Rosario swooped in to tap in his record 20th goal for sa国际传媒.
"Great vision by Atiba Hutchinson to catch the defence sleeping," added De Rosario. "Really, all I had to do was just focus on the ball and put it in the back of the net."
Panama coach Julio Dely Valdes, speaking through an interpreter, called his team's play on the goal "childish."
Panama is ranked 50th in the world, some 23 places above sa国际传媒, and has been enjoying an upswing in recent years.
Midway through this qualifying round, sa国际传媒 (2-0-1) has seven points while Panama (2-1-0) has six. Honduras (1-1-1) climbed up the group standings with a 3-0 win in Cuba earlier Friday, upping its points total to four. Cuba is winless and pointless at 0-3-0.
Only the top two teams from the group will advance to the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF. Six teams will then contest three places from the region at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, with a fourth CONCACAF team facing a squad from Oceania to see who joins them.
In other World Cup qualifying, Italy was held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Bulgaria. Showing little of the form that took the team to the European Championship final, the Italians were denied victory when Georgi Milanov equalized for Bulgaria - ranked 89th in the world - in the 66th minute in Sofia.
That was the only big surprise, although Portugal was hardly impressive in rallying to a 2-1 win over unheralded Luxembourg.
Germany would also have been expected to beat the Faeroe Islands by a bigger margin than 3-0, leaving England to record the most eye-catching result of the continent's big guns - 5-0 at Moldova in Group H.
