St. Catharines Standard e-edition

Canada is blanked by Uruguay in tune-up

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA Despite Canada’s ability to control much of the game against a formidable opponent, it was the missed chances that stung most.

Canada suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of No. 13 Uruguay in its second last friendly before heading to Qatar for the World Cup. The 43rdranked Canadians dominated possession and outshot their opponents, but were unable to capitalize on several occasions.

“Disappointed. I just spoke with the lads … (I) let them know that when you have that type of opportunity in a game, you got to take the chances, you got to win football matches and there’s not going to be any special award for losing games where you have a chance to win them,” head coach John Herdman said post-match. “You lose games like that, you’re going to drop out of the World Cup pretty quickly and go home.”

Although Canada dominated possession (59-41 in the first half, 55-45 overall), it was Uruguay that set the tone early making the most of its opportunities.

Nicolas De La Cruz scored on a free kick from the left side just outside of the box in the sixth minute, putting by the near-side post as goalkeeper Milan Borjan could not get enough off the ball to stop it. Following a close miss on a volley shot from a Luis Suarez cross five minutes earlier, Liverpool star Darwin Nunez made up for it with a header goal in the 33rd minute off a cross from Suarez to double the score.

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2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stcatharinesstandard.pressreader.com/article/281797107870737

Toronto Star Newspapers Limited