Canada's men's under-20 team came
back from a 1-0 first half deficit to beat Czech Republic 2-1 in the
second friendly in three days between the two sides.
Andrea Lombardo of Toronto and Pickering, Ont., native Jaime
Peters scored in the 31st and 51st minutes, respectively, to even
the two-game series at one win apiece. Canada lost the first game
2-0 on Wednesday.
``We had to do a lot of things very well today to get a win in
the Czech Republic,'' said Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell. ``Both
of our goals were quality and the last 30 minutes were especially
difficult after David's (Edgar) unfortunate red card. The players
should be proud of themselves tonight.''
The Czechs opened the scoring in the 25th minute when a corner
kick found an uncovered Ondrej Kudela, who banged in an easy shot
for a 1-0 lead.
Canada tied the score minutes later on a header by Lombardo.
Brampton, Ont., native A.J. Gray came down the wing and crossed the
ball on target to Lombardo, who beat Czech goalkeeper Petr Radek.
Gray also figured in the winning goal, sending a cross to Peters
who headed it into the bottom corner, just beyond the reach of
Radek.
Canadian defender David Edgar of Kitchener, Ont., was ejected in
the 58th minute for a scuffle with Czech Republic's Marek Strestik,
but the Czechs failed to capitalize on the man advantage with the
tying goal.
Both countries will participate in the 2007 FIFA under-20 World
Cup set to take place in Burnaby, B.C., Victoria, Edmonton, Toronto,
Ottawa and Montreal from June 30-July 22.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
