Canada earned an important 3-0 road victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sunday afternoon in its first qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup.
Ali Gerba scored a pair and Issey Nakijmia-Farran added a single marker for Canada in the opening contest of its two-game playoff series against the Caribbean island nation.
Gerba came on as a substitute for the injured Rob Friend after only seven minutes.
As the temperature hovered around 30 C, the Canadian squad beat the heat by controlling the midfield with short passes.
"We knew that the heat would be a factor, but our intention was to play at a comfortable pace and keep control of the ball," said Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell.
The teams meet again in the second leg on June 20 in Montreal. The winner of the series advances to the semifinal round of the CONCACAF qualifiers.
Canada, ranked 60th in the current FIFA world rankings can win the playoff and advance to the semifinals with a tie against 147th ranked St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Montreal.
Canada can also lose by less than three goals in the next game and still move on to the next round.
Canada's only previous World Cup appearance came in 1986 in Mexico.
With files from the Canadian Press
