Canada and Austria play out thrilling draw

The teams exchanged leads before settling for a 2-2 result at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai.

Valentin Lazaro of Austria, left, and Jordan Haynes of Canada strive for possession at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
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DUBAI // Canada and Austria played out an entertaining 2-2 draw yesterday at Rashid Stadium in Dubai, in a match that could have gone either way, right until the final whistle.

An even first half only hinted at what was to come in the second. Austria took the lead on the 28th minute through Sacha Horvath, but there would be no addition to the score for the rest of the first period.

The second half would turn out to be one of the most exciting of the Fifa U17 World Cup so far. Austria started in the ascendency, but in the 53rd minute, Canada forward Jordan Hamilton equalised after chesting down a high ball and slotting home with his left foot past Alexander Schlager.

The few hundred Canadian fans came to life with chants of “let’s go, Canada, let’s go”.

Things got better for their team on 57 minutes, when they got awarded a penalty for a foul in the box. Defender Elias Roubos calmly slotted the ball to the left of the keeper to give Canada the lead for the first time in the match.

It did not last long. Four minutes later, Austrian midfielder Nicola Zivotic scored with a wonderful volley to square the match at 2-2. There was still nearly half an hour to play.

Buoyed by the goal, the Austrians went on the attack, with Valentin Lazaro pulling the strings from midfield. Canadian keeper Marco Carducci saved well from Adrian Grbic to keep the match square, as the play switched from one end to the other.

On 70 minutes, Marco Bustos almost put Canada ahead, but his left-footed shot hit the bar before being cleared. With five minutes to go Horvath missed a golden chance to give Austria the lead when he fired over from inside the area, and minutes later teammate and substitute Michael Endlicher shot wide after an excellent run.

There would be no further score, as the teams played out the first draw of the tournament.

akhaled@thenational.ae

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