Canada advances to CONCACAF U-20 quarter-finals after thrashing Nicaragua 5-1

PUEBLA, Mexico – Caleb Clarke led the way with two goals as Canada advanced to the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF under-20 championship with a 5-1 win over Nicaragua on Friday.

Canada finished second in their group and will play the United States on Tuesday night for a spot in the tournament’s semifinals and, more importantly, a berth in this summer’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Samuel Piette opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Clarke doubled the lead in the 24th minute and added his second in the 54th minute.

Mauro Eustaquio scored from the penalty spot in the 38th minute to put Canada up by three goals before Eulises Pavon scored Nicaragua’s lone goal on a penalty in first half stoppage time.

Ben McKendry scored Canada’s fifth goal in the 64th minute.

Piette got Canada started with a sensational goal from 25 yards away. Defender John Dollery — who plays with Crawley Town in England’s League One — played a free kick along the ground from the right side toward Piette. He then hammered a right-footed effort that had pace and swerve over the helpless Nicaraguan goalkeeper.

Clarke’s first goal came on another set piece when Canada had a corner kick. The Vancouver Whitecaps striker made a run to the near post and tapped in Ben Fisk’s well-placed corner.

Canada’s third goal came from the penalty spot when Piette’s shot struck Cristian Gutierrez’s arm. Gutierrez was sent off for his second yellow card and Eustaquio scored by putting the ball in the corner to his right.

The game wasn’t without controversy as Canada’s Alessandro Riggi was struck in the face by a Honduran player, which—by the letter of the law—is an automatic red card offence. Not only was there no red card, Nicaragua won a penalty just seconds later on what was a marginal call, at best.

After a marginal call put him on the spot Pavon made no mistake with his penalty. But the game was put beyond all doubt when Clarke got on the end of Dollery’s cross in the second half for his second goal of the night and McKendry scored from close range with 25 minutes remaining.

Canada had gotten off to a shaky start at the tournament, losing 2-1 to Cuba on Monday. Cuba won the group with a 3-0 victory over Nicaragua on Wednesday.