El Salvador 0-1 Canada

July 7th, 2009 | By: Mike | 4 Comments »

GOAL:
ALI GERBA (2) 32′

Subs: El Salvador 45′= Alas for Torres, 65′= Corrales for Costillo, Canada 76′= Jackson for Gerba, 84′= de Jong for Simpson, 86′= Barrera for Reyes

Bookings: Yellow= Mike Klukowski, Paul Stalteri

El Salvador Starting XI: Montes(GK), Henriques, Pacheco, Salazar, Gonzalez, Sanchez, Torres, Castillo, Coreas, Romero, Reyes

Canada Starting XI: Sutton (GK), McKenna, Jakovic, Stalteri, De Guzman, Bernier, Hutchinson, Klukowski, Simpson, Johnson and Gerba

Previous Matches: Jamaica 0-1 Costa Rica

Join myself and Headhunting Canuck at LIVE BLOG HERE -> http://oot-football.blogspot.com/

The first half sure didnt have the spark from both teams that I expected. Sure we have the lead through who else but Ali Gerba, but our means of attack should change in the second half. de Guzman is trying to cleverly find Gerba through the air, but El Salvador are up to the task of clearing. Terrible clearance by El Salvador however, which led to Gerba getting a touch on the ball and redirecting it into the net. El Salvador cannot get anything going, their best chance coming from a free kick just outside the center of the box, and an open chance which hit the side netting. We could easily be up 3-0 here.

This second half also did not have the same action from what we saw against Jamaica. For both teams, the last touch simply wasn’t there today. El Salvador looked like a reserve squad on the pitch, though they were able to muster up a few decent chances, the finishing touch was lacking. The star in the victory over Costa Rica, Romero, was insignificant in this game. Our back line who looked iffy against Jamaica is becoming a tighter unit, and will only get better as the tournament progresses.

Gerba again played well, as did de Guzman. As mentioned, the defence was also impressive. What i’m mulling over however is Simeon Jackson not in a starting roll. Hart needs to let this kid loose from the beginning of the match alongside Gerba, and not subbing in for him. That should be Johnson’s roll, he should be a late sub. Hart is just sticking to what works I guess.

With this victory, we still aren’t through yet. A tie is all that is needed against Costa Rica to send us through, but our boys are out to prove something, and I think they’ll be gunning for the victory Friday night.

Current Standings

Team W-D-L GF GA GD PTS
1- Canada 2-0-0 2 0 2 6
2- Costa Rica 1-0-1 2 2 0 3
3- El Salvador 1-0-1 2 2 0 3
4- Jamaica 0-0-2 0 2 -2 0

Tags: Team News

Canada World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

By Alex | July 7th, 2009 at 9:49 pm

Jackson for Gerba 76th minute, are you kidding me… I was waiting for a substitution since the 60th minute and this is what Hart does? Why not take off the useless tool Johnson? Simpson has been good but is tired and Bernier needs a change as well. Peters, Nakajima, De Jong, Hastings are all on the bench… Hutch and De Guz have been really good, but having Staltz and Johnson on the same side concerns me.

By Headhunting Canuck | July 7th, 2009 at 11:54 pm

So I thought we were qualified for sure now. Alas it has been pointed out we aren’t just yet. Though if any game ties from here on out we are in for sure. More than likely we will be in, but you could quite possibly get 9 teams with 6 points each (With loser on Goal difference being knocked out). Chances of it happening are slim to none, but it could. So Canada start praying for a draw.

Posted from Canada

By Mike | July 8th, 2009 at 12:06 am

I really dont see El Salvador blowing out Jamaica and passing us on GD, or us losing 3-0 to Costa Rica. But after watching the Confederations Cup with the USA advancing from the group stage, I guess anything is possible. A tie would be good, but it would be a boost of confidence to go through 3-0-0, after everyone was writing them off.

Posted from Canada

By Seth | July 8th, 2009 at 1:57 am

I’m becoming a Canadian fan!

Posted from Canada

Comments are closed