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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV class=nrelease>Men's National Team</DIV><DIV class=drelease>Sunday, October 08, 2006</DIV><DIV class=drelease></DIV></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=125 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle><DIV class=nrelease></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><DIV class=plain>Kingston, Jamaica - Canada’s Men’s National Team couldn’t hang on to an early 1:0 lead, paving the way for a 2-1 win for host Jamaica in an international friendly held in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday in front of a small but vocal crowd at the National Stadium.
Despite opening the scoring in the 8th minute on a great strike by Tomasz Radzinski and creating far more scoring opportunities than their opponents, the Canadians surrendered two quick goals late in the first half and saw their run of four games without a loss come to an end.
Hoping to secure their second consecutive victory against their CONCACAF rivals (following their 1-0 win over Jamaica in Montreal on September 4), the Canadians opened the game strongly and were rewarded when Julian de Guzman found Radzinski with a perfectly executed chip pass. Radzinski, streaking in from the wing, took one touch to control the pass and then hammered his shot inside the near post.
'I thought we got off to a great start and overall we played a good game,' said Radzinski after the game. 'We switched off for two minutes and conceded two goals. We came back strongly in the second half playing up to our usual standards and created many, many chances. The result does not reflect the way we played. We can take many positives from our performance and I am sure we are going to bounce back and achieve great things with this group and these players.'
For the second straight game, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart was forced to make an early substitution due to an injury to his starting left back. In Montreal, Chris Pozniak was forced to leave the proceedings in the 31st minute when he was studded on toe. Sunday, it was Mike Klukowski who went down inside 20 minutes, following a fifty-fifty challenge. Klukowski was taken off with what was diagnosed as a mild MCL sprain. Gabriel Gervais was brought in at left back after impressing in Montreal last month.
The game exploded in the 35th minute when Jamaica’s Luton Shelton latched on to a perfectly placed centering pass and stroked the ball past Canadian goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos from near the penalty spot.
The goal fired up the home crowd, who though low in number, got behind the hosts and roared their approval. Minutes later the crowd was again on their feet when Jamaica’s Demar Phillips found himself alone at the top of the box and his hard low shot tucked inside the far post to put the Reggae Boyz ahead 2-1 at the interval.
Both sides appeared tentative to start the second half and Hart brought on Martin Nash for Julian de Guzman, who was hampered by a tight hamstring. The substitution proved to be an inspired one as Nash provided an immediate spark to the Canadian attack with his distribution. Radzinski and Josh Simpson (who was playing wide on the left) started to see more of the ball and give the hosts trouble. Rob Friend, who worked tirelessly up front throughout the game, saw a header come close off a Nash corner as the visitors began to press their hosts.
Hart then brought on Ali Gerba for Patrice Bernier in the 70th minute and played him alongside Friend as the Canadians pushed for the equalizer. The Canadians were beginning to dominate the game. Radzinski was played through in the 70th minute but his cross from a tight angle was cut out. Minutes later, Nash again found Radzinski wide and Canada broke in on a 3 v 2. Radzinski squared the ball to Friend who then layed off a perfect pass to Gerba, whose shot was saved by Jamaican goalkeeper
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle><DIV class=nrelease></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><DIV class=plain>Kingston, Jamaica - Canada’s Men’s National Team couldn’t hang on to an early 1:0 lead, paving the way for a 2-1 win for host Jamaica in an international friendly held in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday in front of a small but vocal crowd at the National Stadium.Despite opening the scoring in the 8th minute on a great strike by Tomasz Radzinski and creating far more scoring opportunities than their opponents, the Canadians surrendered two quick goals late in the first half and saw their run of four games without a loss come to an end.
Hoping to secure their second consecutive victory against their CONCACAF rivals (following their 1-0 win over Jamaica in Montreal on September 4), the Canadians opened the game strongly and were rewarded when Julian de Guzman found Radzinski with a perfectly executed chip pass. Radzinski, streaking in from the wing, took one touch to control the pass and then hammered his shot inside the near post.
'I thought we got off to a great start and overall we played a good game,' said Radzinski after the game. 'We switched off for two minutes and conceded two goals. We came back strongly in the second half playing up to our usual standards and created many, many chances. The result does not reflect the way we played. We can take many positives from our performance and I am sure we are going to bounce back and achieve great things with this group and these players.'
For the second straight game, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart was forced to make an early substitution due to an injury to his starting left back. In Montreal, Chris Pozniak was forced to leave the proceedings in the 31st minute when he was studded on toe. Sunday, it was Mike Klukowski who went down inside 20 minutes, following a fifty-fifty challenge. Klukowski was taken off with what was diagnosed as a mild MCL sprain. Gabriel Gervais was brought in at left back after impressing in Montreal last month.
The game exploded in the 35th minute when Jamaica’s Luton Shelton latched on to a perfectly placed centering pass and stroked the ball past Canadian goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos from near the penalty spot.
The goal fired up the home crowd, who though low in number, got behind the hosts and roared their approval. Minutes later the crowd was again on their feet when Jamaica’s Demar Phillips found himself alone at the top of the box and his hard low shot tucked inside the far post to put the Reggae Boyz ahead 2-1 at the interval.
Both sides appeared tentative to start the second half and Hart brought on Martin Nash for Julian de Guzman, who was hampered by a tight hamstring. The substitution proved to be an inspired one as Nash provided an immediate spark to the Canadian attack with his distribution. Radzinski and Josh Simpson (who was playing wide on the left) started to see more of the ball and give the hosts trouble. Rob Friend, who worked tirelessly up front throughout the game, saw a header come close off a Nash corner as the visitors began to press their hosts.
Hart then brought on Ali Gerba for Patrice Bernier in the 70th minute and played him alongside Friend as the Canadians pushed for the equalizer. The Canadians were beginning to dominate the game. Radzinski was played through in the 70th minute but his cross from a tight angle was cut out. Minutes later, Nash again found Radzinski wide and Canada broke in on a 3 v 2. Radzinski squared the ball to Friend who then layed off a perfect pass to Gerba, whose shot was saved by Jamaican goalkeeper