Canada beat Cuba 4-2 to advance to Gold Cup quarterfinals

HOUSTON –

Canada is through to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Junior Hoilett, Jonathan Osorio, Jayden Nelson and Liam Millar scored as Canada beat Cuba 4-2 in their group stage final at Shell Energy Stadium on Tuesday.

The win means Canada will take on Group A winners USA in the quarter-finals of the tournament on Sunday evening.

Canada entered the game in need of a win, finishing third – behind Guadeloupe and Guatemala – in Group D by just two points. The win resulted in Canada (1-2-0) finishing second, with the top two seed from each group advancing.

Guatemala (2-1-0) finished top of Group D to advance after a 3-2 victory Tuesday against Guadeloupe (1-1-1) at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ

Canada earned back-to-back draws to open the tournament. A 2-2 draw against Guadeloupe in the opener in Toronto last Tuesday and a 0-0 draw against Guatemala in Houston on Saturday.

The Canadians have a 10-3-2 record against Cuba and their last encounter was a 1-0 victory over Canada on September 10, 2019.

Canada had a great opportunity on six minutes when Ali Ahmed sent a short cross to an open Osorio, who knocked the ball off the crossbar and bounced just inside the line, back up off the crossbar and out.

It was not a goal, but play was halted about a minute later. After a lengthy Video Assistant Review (VAR), Osorio was ruled offside and the score remained 0-0.

Hoilett scored the opening goal in the 21st minute from a penalty, beating goalkeeper Sandy Sanchez with a low shot to the left. Hoilett earned the penalty after an attempted cross from the left side of the box went off Eduardo Hernandez’s arm.

Osorio recovered in the 26th minute as he put the finishing touches to a fine move. Millar saw Lucas Cavallini blast away in the box and he sent a pass to an open Osorio who blasted past Sanchez for a 2-0 lead.

In stoppage time of the first half, Maykel Reyes stripped Osorio of the ball, pushed ahead and sent a go-ahead pass to Luis Paradela, who was tackled by goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair who tried to pass him. Paradela then defeated St. Clair to cut Cuba’s deficit in half.

St. Clair started in place of Milan Borjan, who was ruled out of the tournament on Monday with an undisclosed injury.

Nelson made it a 3–1 game just two minutes into the second half. Richie Laryea sent a cross into the box which hit Millar before Cavallini put in a shot on target which was stopped by Sanchez.

Sanchez couldn’t get his hands on the ball, however, and Nelson found the loose ball in traffic and shot it into the net.

Millar gave Canada a three-goal lead in the 61st minute on a header from a corner kick by Hoilett. He beat a Cuban defender and Nelson Johnston – who came into play for Sanchez just before the corner – to get his head on the ball.

Cuba threatened a late corner kick but St. Clair tapped away a header that appeared to be from Yosel Piedra. However, a penalty kick was awarded to Cuba after a VAR in which the referees ruled that the ball went from Dominick Zator.

As a result, Reyes just managed to pass St. Clair in the 88th minute to make it a two-goal game.

Osorio shot the ball past Johnston for what would have been his second goal of the game, but was ruled offside in stoppage time.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 4, 2023.