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Feb. 25, 2000 SportsLine wire reports |
LOS ANGELES -- Mark Watson scored in the 68th minute as Canada beat
Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 Thursday night and became champion of soccer's North
and Central American and Caribbean region for the first time.
Although it was only a semifinal of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the region's
biennial championship, Canada's opponent in Sunday's final is Colombia, a South
American team invited to the 12-team tournament.
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Colombia beats Peru to advance to final T O P N E W S
Canada, which hasn't qualified for the World Cup since 1986, earned a spot in the next FIFA Confederations Cup, which is for the champions of Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the CONCACAF region.
"We're like the Bad News Bears," said Canada's Carlo Corazzin, the tournament's leading scorer with three goals. "We just keep winning. We played poorly. Sometimes the best team doesn't win. On this day, they were a better team but we won."
With no Latin American team to draw fans, the game was attended by only about 2,800 on a cool night in the 92,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum.
Watson scored on a header off Carlo Corazzin's assist. The play began when Davide Xausa sent a corner kick to James Brennan. Canada, ranked 85th in the world, extended its unbeaten streak to 10 games (6-0-4). Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 49th, outshot the Canadians 22-13.
Canada goalkeeper Craig Forrest, who plays for West Ham United in England's Premier League, stopped David Nakhid's penalty kick in the 3th minute after Watson knocked down Jarren Nixon just in front of the goal.
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| Trinidad's Marvin Andrews (top) controls a header over Canada's Carlo Corazzin.(AP) |
Canada coach Holger Osieck believes the victory will help generate domestic support for a side that FIFA ranked 85th in the world. Trinidad was rated 49th.
"Nobody ever expected us to win the title," Osieck said of Canada's berth in the next Confederations Cup. "But to convince people to support your program, you've got to win a title.
"Our team did not play too well but we shouldn't forget that most of our players are very young, and they've never played in a final before tonight. Our experienced players guided the young guys."
Mexico and the United States, the top powers in the region, were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Canada beat Mexico and Colombia defeated the United States.
AP NEWS