Canada in Gold Cup Final After Victiry of Trinidad

For Immediate Release Contact: The Football Confederation, 212/308-0044 or 213/356-5005 CANADA IN GOLD CUP FINAL AFTER 1-0 VICTORY OVER T&T Canada and Colombia to Battle for Gold Cup 2000 Crown on Sunday in L.A. LOS ANGELES, California (February 24, 2000) Canada continued their improbable run to the Gold Cup 2000 crown tonight at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with a 1-0 triumph over a talented Trinidad & Tobago squad. With the victory, Canada will face South American finalist Colombia in the championship match on Sunday in Los Angeles at 12 p.m PT. The win also guaranteed Canada a spot in the next FIFA Confederations Cup as the champion of North, Central America and the Carribean. The lone goal of the match came from former Major League Soccer defender Mark Watson, who headed home from six yards in the 68th minute to send Canada into the finals. Watson was set up on the goal after flank midfielder Jim Brennan swung a left-footed free kick from the left wing across the goal mouth, where Carlo Corrazin leapt high at the far post to knock the ball back to the unmarked Watson. The man of the match for Canada, though, was clearly goalkeeper Craig Forrest, who made several spectacular saves on the night, eventually finishing with 11 saves on 22 Trinidad & Tobago shots. For the match, the aggressive T&T attack outshot Canada 22 to 13, which included a 12-4 advantage in shots on goals. Trinidad & Tobago had a chance to go ahead in the 35th minute when Watson was whistled for pulling down midfielder Jerren Nixon in the penalty area as he attempted to get his head on a cross from the right wing. On the ensuing penalty, however, Canadian goalkeeper Craig Forrest easily snared David Nakhid's attempt with a dive to his right. In addition to his penalty kick heroics, where Forrest clearly affected Nakhid by dancing across the goal line prior to the attempt, the West Ham United 'keeper controlled his penalty area making six first-half saves while watching Trinidad & Tobago outshoot the Canadians 11-4 in the opening 45 minutes. The win culminates Canada's amazing run to the finals, where they opened group play with back- to-back draws, won a coin flip over South Korea to advance to the quarterfinals, then shocked three-time Gold Cup champion Mexico with a 2-1 extra time victory in San Diego on Sunday. Canada's championship opponent, Colombia, advanced to the finals on Wednesday night with a spirited 2-1 victory over Peru at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. GOLD AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED TOMORROW IN L.A. The Confederation, Inter/Forever Sports and Futbol de Primera will present the Gold Awards at a press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel (251 S. Olive St.) in Los Angeles tomorrow (Feb. 25) at 8:45 a.m. PT. The ceremony will include a presentation of the Gold Cup's Best 11 and the Rookie of the Tournament. The actual Gold Cup MVP Award will be presented after the conclusion of the championship match on Sunday (Feb. 27). The Gold Awards are chosen by the international media covering the Gold Cup tournament. The event will be attended by many of the recipients of the awards and many other top soccer personalities. All media wishing to attend are requested to RSVP by phone (415/441-9800) or fax (415/441-6603). -- QUOTES -- OLGER OSIECK (Canada National Team Head Coach) "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we could advance to the finals of the Gold Cup. This is our first title and we are thrilled to win. It is a great day, but to be honest, we didn't play as well as we normally can. We should not forget that these players are very young, and are very excited about being in a final like this. Experienced players like Craig Forrest, Richard Hastings, Mark Watson and Paul Peschisolido guided the young players well today, so that we could win." "It was clear to everyone in the stadium that Craig Forrest saved the victory for us today. Penalty kicks are decisive moments in football. If you get one and score, it obviously helps, but if you fail to convert one like Trinidad & Tobago did, it is bad for the morale of the team." "The games before this one were played better, but this one has given us a title, so it is more important. Hopefully this win will help build morale for our program." "We saw them yesterday in their victory over Peru, and I was very impressed with their skill and their speed. They have some strong individual players. Going into the game, the pressure is not on us, but we will focus on trying to play better and have a better performance." CRAIG FORREST (goalkeeper, Canada) "Sunday was our greatest win (over Mexico). Against Mexico we had nothing to lose. If we play against Colombia like we did today, we will lose by 5 or 6 goals. Colombia is a world class team. We can't ride the luck that we had today against Colombia. Trinidad & Tobago through everything at us, but we had answers." "Once they changed the rules, I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. It makes sense, and it obviously had an affect on their shooter." "We played them in January to a 0-0 draw, and they did not throw any surprises at us today." BERTILLE ST. CLAIR (Trinidad & Tobago Head Coach) "I am very disappointed in the performance of our team. We gave away to many chances in the first half, and chances are like that are a key factor in games like this. Canada had one chance and they converted it. Craig Forrest was tremendous. He was the difference between them winning and losing." Gold Cup 2000 Semifinal #2 Participants: Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago Competition: Semifinal #2 Gold Cup 2000 Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Los Angeles, California Date: February 24, 2000 kickoff 8 p.m. PT Attendance: 2,841 Weather: 53 degrees (cold, wet) Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final Canada 0 1 1 Trinidad & Tobago 0 0 0 CAN Mark Watson (Carlo Corazzin) 68th minute Lineups: CAN: 1-Craig Forest, 4-Tony Menezes, 5-Jason De Vos (capt.), 7-Paul Stalteri, 9-Carlo Corazzin, 10- David Xausa (21-Martin Nash, 75), 11-Jim Brennan, 12-Jeff Clarke (2-Paul Fenwick, 46), 13-Mark Watson, 15-Richard Hastings, 17-Paul Peschisolido (16-Garret Kusch, 90) TNT: 21-Clayton Ince, 4-Marvin Andrews, 6-Shurland David, 8-Angus Eve, 9-Arnold Dwarika, 10- Russell Latapy, 11-Jerren Nixon (16-Brent Rahim, 46), 12-David Nakhid, 13-Ancil Elcock, 15-Stokley Mason, 17-Anthony Rougier (capt.) Statistical Summary: CAN TNT Shots 13 22 Shots on Goal 4 12 Saves 11 3 Corner Kicks 5 4 Fouls 20 17 Offsides 1 2 Misconduct Summary: CAN: Richard Hastings (caution) 14th minute CAN: Jim Brennan (caution) 58. TNT: Ancil Elcock (caution) 80. CAN: Tony Menezes (caution) 89. Referee: Gustavo Mendez (Uruguay) Assistant Referee #1: Vladimir Bertiga (Panama) Assistant Referee #2: Francois Clemroy (St. Vincent) Fourth Official: Peter Pendergast (Jamaica) Gold Cup 2000