Canada falls to Honduras in CONCACAF Nations League play

Canada controlled the ball 62 per cent of the night Tuesday but had trouble scoring on the rain-soaked pitch, while Honduras made the best of its limited opportunities in defeating the visitors 2-1 in CONCACAF Nations League play at Estadio Olimpico.

Kevin Josue Lopez scored in the 13th minute for the home side, while teammate Kervin Arriage added an insurance marker in the 78th minute. Jonathan David scored for Canada in the 86th minute.

Canada had nine shot attempts but only two on target, while Honduras was limited to six shots with three on target. Each team received 16 fouls. Canada had one red card to Alistair Johnston in the fourth minute of injury time.

“It was a difficult game, a really difficult game in Honduras and they managed the game better,” said Canada’s national coach John Herdman.

“It was like trying to perform with a Formula 1 car on an off-road track. All credit to the boys for just being up for the fight. I thought we had some good moments before they scored, but all credit to Honduras. This is CONCACAF and these are the learnings. I thought our boys just kept plugging away and it was nice to see the ball go in (near the end).”

With the setback Canada slips to 1-1 in the Group C standings with three points, the same as Curacao. Honduras leads with two wins and a loss and six points.

WATCH l Canada comes up short against Honduras:

Honduras defeats Canada in CONCACAF Nations League play 9 hours ago

Duration 2:44

On a very wet evening in San Pedro Sula, Canada dropped a CONCACAF nations league match to Honduras 2-1 Monday.

Canada opened its Nations League campaign with a 4-0 win over Curacao last week.

The Nations League serves as the qualification tournament for the 2023 Gold Cup. It will resume in March of next year.

Canada, which is expected to schedule two final World Cup warmup games during the next international window in September, opens its tournament in Qatar against Belgium on Nov. 23.

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