With a perfect six points after two games, Canada is on the brink of qualifying for the quarter-final phase of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. With a 1:0 victory over El Salvador at the Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH, Canada drew that much closer to advancing beyond the group phase.
Technically, nine teams could still finish with six points (three teams tied in each group), so Canada will watch with interest Groups B and C in the coming days. In the other Tuesday Group A match, Costa Rica won 1:0 over Jamaica. Both Costa Rica and El Salvador have three points after two games.
Ali Gerba has set the national record for goals scored at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. With his sixth career goal in the competition on Tuesday night, Gerba moved ahead of Carlo Corazzin for the Canadian record. Gerba has six goals in nine CONCACAF Gold Cup games.
Gerba has scored in each of Canada’s 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup matches – a 1:0 victory over Jamaica on 3 July and a 1:0 victory over El Salvador on 7 July. Gerba previously scored three goals at the 2007 competition and one goal at the 2005 competition.
Canada’s men’s national team will face El Salvador on Tuesday 7 July at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. It is match-day two for Group A, with Costa Rica facing Jamaica at 19.00 ET and Canada facing El Salvador at 21.00 ET. Both games will be played at the Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH.
Canada’s matches at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup are broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet. Tuesday’s match will be played live on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, and Sportsnet West. All other CONCACAF Gold Cup matches are broadcast on GolTV in Canada.
Canada’s men’s national team enjoyed its first day of training today in Columbus, OH in preparation for this coming Tuesday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup match against El Salvador. The team trained at the Obetz Memorial Park in Columbus, the home training grounds of the Major League Soccer champion Columbus Crew.
Both Canada and El Salvador have three points in Group A standings after the opening night of action in Los Angeles on 3 July. The Tuesday 7 July match will kick off at 21.00 ET (18.00 PT) at Crew Stadium in Columbus. The Canada-El Salvador match will be broadcast live on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet West.
Canada’s men’s national team arrived in Columbus, OH today, one day after winning the opening match of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The team flew from Los Angeles to Columbus where it will spend the next few days before its Tuesday 7 July match against El Salvador.
Both Canada and El Salvador have three points after the opening night of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Group A). Canada won its opening match 1:0 over Jamaica while El Salvador won its opening match 2:1 over Costa Rica. On Tuesday 7 July, Canada faces El Salvador and Costa Rica faces Jamaica.
Canada and El Salvador have each opened the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup with three points after the opening night of the tournament. Canada won its opening match 1:0 over Jamaica while El Salvador won 2:1 over Costa Rica at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, CA.
For Canada, it was the team’s third-straight win under head coach Stephen Hart. Coach Hart improved his all-time record to eight wins, one draw and four losses. It was also Canada’s third-straight match without conceding a goal.
Listen to captain Paul Stalteri
Paul Stalteri has been named captain for Canada’s men’s national team for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Canadian defender will help lead the Canadian side that will participate in the biennial confederation championship this 3-26 July in the United States.
All of Canada’s matches will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet, starting with the opening match this 3 July against Jamaica (20.00 ET / 17.00 PT on Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet West). The 12-team competition features three groups of four; Canada faces Jamaica, El Salvador (7 July) and Costa Rica (10 July) in its group competition.
Listen to coach Stephen Hart
Canada’s men’s national team will face Jamaica in the opening match of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The two sides will kick off at 17.00 PT (20.00 ET) at The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, CA.
The Canada-Jamaica match will officially kick off the 12-team competition. The match will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet (Sportsnet West and Sportsnet Ontario). The Canada-Jamaica match will be followed by the El Salvador-Costa Rica match (also at The Home Depot Center; live on GolTV).
Canada’s men’s national team is ranked 11th amongst CONCACAF nations in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The ranking, released on 1 July, includes matches up through 25 June, so it does not include Canada’s 3:0 defeat over Guatemala in Oxnard, CA on 30 June. That result, as well as Canada’s results at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, will be included in the next ranking on 5 August 2009.
Canada lost 70 points in the ranking, in particular due to the devaluation of last year’s two wins in FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers against St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Canada had no new matches in the period between the two most recent world rankings.