THE CANADIAN PRESS
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — Issey Nakajima-Farran opened the scoring in the 32nd minute and Canada went on to beat St. Vincent & the Grenadines 3-0 Sunday in the first leg of a two-match qualifying series for the 2010 World Cup.
Ali Gerba, who came on for the injured Rob Friend after only seven minutes, scored a pair of goals, the first coming two minutes from the break and the second two minutes from full time.
It was only the second meeting ever between the two countries following the Canada’s 2-0 victory at the Arnos Vale Playing Field in the early 1980’s.
The return leg is set for next Friday at the Saputo Stadium in Montreal.
Seemingly unaffected by the afternoon’s 30 C heat, the Canadians never allowed the Vincentians to settle, taking control of the midfield with ease as Julian de Guzman, captain Paul Stalteri and Tomasz Radzinski all combined with short passes to overcome the steamy conditions.
"We knew that the heat would be a factor but our intention was to play at a comfortable pace and keep control of the ball," said Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell.
SVG, however, came close to taking the lead in the 27th minute, but Marlon James’ low shot was saved by Pat Onstad’s outstretched leg while on the ground.
The visitors took the lead when Mike Klukowski involved de Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario before ending with Nakajima-Farran hitting a right foot past SVG goalkeeper Melvin Andrews.
The nimble Gerba made it 2-0 in the 38th when he collected a pass from de Guzman, and with the SVG defenders appealing for offside, he struck the ball low to Andrews’ left.
De Rosario once more breached the defence and quickly played the ball to Gerba who calmly slotted home the third goal in the 89th minute.
James, who was the leading scorer in the Malaysian Football League, was stifled by Canada’s Adrian Serioux, allowing him little space throughout the match.
The Canadians found the net in the 60th again through Gerba, but this time it was ruled offside.
Patrice Bernier replaced De Guzman in the 72nd minute and Jim Brennan came on for Radzinski in the 85th.
De Rosario came close to scoring in the 12th but only succeeded in hitting the ball wide from the edge of the box.