Sporting Kansas City defender Marcel de Jong played the full 90 minutes for Canada on Saturday in a 1-0 loss to Jamaica in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The 28-year-old outside back earned his 35th career international appearance -- and ninth at a Gold Cup -- with his fourth cap of 2015.
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Three days after going the distance in a scoreless draw against El Salvador, de Jong was again in the starting lineup for head coach Benito Floro and was minutes away from contributing to a second straight shutout until Rodolph Austin's goal in the 92nd minute moved Jamaica to the top of Group B.
- Jamaica (1-0-1, 4 pts)
- Costa Rica (0-0-2, 2 pts)
- El Salvador (0-0-2, 2 pts)
- Canada (0-1-1, 1 pt)
Canada will conclude the group stage at 7:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday against Costa Rica at BMO Field in Toronto seeking to move out of the group stage for the first time since 2009. The top two teams will automatically advance to the quarterfinal round, while the third place finisher could also secure a knockout round berth based on the Group A and Group C standings.
"Everybody is of course a little bit down but the coach said to stay positive," de Jong said after Saturday's match. "We have one more game to play in Toronto for our home fans and it’s a huge opportunity for us to get a result and three points to go through to the next round…We have to move forward and we will."
