Larin, Johnson help propel Canada past Honduras

“It gives us a different dynamic, especially with Junior coming into the team”, said Hutchinson. I think we’ve always been good tactically, defensively, [able to] keep our shape. “He’s special and he creates moments, little bits of magic”.

Larin fed winger David (Junior) Hoilett down the left on a counter attack before galloping into the Honduran penalty area. “A great performance and a great result”.

Hoilett, who plays for Queens Park Rangers in the English second tier, was also eligible to suit up for Jamaica or England, but finally chose Canada in September after years of indecision.

“We liked [it] a lot”, Floro said of the BC Place atmosphere. “I think the better feeling with our group is that we’ve got a lot of young guys that are coming down for the first time and feel confident to be able to perform in an environment like this and really enjoy the experience versus being really intimidated by it. So I think that’s where we are”.

An unusual goal by Cyle Larin in the 38th minute – the fourth of his global career – proved to be the difference.

“A goal’s a goal”, said the 20-year-old who was just named Major League Soccer’s rookie of the year.

Canada’s win over Honduras was the ideal start to its latest phase of World Cup qualifying.

“We all wanted to try and forget about that, but obviously we wanted to get a little payback for that game”, said Hutchinson.

“We’re playing at home, we must impose the conditions, the pace and the criteria by which we should play [the] game”, he was quoted as saying by El Grafico. “For us to take advantage of a victory that we have had, we can’t let it go to waste”.

With three points already secured, it can be argued that the prospects for Canada getting to six on Tuesday night are about as good as they could be. Losing to Los Catrachos in the last qualifying cycle effectively shut Canadian men’s soccer down for about a year, so the 1-0 win brought considerable psychological gains to CONCACAF’s sleeping giant.

“Listen, it doesn’t matter to me”, said Johnson, who was initially credited with the goal. If they can do that both tonight and on Tuesday they need to play this style.

The USA blasted Caribbean minnows St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6-1 in St. Louis to kick off their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, while Mexico cruised to a 3-0 win at the Estadio Azteca against El Salvador.

“Home games are very crucial for us”, said de Guzman.

Canada, ranked 102nd in the world, nearly doubled its lead in the 63rd minute when Johnson hammered a free kick from 35 yards out that Valladares just got a touch on before it struck the post and stayed out.

Borjan then spilled another Martinez shot from well out six minutes later before having to scramble to gather up the rebound, but Canada would hold the fort from there to claim all three valuable points.

El Salvador lost 3-0 on Friday to hosts Mexico in their first match of the group.

“It was a good start for us”.

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