Soccer
Jonathan David expressed his relief at Canada being able to come through their “chaotic” final group game against El Salvador at the Gold Cup.
Canada booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition with a 2-0 victory at the Shell Energy Stadium.
An action-packed ending to the first half saw David’s missed penalty sandwiched between two red cards for El Salvador duo Santos Ortiz and Jairo Henriquez.
Canada made their two-man advantage count eight minutes after the break when David stroked the ball past Mario Gonzalez and into the bottom-right corner.
And they sealed the victory three minutes later when Tajon Buchanan collected Niko Sigur’s pass before rifling the ball in at the near post to seal top spot in Group B.
“I think it was typical CONCACAF,” David said of the first half. “A bit chaotic, a lot of fouls, but we expected this, and we were ready for this.
“He [Marsch] was passing on the message from the referee before the second half that we should not get into any confrontation because we would get carded.
“So it was just to be smart and keep playing our game.”
Quarter-Final bound!
En route pour les quarts de finale!
#CANMNT pic.twitter.com/HcTY6k1zMW
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) June 25, 2025
Canada finished with seven points from their three games and will face Guatemala in the next round, as they finished as runners-up to Panama in Group C.
When asked about the test their next opponents might provide, the message was clear from David, who said: “We recover now, and we get back to training. Simple.”
Elsewhere in the competition, fellow co-hosts the United States will take on Costa Rica in the last eight after taking maximum points from their opening round of fixtures.
Should Mauricio Pochettino’s side emerge victorious at the U.S. Bank Stadium, they could tee up a blockbuster tie with Canada for a place in the final.
On the other side of the draw, defending champions Mexico face Saudi Arabia, while Panama will play against Honduras.
The big surprise of the group stage saw two-time finalists Jamaica dumped out. It is the first time they have been eliminated at the first stage of the Gold Cup since 2009.
Read MoreSoccerNews