Los Angeles, Cal. (Feb. 24, 2000) ? Canada defeated Trinidad and Tobago tonight 1-0 on
     a 68th minute header from Mark Watson, earning a berth in the Gold Cup final. With the
     victory, Canada also became champions of CONCACAF with the victory, as they are
     the final team from the federation remaining in the competition.

     "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we could advance to the finals of the Gold
     Cup," said Canada coach Holger Osieck. "This is our first title and we are thrilled to win."
 

     Both squads started the same lineups as in their previous matches. Despite the fact that
     Trinidad?s Dwight Yorke had returned from England for the match, his thigh strain was
     enough to keep him out of the lineup.

     Canada again placed a clear emphasis on defense, but the newly confident side looked
     eager to push forward if the opportunity presented itself. Trinidad?s initial attacks
     focused on the flanks in an effort to avoid Canadian captain Jason De Vos, who had
     proven to be a substantial obstacle during the tournament.

     Trinidad had the first chance at goal in the 10th minute, when Jerren Nixon took an
     angled through pass at the edge of the area and aimed a quick shot to the far post.
     Keeper Craig Forrest breathed a sigh of relief as the ball rolled wide.

     Canada had more tense moments in the 16th minute, when a scramble in the area
     resulted in two dangerous shots. The first came from Arnold Dwarika, who turned the
     corner on the left side and forced Forrest to dive at his feet to punch away the ball. It
     rolled towards the penalty spot where Nixon got a foot on it. With Forrest out of position,
     it looked to be trouble for Canada, but David Xausa was in position to clear the ball well
     downfield.

     Canada?s first opportunity came off a free kick in the 23rd minute. Carlo Corazzin, the
     tournament?s leading scorer with three goals, bent a low ball around the wall from 25
     yards out that squirted under goalkeeper Clayton Ince. Ince made a quick recovery,
     however, and controlled the ball with his legs before it trickled over the line.

     Trinidad?s best opportunity of the half came in the 35th minute. Captain Anthony Rougier
     sent in a perfect cross from the right side, which dipped into the penalty area about thn
     yards out. Nixon, in perfect position to convert, fell when pressed from behind by Mark
     Watson and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.

     David Nakhid stepped forward to take the penalty for the Caribbean side. He ran up to
     the ball and suddenly paused, hoping that Forrest would show some indication of the
     direction in which he would move to make the save. The Canadian keeper stood fast on
     his line, however, and when Nakhid arrived at the ball, he had lost his forward momentum
     and could put little power on the shot. Forrest saved easily, diving to his right and allowing
     no rebound.

     "It was clear to everyone in the stadium that Craig Forrest saved the victory for us
     today," said coach Osieck. "Penalty kicks are decisive moments in football. If you get one
     and score, it obviously helps, but if you fail to convert one like Trinidad & Tobago did, it is
     bad for the morale of the team."

     "Craig Forrest was tremendous," added Trinidad and Tobago coach Bertille St. Clair. "He
     was the difference between them winning and losing."

     The opening minutes of the second half saw the ball repeatedly pounded at the Canadian
     net as Dwarika single-handedly tried to put his team on top. In the 52nd minute, the Joe
     Public forward tested Forrest with a low drive from 22 yards, but the Canadian keeper
     got his right arm onto the ball while diving to his right, deflecting away from the net and
     over the end line. Two minutes later, Dwarika had a clear shot form 17 yards out, but this
     time his blast failed to reach goal when it was blocked by a diving Xausa. A minute later,
     it was Dwarika again, this time crushing a hard shot off a pass from Russell Latapy that
     Forrest once again parried.

     Canada began to press back in the 61st minute as Paul Stalteri and Paul Peschisolido
     combined on a combination of passes that freed Stalteri on a run into the left side of the
     area. The Werder Bremen forward ripped a hard shot to the far post that Ince dove to
     parry, Rougier clearing the ball from danger.

     Their work paid off in the 68th minute, when Canada?s Jim Brennan sent in a cross to
     the far post that Corazzin nodded back towards the middle of the area. Watson, a
     defender with England?s Oxford United, was left virtually unmarked and easily put the
     ball past a frustrated Ince.

     Trinidad and Tobago attacked with vigor for the remaining 20 minutes. In the 76th
     minute, they missed a golden opportunity when Stokley Mason put in a bouncing cross
     from the left side and onto the boot of an onrushing Latapy. The ball appeared to take a
     bad hop just before reaching the Hibernian midfielder inside the six yard box, and his
     touch only pushed the ball up and over the net.

