Howard Walker, Staff ReporterCosta Rica and Canada played to a tame 0-0 draw in their CONCACAF Under-17 Group B World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium last night, to remain at the top of the five-team group with four points apiece.
Both Canada and Costa Rica recorded 3-0 and 2-0 victories over Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago respectively on Saturday and are a win away from qualification.
With three of the five teams qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in South Korea in August, on Wednesday when the competition resumes Canada will be playing their third straight game against the United States of America (USA), while Costa Rica tackle Jamaica.
In front of a relatively small crowd at the stadium, Costa Rica took control early and were never really tested and proved they will be a hard nut to crack for the remainder of the tournament.
Skilful and tricky players
Costa Rica, with the likes of Diego Brenes, David Guzman, Jorge Castro, Roy Smith, Esteban Luna and Erick Rojas were too skilful and tricky for their Canadian counterparts.
But Canada might have been playing to a plan, knowing that a draw against Costa Rica would have been a major result and another win against Trinidad and Tobago or the USA will beenough.
As the results stand Canada are atop of the standings on goal difference and was the happier team after the final whistle.
... Canadian coach satisfied
Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer
Canadian national football coach, Stephen Hart, expressed satisfaction with the goalless result against Costa Rica, that kept them atop the five-nation CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualification series, at the National Stadium last night.
"I was satisfied with the result," stated Hart, whose team played the first match of a double-header. At press time, the United States wee leading Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 at half-time in that encounter.
Hart's team beat Jamaica 3-0 in Saturday's opening set of round robin matches and while pleased with the finish, the Canadian coach felt indifferently about their performance in the first half.
"I really wasn't pleased with the first half, but we recovered and played well in the second half.
"We defended but we couldn't really keep the ball effectively like we did in the first game against Jamaica. We were a bit narrow in the middle of the field and really, it cost us to put ourselves under a lot of pressure," said Hart, who is also the coach of the Canadian senior national team.
Technically good team
He added: "The Costa Rica team is a technically good team, they pass the ball around a lot so I wasn't pleased with the first half. The second half I thought we came out and we changed a few things and we had a lot more of the ball and we had a couple of good chances. But we didn't score."
"My main concern now is how we manage our fatigue because I think that we are at a big disadvantage because we will have to play four games in six days and we only get one day's rest between the games and going down the stretch we are going to play team with two days rest," Hart concluded.
