Canada wins inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament despite penalty shootout loss to Ivory Coast
Canada won the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament on Tuesday night despite losing to African champion Ivory Coast 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
The game went to a shootout after it finished knotted at 0-0 after 90 minutes.
The 30th-ranked Canadian men finished with four points, one ahead of No. 86 New Zealand and No. 25 Ukraine and two ahead of No. 41 Ivory Coast.
Victory was assured for Canada just by getting to the shootout, given it would finish the night with at least four points — with two points for a shootout win and one for a shootout loss — while no one else had more than three. A regulation win was worth three points at the tournament.
Jonathan David, Mathieu Choiniere, Derek Cornelius and Ismael Kone scored for Canada in the shootout. Badra Ali Sangare stopped Tani Oluwaseyi and Luc de Fougerolles.
WATCH | Canada falls to Ivory Coast on penalties but wins Canadian Shield on points:
Canada falls to Ivory Coast in penalty kicks, still captures inaugural Canadian Shield
Clement Akpa, Jereme Boga, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Franck Kessie and Mohamed Diomande scored for Ivory Coast in the shootout, beating Dayne St. Clair. Mory Gbane missed the target.
Ukraine defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the early game Tuesday, leaving both teams at 1-1-0 with three points. That result meant Ivory Coast had to win by two goals to take the trophy.
Ivory Coast is currently ranked fifth in Africa by FIFA — behind No. 12 Morocco, No. 19 Senegal, No. 32 Egypt and No. 36 Algeria. But the Elephants are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and have been ranked as high as No. 12 in the world.
Ivory Coast looked dangerous, comfortably moving the ball around as drums resonated in its supporters' section at BMO Field. The Ivorian 'keeper