Larin, David on target as Canada register easy victory over Qatar
Vienna:first-half goals from Cyle Larin and Jonathan David helped World Cup-bound Canada to a comfortable 2-0 win over tournament hosts Qatar in a friendly in Vienna on Friday.
Larin opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he headed home from Sam Adekugbe’s looping cross before David added another nine minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball ater goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb had failed to deal with a cross.
“It felt good to score,” Larin said ater the game. “If I’m playing, I’ll score. I’m not playing that much at my club, but if I get the opportunity, I will take my chances.
“I think the guys went out there and did well. I liked the way we were playing with possession and intensity. We want to build on that and you could see tonight we did and we are finding ways to be beter every day.”
Qatar employed a deep defensive line and offered litle in atack, with Abdulaziz Hatem’s powerful shot from distance, which was tipped over by Milan Borjan, their best effort of the opening half.
Canada manager John Herdman made wholesale changes ater the break, including taking off Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies, in search of a third but they were thwarted by Qatar who could have claimed a late consolation through Karim Boudiaf.
“We were able to break down their [defensive] block, which is a strong block, and we showed that quality,” said Herdman. “It looked like the boys were enjoying their football and that’s important to us.
“To come away from Concacaf … and play a team like Qatar, we know they’re prepared, they’re an organized team, I was happy with the performance.”
Canada, who last appeared at the World Cup in 1986, play Uruguay in a friendly on Tuesday and Qatar next face Chile.