Canada, Costa Rica advance with wins
Dwayne De Rosario scored twice in a three-minute span in the first half and Canada defeated Haiti, 2-0, in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match Monday night.
The victory assured Canada the top spot after the conclusion of Group A matches played in the Orange Bowl. Canada finished with two victories and six points, followed by Costa Rica, which defeated Guadeloupe, 1-0, earlier Monday.
Costa Rica and Guadeloupe ended with four points, but Costa Rica advanced because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Guadeloupe still has a chance at the second round as one of the top two third-place finishers.
De Rosario gave Canada a 1-0 lead with his first goal in the 32nd minute. Paul Stalteri’s pass from the right wing found De Rosario open near the end line of the far post. From a difficult angle, De Rosario found enough space to beat goalkeeper Gabart Fenelon with a shot to the far post.
Three minutes later, De Rosario converted on a penalty kick after Pierre-Richard Bruny fouled Issey Nakajima-Farran inside the penalty area.
Fenelon guessed correctly but still couldn’t stop De Rosario’s low shot inside the left post.
Haiti had limited scoring opportunities on Canada goalkeeper Patrick Onstad, who missed Canada’s 2-1 loss against Guadeloupe because of an MLS commitment on Sunday.
Onstad’s slide and save off Alexandre Boucicaut’s 15-yard shot in the 38th minute was Haiti’s best scoring threat.
Onstad overcame a violent collision with Haiti’s Ricardo Pierre-Louis in the 54th minute. Onstad hit his head on the turf after colliding with Pierre-Louis while chasing a loose ball.
Onstad remained on the field and was attended for nearly 10 minutes before resuming play.
Haiti’s frustrations at not advancing to the elimination round boiled over in the 81st minute, when referee Marco Rodriguez ejected Bruny for his elbow to the head against Canada’s Kevin Harmse.
In the Costa Rica-Guadeloupe match, Costa Rica’s Walter Centeno scored his third goal.
Centeno scored on a free kick in the 14th minute. His drive from 22 yards sailed past a wall of defenders and landed inside the right post, giving him eight career Gold Cup goals, tied with Landon Donovan and Brian McBride of the United States for third in tournament history.
