Canada take early lead at CONCACAF London 2012 qualifiers

By David Gold

January 20 – Four goals from Christine Sinclair helped Canada to an easy 6-0 win over Haiti in the opening game of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) women’s London 2012 Olympic football qualifiers at BC Place in Vancouver.

Christina Julien (pictured) put the Canadians ahead within seven minutes, before Sinclair got her first after 25 minutes.

She had another goal following a fine team move before half time, then netting another two after the break to put the result beyond any doubt.

Kelly Parker grabbed the sixth, delighting her boss John Herdman, who said: “If we play like this there are few teams that [can] play with us.”

Of Sinclair, Herdman added that she “was outstanding…certain players rise to the occasion and she’s one of them”.

Haiti boss Ronald Luxieux reflected that his team had done well just to qualify for the tournament, saying: “It was very difficult to arrive here.

“We are playing for the love of the country, the love of world football.”

Canada and Haiti are in Group A of the eight team tournament, alongside Cuba and Costa Rica.

In their game, Costa Rica won 2-0 thanks to goals from Saudy Rosales and Wendy Acosta, putting them in pole position for the semi-finals of the tournament along with group favourites Canada.

In Group B the USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Guatemala are battling it out to reach the semis.

The top two from each group in the CONCACAF qualifiers reach the semi-finals, with the winners of those two matches qualifying for London 2012.

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