SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (CP) - The Canadian under-20 men's soccer team is going to the FIFA World Youth Championship.
Canada defeated host Honduras 1-0 on Friday night at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament to guarantee the Canadians a top-two finish and a place at this summer's 24-country youth championship in Netherlands. Calgary midfielder Ryan Gyaki scored his third goal of the tournament to put the Canadians through.
"We had seen Honduras play a couple of times, and we knew basically what we needed to do to control them," said Canadian coach Dale Mitchell of the hard-earned result. "Our biggest problem throughout the 90 minutes was not keeping the ball enough, but we worked hard and dug the result out."
Honduras enjoyed much of the ball control during the game, while Canada played defensively and looked for opportunities to counterattack.
That strategy paid off in the 60th minute, when the Canadian defence took possession of the ball and found forward Will Johnson, who sent it back for Marcel de Jong in the middle.
The Toronto midfielder played the ball wide to substitute Riley O'Neill, who spotted Gyaki making a diagonal run and set him up for the goal.
O'Neill came on for Jaime Peters at the half. Peters, who was effective in Canada's game against Mexico, was under constant pressure from the Hondurans, and Mitchell opted to start the second half with a fresh player.
The move was a good one, as O'Neill made an immediate impact on the game and was instrumental in Canada's goal.
"Chemistry is a big thing in sport, and this team certainly had that going for it throughout the first two games," said Mitchell.
Honduras kept coming at the Canadians, and had a break on goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar in the 90th minute. Wagenaar held his ground, forcing the attacking Honduran to lob the ball over the net.
"We had to defend a lot tonight, Honduras had the majority of the ball, and the result was never clear," said Mitchell. "As much as we are happy with the result we still feel a little bit fortunate to escape with three points."
The young Canadians opened the tournament Wednesday with a 2-1 upset win over Mexico thanks to a pair of goals from Gyaki. Honduras opened with a 4-2 victory over Jamaica.
Canada wraps up Sunday against Jamaica, who have already been eliminated after losing to Mexico. Honduras plays Mexico for the final spot in the world championships.
The U.S. booked its ticket to the 24-country finals in the Netherlands at an earlier CONCACAF qualifying tournament. Panama also advanced, finishing second on goal difference.
Also qualified for the June 10-July 2 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands are the host Dutch, Benin, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Korea, Japan, Syria, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
Canada, who will host the 2007 edition of the tournament, reached the quarter-finals of the 2003 competition in the United Arab Emirates.
The 18-man Canadian roster in Honduras includes four players born in 1987 who will be eligible for the 2007 championship in Canada: midfielder Jaime Peters, goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, midfielder Mike D'Agostino and forward Will Johnson.