Canada has booked its spot in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after a convincing 3-0 victory over Guatemala on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.

Ali Gerba of Montreal scored twice and Dwayne De Rosario of Toronto added a goal for the Canadians, who captured the Gold Cup in 2000. 

Canada's Ali Gerba, front left, is congratulated by his teammates after scoring Canada's second goal Saturday against Guatemala. Atiba Hutchinson (on Gerba's back) and Julian De Guzman are pictured in the celebrations.
(Stephan Savoia/Associated Press)

Vancouver native Pat Onstad collected the shutout.

"I was very surprised because I thought they would play very similar to how they played the U.S. and put pressure," said Canada coach Stephen Hart. "It didn't happen."

Canada now faces the host nation in the semifinals after the Americans edged Panama 2-1 on Saturday.

Canada was sharp from the opening kickoff, showing patience in their possession and waiting for openings to move forward.

"Canada was very superior in all points," Guatemala coach Hernan Dario Gomez said. "They were in better condition. They were in the same formation. Three or four times they got to our goal (and) they were able to finish."

Early pressure

The red and white nearly scored 12 minutes into the match on their first opportunity of the game.

Canadian midfielder Martin Nash of Victoria swung a beautiful free kick from the left-hand side into the far post. Defender Andrew Hainault got on the end of it, but his attempt was deflected over the crossbar.

Canada wouldn't be denied for long, however.

De Rosario opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Canadian captain Paul Stalteri slipped a ball through a pair of Guatemala defenders to Gerba, who managed to hit an off-balanced shot toward the far post. 

De Rosario made sure the ball went in and tapped it into the goal. 

Canada dizzies defenders

Gerba put Canada ahead 2-0 in the 33rd minute after a flashy tic-tac-toe passing play. Moments after Guatemala enjoyed some rare pressure in the Canadian end, Canada scored its prettiest goal of the tournament on the counter-attack.  

Canadian midfielders dizzied Guatemala's defenders with a series of one-touch passes, and Gerba finished it off with a one-timer into the top right-hand corner.

De Rosario knocked the ball to Atiba Hutchinson, who touched it through to Julian De Guzman, who threaded the ball to Gerba for his third goal of the tournament. Gerba added another before halftime. 

Fullback Ante Jazic of Halifax made an attacking run down the left side and sent a cross to De Guzman. The Deportivo la Coruna midfielder struck a ball toward the goal that Gerba redirected into the net.  

Canada played Saturday's contest without striker Rob Friend, who was getting married.

It's been a good week overall for Canadian soccer. 

On Wednesday, the Canadian men's team climbed 38 spots in the FIFA world rankings to No. 56 (they were No. 94 in May) and the Canadian women's team moved up one spot to No. 9, an all-time high.