By Canadian Press

Canada denied a trip to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in penalty shootout loss to Panama

May 7, 2021 | 5:35 PM

GUATEMALA CITY — Panama won a penalty shootout to deny Canada its first trip to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 32 years, edging the Canadians on Friday in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Futsal Championship.

Alfonso Maquensi scored the winning penalty in the 4-3 shootout win after Ian Bennett’s attempt hit Panama goalkeeper Jaime Londono’s arm, bouncing up and off the crossbar without going in.

Nazim Belguendouz, captain Robert Renaud and Marco Rodriguez scored for Canada in the shootout. Maxime Leconte’s shot was saved by Londono.

Canadian ‘keeper Joshua Lemos, who had a fine game, denied Carlos Perez’s shot but could not stop Maquensi.

Tied 1-1 after 40 minutes of regulation time, the game went to two five-minute periods of extra time. Canada went into defensive mode as the clock counted down with Panama pressing.

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The four semifinalists at the CONCACAF tournament will represent North and Central America and the Caribbean at the FIFA Futsal World Cup this September in Lithuania.

The U.S. blanked the Dominican Republic 2-0 in the first quarterfinal of the day. It was Costa Rica versus Suriname and Guatemala versus El Salvador in the later quarterfinals Friday.

The Canadian men have not qualified for the Futsal World Cup since the inaugural event in 1989 in the Netherlands, where they failed to make it out of the first round after beating Japan and losing to Argentina and Belgium.

Panama finished runner-up in CONCACAF in 2012 and was third in 2012.

Down 1-0 after conceding late in the first half, Canada pulled even five minutes after the break.

Londono could not control a free kick by Eduardo Jauregui and Bennett, stationed to the side, tucked the ball in. It was the third goal of the tournament for the 37-year-old from Hamilton, the reigning Major Arena Soccer League MVP.

The goal came soon after Frederico Moojen, who won the Golden Boot as the top scorer at the 2016 CONCACAF tournament, had hammered a shot off the Panama goalpost.

The Canadians had hung tough in the early going, defending well and creating several scoring chances. Lemos was sharp in the Canadian goal.

But Panama finally broke through with 21 seconds remaining in the half. Showing good movement on the ball, Abdiel Ortiz wrong-footed a defender and beat Lemos with a low shot.

it marked the first time in three trips to the CONCACAF championship that Canada had made it out of the group stage.

Canada (1-2-0) placed second in Group C after beating Haiti 4-2 and losing 5-1 to two-time defending champion Costa Rica.

The win over Haiti was just Canada’s second in its three trips to the tournament. The Canadians finished seventh in 2012 and sixth in 2016.

Canada came close to making the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, denied by a 7-4 loss to Cuba in its final group game at the CONCACAF qualifier. The Canadians lost to Costa Rica 3-2 and beat Curacao 7-4 before falling to Cuba.

Panama (3-0-0) won Group B, defeating Suriname 11-1 and Mexico 5-4 with Perez scoring a hat trick in each game.

Leconte came close to opening the scoring for Canada in the first two minutes in a goalmouth scramble but was unable to get the ball out from underneath him.

At the other end, Lemos needed a moment to recover after stopping a hard shot partially with his face. Londono got a leg to a Bennett shot nearly seven minutes in. Lemos then had to recover quickly to get a limb in front of a deflected Panama shot.

Canada had a 3-on-1 with some five minutes remaining in the half but could not convert as Bennett’s pass found the Panama defender instead of a teammate.

Canadian defender Daniel Chamale had to make a goal-line clearance two minutes into the second half with Lemos out of position. The rebound went to Aquiles Campos who fired his shot high.

Campos hit the Canadian post with three minutes remaining.

The 2021 CONCACAF tournament was originally scheduled for last May but was delayed due to the pandemic. French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe withdrew in the interim, reducing the field to 13.

The indoor futsal game is five-a-side with two 20-minute halves. The clock stops whenever the ball goes out of play or there is a break in play. Each team starts with one goalkeeper and four outfield players on the pitch, with unlimited substitutions.

Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama and Guatemala represented CONCACAF at the 2016 World Cup.

Brazil has dominated the world futsal scene, winning five of the eight FIFA World Cups. Spain has won twice and finished runner-up to Brazil three times. Argentina is the defending champion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2021

The Canadian Press