David’s goal gives Canada a crucial win against Costa Rica in World Cup qualifier

Key points: 

• Canadians rank a point off the top of the CONCACAF group with a clean sheet victory in Edmonton. 
• Team Canada’s player celebrates a goal during the victory over Costa Rica on Friday. 

Costa Rica was defeated by Canada by a one-goal margin, David strikes: 

Before the Canadian men’s national football team opposed Costa Rica on Friday, manager John Herdman transferred some sagacity he would receive before in the week from NBA coaching icon Phil Jackson, “play the game, not the occasion.”

Foward Jonathan David had a game-breaking second, and it made for an unforgettable occasion. His 57th-minute goal raised Canada to a 1-0 victory against Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier in front of 48,806 fans at the Commonwealth stadium. 

The goal came after Costa Rican goalie Leonel Moreira groped a cross into the penalty zone, leaving David to put the ball into the net. 

With the win, Canada endured in third place in CONCACAF’s Octagonal. Canada has 13 points from seven games (3-0-4) while Costa Rica fell to 1-3-3. Mexico and The United States are at the top of the table with 14 points respectively. 

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Canada will take on Mexico on Tuesday at the Commonwealth stadium. 

“We’re one point out of first, and we know what our ambitions are,” said fullback Sam Adekugbe, the Calgarian who Herdman identified as the man of the match. Source – cbc.ca

The top three sides in the table will earn berths for next year’s world cup in Qatar. The fourth-place team will participate in an intercontinental playoff. 

Moreira started for Costa Rica as of an injury to usual starter Keylor Navas of Paris Saint-German. 

The first big chance came in the 15th minute. A corner kick from the hometown star Alphonso Davies went into a scrum of Costa Rican defenders and bounced off the crossbar.