Canada 7 Bermuda 1

Bermuda coach Aaron Lugo praised his players for holding their own against group winners Canada for the better part of the Concacaf Men's Under-17 Qualifier encounter last night.

Against a team that had found the target 21 times in three matches, Harlem Bean-Fox gave Bermuda a shock lead with a 33rd-minute penalty at Flora Duffy Stadium. It was the first time in the tournament that the Canadians had conceded first.

Canada responded with goals from Aidan Evans, who scored four times to finish the tournament with seven, Andre Ali-Gayapersad, Kevin Khan and Sergei Kozlovskiy, to qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar.

“Regardless of the result, I’m proud of the boys for the hard work they put in during this tournament,” Lugo told The Royal Gazette.

“Our game plan as far as the first-half formation was working. But it was a very treacherous formation in the sense that they had to do a lot of running, so they were feeling the effects of the running and chasing.

“Credit to Canada, they moved the ball well and made us work for our goal. I was definitely pleased that we were able to take the lead. We were unlucky to concede before half-time.

“It would have been nice to go to half-time in the lead. Starting the second half at 1-1, the boys were tired, so we made an adjustment after the second goal.

“Canada brought on their regular starters from previous matches and they turned their level up. From there, they just played at a different level.”

Bermuda’s defence of captain Logan Jimenez, Amir Brangman-Johnson, Emeer Peets and Dakari Smith-Davis did a tremendous job of shielding Curtis Jackson Jr’s goal in the opening 45.

The 817 spectators, the biggest crowd for any of the matches in the tournament, erupted when Bean-Fox sent Milo Beimers, the Canadian goalkeeper, the wrong way from 12 yards. Bermuda were awarded the spot-kick after Kalen Brunson tumbled under challenge from Beimers in the box.

Just when Bermuda thought they could preserve their lead going into the break, William Daniels delivered a cross for Evans to tap-in for the equaliser.

Canada made three changes ten minutes into the second half and that changed the complexion of the game.

Evans had his brace on the hour mark, Sahil Deo’s loose ball into the box allowing the forward to rifle into the top corner. Four minutes later, as Kevin Khan made a great run and his cross picked out the Fulham Under-18 player.

Bermuda’s defence was being stretched with Marius Aiyenero setting up Evans for his fourth of the night in the 67th minute.

Khan provided another assist, this time threading a pass across the face of the goal for Ali-Gayapersad to score his team’s fifth. The Feyenoord Under-17 player won a penalty and converted it seven minutes before the end.

Centre back Kozlovskiy rounded off the scoring for Canada when he pounced after the Bermuda defence failed to clear Olusola Jimoh's corner kick.

In the earlier match, group runners-up Curaçao completed their tournament with a 4-2 win over Anguilla.

SCORERS

Canada: Evans 41, 60, 64, 67, Al-Gasperyad 74, Khan 83 pen, Kozlovskiy 90

Bermuda: Bean-Fox 33 pen

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-3-3): C Jackson Jr — L Jimenez, E Peets, D Coddington, A Brangman-Johnson — S Carolo (sub: N Zuill, 65min), D Leverock (sub: G Reese, 69), B Borgesson (sub: T Steede, 86) — K Brunson (sub: S Goater, 86), H Bean-Fox, K Fray (sub: R Williams, 86). Substitutes not used: D Smith-Davis, N Outerbridge, I Gibbons. Booked: Brangman-Johnson.

Canada (3-5-2): M Belmers — R Chukwu, S Kozlovskiy, E Roche — W Daniels (sub: A Ali-Gasperyad, 55), D Judelson, J Selemani (sub: S Deo, 55), A Bossenberry (sub: K Khan, 55), I Tortola (sub: A Sadek, 46) — M Aiyenero (sub: S Jimoh, 76), A Evans. Substitutes not used: M Archange, T Fortier, O Graham-Roache, D Kantorowicz, J Ransom. Booked: Aiyenero.

Referee: S Rozenhout (Surinam).