Canada will face a depleted Haiti at the Gold Cup on Thursday with seven Haitian players sidelined by COVID-19.
Haiti dressed just 17 players Sunday in a 1-0 loss to the U.S. after five players and one assistant coach returned positive test results.
Coach Jean-Jacques Pierre said Wednesday that two more players were unavailable.
“We took the measures necessary every time we learn something to protect the rest of the group and continue to prepare (for) this competition,” Pierre said through an interpreter in a virtual availability.
Canada coach John Herdman was sympathetic to Haiti’s plight.
“It’s not easy to actually live those (COVID) protocols ? It’s difficult for players,” he said. “And again, once the virus is in an environment, it’s very hard to contain. We’re fortunate here. We have a lot of medical staff, people that are focused on it. But I know some teams, they just don’t have the depth of resources.
“I do feel for Haiti. They’ve lost some good players ? One thing I know about Haiti is they always show up. It doesn’t matter who’s on the pitch. The passion, the pride, the battle always comes. The critical part for us is the mentality of not falling into that trap of taking this Haitian team lightly. I don’t think you can take any Haitian team lightly.”
Haiti captain Ricardo Ade showed that defiance.
“There are people affected by COVID but we remain concentrated and motivated,” he said through an interpreter.
“We will fight (Thursday) With a victory we will make the people of Haiti smile again,” he added.
Herdman said all of his players will be available Thursday with the exception of Ross County midfielder Harry Paton, who is still working his way through COVID protocols arising from time with his Scottish club.
The 70th-ranked Canadian men defeated No. 83 Haiti 4-0 on aggregate when they met in a two-legged CONCACAF World Cup qualifying series last month. Canada is 9-2-2 all-time against Haiti, with one of the losses a 3-2 defeat in the 2019 Gold Cup quarterfinals _ a game that saw the Canadians blow a 2-0 lead.
Canada, which downed unranked Martinique 4-1 in its opening match Sunday, wraps up Group B play Sunday against the 20th-ranked Americans. All of Canada’s group matches are at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
While Canada showed composure in recovering from conceding a 10th-minute goal to Martinique, it received six cautions along the way. A second yellow against Haiti would force the likes of Stephen Eustaquio, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Steven Vitoria, Liam Fraser, Lucas Cavallini and Alistair Johnston out of the U.S. game.
“It’s really a tricky situation,” said Herdman. “But I think (Thursday) it’s a game we must win. You know if you win that second game, it puts you in complete control. Typically it puts you in the quarterfinal and it allows you to make those considerations in Game 3, although Game 3 is the U.S., which I’m sure every man will want to play in that.”
“We’ll put the best team out there tactically to win the game and ‘que sera, sera’ _ whatever happens in that match will happen,” he added. “We need to make sure we get the result and we’re comfortable before we can start thinking about yellow cards and rotating.”
Frantzdy Pierrot, who scored three goals in 11 minutes in Haiti’s preliminary-round 4-1 win over Bermuda, was among those who did not dress against the U.S. Pierrot, who plays for Guingamp in France’s second-tier, has four goals already at the tournament.
Haiti’s Duckens Nazon, whose last club was Belgium’s Sint-Truiden, did play against the Americans. Canada will remember Nazon, who scored the opening goal and set up the third in Haiti’s comeback win against Canada in 2019. He has three goals at this tournament.
The Canadians did not help their own cause in the 2019 loss. The first goal conceded came from a poor back pass while the second was from the penalty spot. Alphonso Davies lost the man he was marking on the third goal.
A potential late tying goal by Atiba Hutchinson, off a Davies free kick, was called offside.
Former Vancouver Whitecap Bryan Silvestre, now with the USL’s Miami FC, helped keep Haiti in the game against the U.S. with several big saves. The six-foot-five keeper, a former U.S. youth international, is a product of the Whitecaps residency program.
The CONCACAF championship, which features 16 teams including 2022 World Cup host Qatar as a guest entry, runs through Aug. 1 across the U.S. Haiti had to survive the tournament’s preliminary round, defeating St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Bermuda, to reach the main field.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
