Canada crashes out of Gold Cup - July 18,2009

A 35th minute Honduras penalty put Canada out of the Gold Cup, Saturday, despite a second-half fightback from the Canucks in Philadelphia.

Walter Martinez made no mistake from the spot after referee Joel Aguilar called Canadian captain Paul Stalteri for a foul on the Honduras forward inside the area. It was a harsh way to concede the only goal of the match, as replays showed Martinez hadn’t been touched as he fell to the ground after attempting a bicycle kick.

Nevertheless, Canada had several chances to score an equalizer in the second period. Will Johnson and Josh Simpson came close, but the Honduran defense kept the ball at edges of the 18-yard box, and try as they might, the Canadian midfielders could not get the ball to lone striker Ali Gerba.

“I thought that in the first half we moved the ball too slow,” commented Canadian head coach Stephen Hart after the match. “We tried to go through the middle.”

“As the game went on, they dropped off more and more which made it a little difficult for us to make chances,” remarked midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. “Saying that, we still created some good chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t finish.

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