Shaffelburg’s brace leads Canada to 2-0 win over Peru in international friendly

Jacob Shaffelburg’s first-half brace lifted the Canadian men’s soccer team past Peru 2-0 in its second friendly of the international break Saturday.

Shaffelburg opened the scoring in the 19th minute and doubled the lead in the 35th as Canada cruised to victory before a sellout of 19,619 on a sunny, 15 C afternoon at Montreal’s Stade Saputo.

Daniel Jebbison added an assist for the 30th-ranked Canadian men, who opened a new four-year World Cup cycle last week with a 1-0 win over No. 49 Chile in Toronto. 

Canada held 61 per cent possession and outshot the 50th-ranked Peruvians 17-4, including 3-0 on target. 

The Canadian men improved to 3-1-0 all-time against No. 50 Peru having also prevailed 1-0 last time out at the 2024 Copa América.

An awkward rendition of O Canada - with the anthem singer appearing to forget the words - made for a strange start to the afternoon.

The home side nevertheless quickly energized the crowd, with midfielder Nathan Saliba finding winger Liam Millar with a dangerous through ball in the first minute. Millar dribbled around the keeper but his shot was blocked by a defender.

Star striker Jonathan David missed a golden opportunity in 17th minute, firing his shot wide from the penalty area after Jebbison’s centred pass.

Shaffelburg broke through minutes later with a strike across goal after Jebbison redirected Millar’s cross to the edge of the six-yard box.

The 26-year-old winger from Port Williams, N.S., added to his tally in the 35th minute. He headed home a Millar cross - that tipped off the fingers of Peru keeper Diego Romero - at the back post for his ninth goal with the national team.

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