Jackson impresses in debut, scores winner

Simeon Jackson scored in the second half Saturday to give Canada a 1-0 win over Cyprus in an international friendly.

Jackson picked up a pass at the top of the box from a quickly taken free kick that seemed to catch the Cypriot defence off guard, and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Antonis Georgallides in the 53rd minute.

“It’s a great confidence boost for me to get my first cap and a goal as well,” Jackson said after the match. “Now I’m looking forward to the Gold Cup.”

Canada’s interim head coach Stephen Hart said his team was fortunate to score on Cyprus’ defensive lapse, but said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance.

“We had four chances on goal in the first half that we should have done better with,” Hart said.

The slow Cypriot offence came to life after the goal, but Canada defended strongly and managed to neutralize most attacks from the hosts.

Canada’s Julian de Guzman dominated play in the midfield, controlling the centre and dictating the pace with sharp passing.

Cyprus coach Angelos Anastasiadis said the match was a good preparation for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Montenegro.

“We were missing that explosiveness that is necessary in such matches and we couldn’t convert on some easy opportunities, but I’m very satisfied with my players,” he said.

Canada’s best chance in the first half came in the 41st when Simeon failed to get his head on a curling cross right in front of Georgallides. The ball landed at the feet of Josh Simpson, whose hard shot from a difficult angle was saved by the goalkeeper.

Lineups:

Cyprus: Antonis Giorgallidis, Marinos Satsias (Jason Demetriou, 46) Elias Charalambous, Skevos Christou, Costantinos Charalampides, Marios Ilia (Andreas Constantinou, 75), Alexis Garpozis (Stelios Okkarides, 87),Marios Nicolaou, Yiannis Okkas (Constantinos Makrides, 46), Michalis Constantinou (Yiasemakis Yiasoumi, 58) Stathis Aloneftis (Giorgos Panagi, 63).

Canada: Lars Hirschfeld, Nik Ledgerwood, Adrian Cann, Kevin McKenna, Julian de Guzman, Richard Hastings, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Eddy Sidra, Josh Simpson (Chris Pozniak, 83), Simeon Jackson (Andrew Ornoch, 81), Jaime Peters.

Next Match:

June 30, 2009 (Oxnard, California)

Guatemala-Canada