     Canada will take on Colombia in the Gold Cup final, to be played this Sunday, February
     27 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The game will be broadcast live on internetsoccer.com.
 

     Canada: 1-Craig Forest, 4-Tony Menezes, 5-Jason De Vos (capt.), 7-Paul Stalteri,
     9-Carlo Corazzin, 10- David Xausa (21-Martin Nash, 75), 11-Jim Brennan, 12-Jeff
     Clarke (2-Paul Fenwick, 46), 13-Mark Watson, 15-Richard Hastings, 17-Paul
     Peschisolido (16-Garret Kusch, 90)

     Trinidad & Tobago: 21-Clayton Ince, 4-Marvin Andrews, 6-Shurland David, 8-Angus
     Eve, 9-Arnold Dwarika, 10- Russell Latapy, 11-Jerren Nixon (16-Brent Rahim, 46),
     12-David Nakhid, 13-Ansil Elcock, 15-Stokley Mason

     All of the offensive stats were in T&T's favour at the end of Thursday's game. The most
     telling of the was shots at goal which numbered 16 for Rougier's side.
     The man who made the difference in this game for Canada was England-based
     goalkeeper Craig Forrest who often single-handedly thwarted the T&T attack.
     Forrest, West Ham teammate of T&T keeper Shaka Hislop, came up with save after
     save, including one off David Nakhid's penalty in the 36th minute.
 

     The lone game-winning goal came off the head of defender Mark Watson in the 68th
     minute.
     In seven meetings all time, Canada have now won five, drawn twice and never lost to
     T&T, although this win will go down as their biggest ever.
     But Rougier's side have a lot to be proud about. Defeated but not disgraced, they will
     now regroup quickly to refocus their energies on the opening 2002 World Cup qualifier
     against the Netherlands Antilles on Carnival Saturday.
     The small 2,841 crowd included England-based professional Dwight Yorke, forced to sit
     out the game after failing a fitness test earlier in the day, and sprint star Ato Boldon could
     have predicted the finish of this game.
 

     After all, their compatriots had jumped all over the Canadians from the first blast of
     referee Gustavo Mendez's first whistle.
     Once again, the key midfield combination of Angus Eve, Russell Latapy and Nakhid,
     clicked early providing good service to strikers Dwarika and Jerren Nixon up front.
     Nixon himself had three clearcut chances inside the first 20 minutes. Two he muffed
     through poor shooting. The other, in the 15th minute, was cleared off the line by David
     Xausa.
     The turning point in the game came in the 35th minute when the referee awarded a
     penalty kick for a foul on Nixon. The Switzerland-based striker was bundled over by
     Watson in the penalty area while going for a right-side cross from Rougier.
 

     Nakhid stepped up to take the kick ahead with Forrest dancing around on his line as the
     new Fifa laws now allow keepers to. After a stutter-step approach, Nakhid put his kick
     fairly tamely to the right of Forrest who dived low to catch it safely out of the air.
     On the stroke of halftime, Latapy, converted to striker by coach Bertille St Clair after
     Nixon was taken off with an ankle in the 43rd minute, brought an acrobatic save from
     Forrest with a long range left-footer.
 

     The second half started in much the same way as both Nakhid and Dwarika forced
     Forrest into desperate saves to keep his side in the game.
 

     Then came Watson's heart-breaking goal against the run of play. The defender positioned
     himself inside the penalty box as Xausa delivered a left-side freekick on the far post.
     When Carlo Corazzin headed the pass back in his direction, an immobile Arnold Dwarika
     allowed three attackers to remain onside behind the defence and Watson headed past
     Ince from inside the six-metre box.
     After that, Latapy might have equalised in the 79th minute when
     Stokely Mason made a fine run up the left flank and delivered a cross over the heads of
     the Canadian defence. Running through two defenders to get into the box, but could not
     control the shot and put it over the bar with the goal wide open.
 

     St Clair then played his final trump card by introducing both Mickey Trotman, who had
     scored the golden goal winner in the quarterfinal victory against Costa Rica, and Evans
     Wise.
     But neither could do anything to save T&T.

     Team: Clayton Ince, Shurland David, Marvin Andrews, Ansil Elcock, Anthony Rougier,
     Angus Eve, Stokely Mason (Evans Wise 85th), David Nakhid (Mickey Trotman 85th),
     Russell Latapy, Jerren Nixon (Brent Rahim 43rd), Arnold Dwarika.
(Courtesy Irvin Ward)