Italy (1934), Brazil (1950), Argentina (1978) and after today’s matchup vs. Qatar, you can add Canada’s name to the list of host nations to win by 6 goals at the World Cup. The Canadian side dominated from the opening whistle en route to their first World Cup victory in Men’s Senior National Team history in what was a relatively chippy affair between the two sides.
Jonathan David scored a hat trick to become the leading scorer in Canadian World Cup history, as the home side routed a shorthanded Qatari team in Vancouver on Thursday. After Switzerland defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier on, the Canadians knew they need at least a 4 goal victory if they wanted to reclaim the top seed in the group. They got that and more as Cyle Larin kicked things off just 16 minutes into the contest.
From there it was a steady dose of David, coupled with markers from Nathan Saliba, and what would eventually be ruled an own goal from Mohammed Manai as he attempted to clear a Jacob Shaffelburg shot off the line.
The lone blemish on the afternoon was what appeared to be a tournament ending injury to Canada’s Ismael Kone who was stretchered off the field in the 54th minute following a poor challenge from Assim Madibo. While the Canadian side have stopped short of issuing a formal injury update, hot mics on the sideline picked up several players screaming that “they broke his leg”.
Video replays appeared to show Kone in disbelief as he looked down at a limp ankle/foot, leading many to speculate that it was shattered ankle or lower left leg injury.
Saliba would be substituted in for Kone, and showed his appreciation for his fallen teammate after he added on to Canada’s lead shortly thereafter.
Canada’s final group stage match will its most important yet as it will decide the Group B winner. The host nation will take on Switzerland in Vancouver next Wednesday, June 24th in arguably the biggest game in Canadian Senior Men’s history.
Photo: Yvrphoto. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.