8th Pan American Junior Championships
Havana, Cuba - February 16 to 27 , 2005
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Canada obtained and easy 13-1 victory over Puerto Rico in the first match of the day, but failed to qualify due to Mexico's victory. Five goals from Harpreet Virdi (in the 50th, 52nd, 56th, 58th and 66th minutes) and the others netted by Jonathan Roberts (in the fourth and ninth minutes); Richard Hildreth (in the 11th and 48th); Mark Pearson (in the 36th and 38th); Philip Wright (in the 28th) and Cregan Joseph (in the 46th) gave the victory to the Canadians. After a slow and lacklutre first half, Canada went to half-time leading 4-1. Puerto Rico could stop Canada's attacks, thanks to tighten marking, to counter-attack with some danger, scoring - in the 14th minute - through Omar Márquez. The North Americans did not have problems after the break to net nine to seal the definitive 13-1 win. Puerto Rico: González; Rivera, Márquez, Figueras, C. Feliciano; Rodríguez, Basora, Colón; O. Feliciano, León and Cruz. Also played: Fernández, Concepción, Ortiz and Maldonado. Coach: Carlos Ríos. Canada: Robertson; Hancock, Roberts, A. Wright, Joseph; Hildreth, Tupper, Ford; Pearson, Jameson and P. Wright. Also played: Hobkirk, Smythe, H. Virdi and J. Virdi. Coach: Giles Wheatley. Umpires: Luis Villa (Cuba) and Daniel Gonzáles (Peru). Booking - Green: 28m, Tupper (C). Mexico defeated Trinidad & Tobago 4-3 to qualify for the semifinals of the 8th men's Pan-American Junior Championship, in the second match of the eighth day, at the Antonio Maceo stadium in Santiago de Las Vegas, 25 kilometres from La Habana. This tournament will qualify the top three for the Junior World Championship to take place from June 29 to July 10 in Rotterdam, Holland. Saturday's semifinals will feature Argentina against Mexico, at 8.30am local time, and the United States vs Chile, at 11am. The first stage was even, but step by step, Mexico was gaining control of play. Both teams set a tighten mark, which obliged the umpires to show some yellow cards to control play. But Mexico already was keeping the pace, reaching the Caribbean team area with real danger, while Trinidad & Tobago's attacks were sporadic, and though they produced three penalty corners (against 12 from Mexico), they could not take advantage of Wayne Legerton's excellent shot. Both teams had one man less, due to Leopoldo Ríos Benítez and Alan Henderson had been temporarily expelled, when Mexico took the lead through one of their top scorers, Jorge Gómez, who put his team 1-0 ahead from a penalty corner. Mexico dominated the second half, though T&T also produced some good counter-attacks . The Mexicans took a valuable 3-0 advantage through Oscar Galván and Gómez, in the 41st and 52nd minutes, respectively. But, Trinidad & Tobago reacted and the match became even. Thus, T&T closed the gap - in the 56th minute - by captain Darren Cowie. However, a new penalty corner, put Mexico 4-1 ahead, through Galván, in the 58th minute. Nevertheless, the Caribbean team fighting spirit continued and Legerton closed the gap, even more, in the 64th and 70th minutes, after two penalty corners. Mexico: Vargas; Galván, Zuleta, Barrera, Reyes; Martínez, R. García, Ríos Benítez; Gómez, E. García and Aguayo. Also played: Chavira, C. García, Gallegos y Correa. Coach: Jaime Chávez. Trinidad y Tobago: McKellar; Cupid, Graham, Rambaran, Hume; Henderson, Cowie, Luces; Toussaint, Legerton and Murray. Also played: Bodkin, Baptiste and Craig. Coach: Richard Quan Chan. Umpires: Germán Montes de Oca (Argentina) and Daniel López (Uruguay). Booking - Yellow cards: 26m, Legerton (T&T); 30m, Ríos Benítez (M); 31m, Henderson (T&T); 55m, R. García (M). Green: 11m, Graham (T&T); 23m, Toussaint (T&T). Chile finished unbeaten at the top of the Group B by demolishing Venezuela 26-0 in the last match of the eight Men’s Pan-American Junior Championship which is being played at the Antonio Maceo stadium in Santiago de Las Vegas, 25 kilometres South of La Havana. The Chilean goals were netted by:
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