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Cuba earns first-ever Gold Cup win over Canada

FOXBORO, Massachusetts (AP) -- Lester More scored a goal in each half as Cuba upset Canada 2-0 in the first round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The win leaves Cuba tied with Canada atop the Group D standings. Canada, which defeated Costa Rica in its first match and could have advanced to the quarterfinals with a draw, needs Cuba to win or draw against Costa Rica, or Costa Rica to beat Cuba by three or more goals, to advance.

The D win was the first-ever for the Cubans in the regional championship, and also their first against the Canadians.

After several forays into the Canadian defense, Cuba found the net in the 15th minute. Jaime Colome slid a through ball that caught More in stride in the right side in the box. More, running at full speed, knocked the ball home with a swift, right-footed kick into the corner of the goal.

More struck again a minute after halftime. The forward took a short cross from Pedro Adriani Faife and slammed the ball home from a few meters (yards) out.

The goal seemed to awaken the Canadians, who had been making few coordinated forays into the Cuban defense.

In the 83rd minute, Iain Hume and dribbled around a Cuban defender, but his shot hooked just wide of the net. In the 88th minute, Paul Stalteri eluded Cuban goalkeeper Odelin Molina, but the midfielder couldn't control the ball as he moved toward the goal, and Molina smothered the ball on his end line.

Canada started the game settling in a defensive posture, with an eye toward a draw and a berth in the quarterfinals. Cuba provided the pace offensively, using short, crisp passing to slice through the defense and pressure the goal.

After More's second goal, Canada tried to generate offense by relying on long passes to its attackers. But the Cubans generally had no problems tracking them down.

"We had a very poor start and we got punished for it," Canada coach Holger Osieck told reporters. "We never got into the game, it was just awful.

"We shouldn't be looking for excuses. Fatigue was not a factor, they under-rated Cuba. I saw them against Panama and warned the team about them."

"We are very happy at the result," said Cuba coach Miguel Company. "We were aiming for our first-ever victory in the Gold Cup and when we got that first goal, that helped us.

"They (Canada) did not underestimate us, they played the same style that I saw them play against Costa Rica. We will celebrate this moment now and tomorrow we will think about our next opponent."

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.