Didic, Nelson among goalscorers as Canada beats Barbados

There were a lot of "firsts" for the Canadian men's national team on Friday night, as we saw the first Canadian Premier League player appearances, the first Canadian goalscorer from the CPL, players scoring their first senior international goals, and debuts for several players.

Canada got off to a quick start, as Charles-Andreas Brym, making his second appearance for Canada, got his head on the end of a corner, thumping the ball home for his first international goal.

After coming close a few minutes earlier, Russell Teibert made it 2-0 with a redirection in front of the goal. After Jonathan Osorio found debutant Zorhan Bassong out wide, Bassong played a low cross to Teibert, who made no mistake from about eight yards out.

Canada entered the interval up 2-0, and after the break, kept their momentum.

FC Edmonton centre-back Amer Didic, the first Canadian Premier League player to suit up for Les Rouges, also became the first CPL player to score, finding the back of the net just after the hour mark.

He rose to meet a well-placed corner kick and his header couldn’t be kept out by the Barbados defender on the goal line, extending Canada’s lead to 3-0. Didic was impressive throughout the contest, and has certainly made a case for him to be a starting centre-back for Canada going forward.

Barbados striker Shamar Edwards pulled one back for the trailing side in the 70th minute, but Canada didn’t let that faze them.

Following the Barbados goal, Canada manager John Herdman gave debuts to two more players, Toronto FC forward Jacob Shaffelburg and the inaugural Canadian Premier League MVP, midfielder Tristan Borges from Forge FC.

It was a different young Toronto FC forward that would put the game to bed for Canada, as 17-year-old Jayden Nelson capitalized on a mistake from the Barbados keeper to score his first senior international goal, after making his debut on Tuesday.

In total, seven players from Toronto FC took the field on Friday night (if you include Ashtone Morgan, who is yet to re-sign for 2020), with Nelson scoring the goal that confirmed the victory.

There were four debuts for Canada in this one (Borges, Didic, Bassong and Shaffelburg), with Didic, Nelson and Brym all scoring their first international goals as well. It was a big day for the Canadian men’s team, who will take on Iceland on Wednesday at 7 pm EST to close out this trio of friendlies.