Canada drops down Group C standings with loss to Panama
Posted September 11, 2012 9:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (NEWS1130) – Canada’s men’s soccer team was looking for a sweep of its World Cup qualifying home-and-home series with Panama, but the home side was overpowering on its way to a 2-0 victory.
Rolando Blackburn and Blas Perez scored for the Panamanians.
Blackburn opened the scoring in the 23rd minute as he got his head on a corner kick and redirected the ball just inside the left post.
Perez added an insurance marker in the 57th minute as he was left all alone in front of the Canadian net.
The game got off to an unexpected start. Just over five minutes into the game, the lights at Estadio Rommel Fernandez went out, causing a nearly 15-minute long delay.
Just prior to the lights going out, Canadian midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was involved in a collision and he was quickly substituted out of the game when it resumed. It appears that Rosario suffered a knee injury on the play.
With the win, Panama moved to the top of the Group C standings, while the Canadian loss dropped them to third place on goal differential. Honduras beat Cuba 1-0 in the other Group C game, putting the Hondurans in second place and the Cubans in last.
Canada’s next game will be on October 12th when Cuba pays a visit to Toronto.
