CBC-Sports

Three points, off and running ...

July 5, 2009 12:26 AM | Posted by   Greg Sutton  

Canadian national team goalkeeper Greg Sutton will be blogging for CBCSports.ca during the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which runs July 3-26 in the United States.

Well, like I said last time, hopefully I'll start by talking about the three points for the win over Jamaica. Well let's do that.

It was a great start for us to the tournament, we were able to hold off the Reggae Boyz, a game that was filled with some exciting moments and some stiff tackles. I thought the game started out with two teams trying to feel each other out and just trying to find their legs.

The first half finished with a couple chances both ways but nothing of any significance. We had a good talk in the locker room, as our coach Stephen Hart pointed out a few tactical changes we needed to make, and wanted us to start the second half by trying to dictate the tempo of the game, something we struggled a bit with in the first half.

The second half started and that's what we did, we were able to take a bit of the game to them and got a great goal by Ali Gerba. After a pretty uneventful first half for myself the second half brought a few opportunities for me to help out our side. It was a good game to get under my belt having not played in a while, getting out some of the cob webs out while still being able to finish the game on the winning end. Canada 1 Jamaica 0.

So we woke up Saturday morning with smiles on our face ready to board the charter flight to Columbus. We shared the plane with Costa Rica, but it was a big of plane that we didn't even know they were on the flight with us. It would have been a little uncomfortable if we were rubbing elbows with one of the enemies. We touched down in rainy Ohio, something that we haven't seen in a week or so.

Ghost town

We arrived at the Hyatt downtown and took a stroll around a desolate Columbus city centre. It's like a ghost town here; you can cross the street and not worry about looking both ways. So after dodging the tumbleweed in the streets we ended up back at the hotel where we went in for a team meal.

Traveling days can mean some long days, and it can take a toll on your body, especially after playing yesterday. So some of the older guys received a bit of therapy from our physios, and yes I was a part of that group. But I'll be honest there's nothing better then a massage after a long plane ride, something my body needed. So now we'll see if were going to be able to fall asleep at a decent hour thanks to the three-hour time change.

We'll be back at it again Sunday, working on things to get ready for El Salvador, who beat Costa Rica 2-1. We'll be ready for them, and Tuesday probably won't come quick enough, so until then hope you had a great weekend.

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