Canada Falls To Costa Rica At CONCACAF U20s

Canada was eliminated from the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship after a 1:2 loss to Costa Rica. Randy Edwini-Bonsu scored first for Canada, but Costa Rica returned with a pair of its own to eliminate the young Canucks. Canada had been pushing forward in the second half in search of a winning goal when Costa Rica countered for the winning goal.

Canada started the match with two new faces in the starting XI. Midfielder Brandon Bonifacio replaced Shaun Saiko who was out with a one-game suspension while defender Ethan Gage replaced Nana Attakora-Gyan who did not dress because of his injury.

The first started as usual, with both sides looking for space and trying to get an early feel for the ball. Costa Rica had the first corner kick, but to no danger. It was in the 12th minute that Edwini-Bonsu struck for his third goal of the tournament. Edwini-Bonsu used his speed to outrun the Costa Rican defender on a long pass down the left side from Philippe Davies. With the ball on the line, Edwini-Bonsu decided to flirt his way into the box and found the space to score the first goal of the game.

Down 0-1, Costa Rica came back with a wide shot in the 15th minute, a shot into Adam Street’s arms in the 16th minute, and another shot into Street in the 18th minute. They came back with another shot on Street six minutes later.

Costa Rica’s work was rewarded in the 25th minute on a goal by Jorge Castro off a free kick. The free kick was awarded after Bonifacio reacted with his hands to a shot fired from close range. Canada had a long wall, but the ball fired above the wall and into the top left corner of the net.

Through the second part of the first half, Costa Rica continued to press into the Canadian end. Davies did have a shot from distance in the 30th minute that Marcus Haber tried to deflect on target with his head, but that was as close as Canada got. Costa Rica had a few half chances before Marcos Danilo Ureña smacked the crossbar in the 44th minute.

The second half started with Canada pushing forward, knowing it needed a win to advance. Edwini-Bonsu continued to create problems for the Costa Rican defence down the left side. Edwini-Bonsu danced his way into the box for chances in the 55th and 60th minutes, but both times could not create the go-ahead goal.

In the 62nd minute, coach Fonseca made his first substitution to add to the offence, inserting forward in place of defender Eddy Sidra. It was in Canada’s push forward that Costa Rica found an alley to penetrate on the return. In the 72nd minute, Ureña pushed his way in and fired the go-ahead goal for Costa Rica.

Canada came back, but as the next 20 minutes would prove, the goals would not come. Forward Igor Pisanjuk entered the game in the 75th minute for midfielder Davies and had a quick chance. Too many passes from the Canucks up front, however, pushed Haber too deep in the box.

On the counter attack, Costa Rica nearly made it 3-0 in the 80th minute. A chip shot and a neat header was saved by Street, though. Canada pushed all of its troops up front, but couldn’t cut back on the Costa Rican lead. One final shot from Costa Rica in the 90th minute hit the Canadian crossbar and stayed out.

With three points in three games, Canada finishes third in Group B at the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship. Only the top two teams advance. A draw in its final game would not have been good enough as four Canadian points would not have been better four Trinidad & Tobago points because of the opening match loss.