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The journey was a bit bumpy, but the Canadian men's soccer team got the job done and qualified for the knockout stage at the Concacaf Gold Cup, the championship tournament for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Favoured to win Group B as the 30th-ranked team in the world, Canada opened with a 6-0 drubbing of No. 75 Honduras in Vancouver but encountered some tougher contests after relocating to Houston to finish out group play.
Needing a win over 90th-ranked Curacao last Saturday night to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals, the Canadians clung to a 1-0 lead into second-half stoppage time before a Curacao substitute stunned them with a goal in the 94th minute to steal a 1-1 draw. It could have been worse: Curacao had two goals disallowed due to offsides and was denied a potential penalty kick in the 86th minute on an apparent hand ball when the referees ruled that play had halted because someone in the crowd blew a whistle.
WATCH | Canada blanks El Savador, advances to Gold Cup quarterfinal:
Canada shuts down El Salvador, wins Group B at Gold Cup
That disappointing result put the pressure on Canada to win the group finale against El Salvador on Tuesday night to earn first place and a more favourable matchup in the quarterfinals. The 81st-ranked El Salvadorans made it a rock fight, playing very conservatively (they had only two shots, compared to 14 for Canada) while racking up 19 fouls, four yellow cards and a pair of reds that caused them to play two men short for the entire second half. Canada finally broke through in the 53 minute when Jonathan David
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