Dwayne De Rosario scored a historical goal (and thus far the most important of his national team career) to guide Canada to a thrilling 1-0 win over Panama in a crucial World Cup qualifier before 17,586 fans at BMO Field.
After Simeon Jackson drew a foul on the edge of the box, Atiba Hutchinson didn't wait for Panama's defence to set up, and delivered a free kick into the middle for an unmarked Dwayne De Rosario to knock home past shell-shocked goalkeeper Jamie Penedo in the 77th minute.
With the goal, De Rosario moved past Dale Mitchell as Canada's all-time leading scorer with 20 goals in 70 appearances. More importantly, Canada put itself in a very good position to advance to the final round of World Cup qualifying
Canada tops Group C with seven points from three games. Panama is second (six points), followed by Honduras (four) and pointless Cuba. The Canadians play Panama away next Tuesday, before closing out the group stage with matches in October against Cuba (at home) and Honduras (on the road).
Only the top two nations move on to "The Hex," the final round of the CONCACAF qualifiers where the best three countries in the six-team, round-robin group qualify for the World Cup. Canada has not advanced to "the Hex" since 1998, and even then it finished dead last.
Scoring has historically been Canada's biggest problem and guile has been lacking, but not on this night. Maybe the Canadian side has finally learned that hard work only goes so far, and you need to be clever and crafty to grind out results in the cut-throat world on international soccer.
Another positive is that Canada continues to expertly defend, recording its fifth consecutive shutout and tenth in its last 11 contests. And the Reds did look very comfortable in possession, confidently stoking the ball around and pulling off some intricate passing sequences.
Canadian coach Stephen Hart certainly can't be accused of conservative tactics -- he fielded an attacking 4-3-3 formation, spearheaded by Olivier Occean up front with De Rosario and Jackson in support.
The opening half saw Canada carry the balance of play on the offensive end, using an effective pressing game that made it hard for Panama to work its way out of its end.
While Julian de Guzman provided the defensive foundation in midfield, Hutchinson pulled the creative strings, effectively linking up with Jackson.
But for all of Canada's bright play, it didn't come close to scoring, except when captain Kevin McKenna's bullet header off a corner kick slammed across the post in the 36th minute.
Tensions nearly boiled over late in the half, which saw the Costa Rican referee brandish several yellow cards. Panama's Alberto Quintero threw himself to the ground after the slightest touch from De Rosario, and players had to be separated before Quintero was comically stretchered off the pitch.
Panama came out strong to start the second half, but it was Canada who came closest to scoring, De Rosario forcing Penedo to parry away a powerful strike from distance.
Canada began to fade as the second half progressed, and Panama looked quite happy to play for the draw. But they became too comfortable, and Hutchinson took full advantage, quickly taking the spot kick and picking out De Rosario, who effortlessly slotted the ball home into an empty net.
NOTES: Panama is 50th in the latest FIFA world rankings released earlier this week, 23 spots ahead of Canada... The Canadian women's team, who won a bronze medal at last month's London Olympics, were honoured prior to Friday's game...
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