U17s Tie Honduras In Opener

Canada came away with a 1:1 draw against Honduras in the opening match of the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship. Captain Russell Teibert scored on a penalty in the 40th minute before Honduras’ Hector Manute headed in the equaliser in the 60th minute.

“I think what we expected happened,” said coach Sean Fleming. “It was a very tough, competitive match. We knew Honduras would be a team that played with great pride and great work ethic. I was very pleased with my team and how we matched the work ethic and matched the competitiveness. That didn’t surprise me because of the qualities that we have within the team. The heat, however, did play a factor on both teams in the second half.”

The match started with both sides testing each other’s strengths. Canada had the first shot in the second minute, albeit from distance and over the net. In the 11th minute, Teibert had a shot, but it was low and with not enough power to frighten the Honduran defence.

The chances continued for Canada as the team. The team was awarded a free kick in the 19th minute and then a corner in the 27th minute. In the 33rd minute, Canada created a nice combination that led to a Jonathan Lao shot. The shot was high, but also fired after a whistle was blown on the play. In the 38th minute, Teibert took a free kick from 30 yards out that was stopped by the Honduran defence.

Canada also took its knocks in the first half. Sylla went down in the 26th minute and Ouimette went over a Honduran attacker in the 28th minute. The latter needed a few minutes on the sideline to block a bloody nose. It was then on a long ball into the Honduran box that Sylla was pulled down again, this time for a shot from the penalty spot. Teibert made no mistake in picking the right corner of the goal.

“I have done it a hundred times before,” said Teibert. “I just kept telling myself that I can do it, I’ve done it a lot and just put it in the back of the net.”

In the second half, Canada came out and created a few more chances, including a good run by Kevin Cobby and Sylla. Sylla penetrated the box, but there were too many Hondurans around him to get away with a shot. Shortly thereafter, Lao had a free kick, but the score remained unchanged.

In the 60th minute, Honduras scored the equaliser off a Nestor Hernandez corner kick. Moments earlier, Hernandez had intercepted a Canadian goal kick and pushed the ball back into the Canadian box. He fired a shot through the box before Honduras returned a second chance from the right. Causton made the save on the chance, but could not stop Matute’s header off the corner kick.

The play went back and forth for the last 30 minutes, although neither side got too close to scoring the winner. Substitute Caolan Lavery made a good run to force a corner kick in the 76th minute and Lao took a free kick late in the game, but the winning goal was not to be scored.

“The Honduras team is very good team technically,” said Fleming. “I thought the team was good defensively and we knew it would have a great work ethic. You go into every game hoping to win the game, but I think that at the end of the day, a 1-1 draw was probably a fair result for both teams.”

Canada now has one day off before it faces USA on Thursday 23 April.

1st Half

2nd Half