Sporting Kansas City defender Marcel de Jong started and played the full 90 minutes for the Canada Men’s National Team on Friday as the Reds resumed CONCACAF World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 win over Belize at BMO Field in Toronto.
The nations will conclude the two-legged series on Tuesday at FFB Stadium in Belmopan, Belize. The winner will proceed to a fourth round of World Cup qualifying, set to begin in November and continue through September 2016.
Canada held a comfortable advantage in Friday’s first leg, outshooting their Central American opponents 25-0 and enjoying 76 percent of possession. That dominance paid off in the 25th minute when forward Toisant Ricketts bundled home from close range after Cyle Larin and Samuel Piette had both been denied inside the penalty area.
Ricketts completed his brace and doubled Canada’s lead in the 65th minute, latching onto the end of Nik Ledgerwood’s low cross, before Atiba Hutchinson added an insurance goal off Russell Teibert's corner kick in second-half stoppage time.
Since joining Sporting KC in January, De Jong has started 10 of 14 appearances across all competitions with one goal and one assist. He bagged his first MLS goal two weeks ago in a 3-2 defeat at Columbus Crew SC.
De Jong has earned 37 caps for Canada, scoring twice, since debuting at age 21 in 2007. He has represented his country at each of the past four CONCACAF Gold Cups, including starts in all three group stage matches during the 2015 edition in July.
Canada, No. 102 in the latest FIFA rankings, is seeking its first World Cup berth since 1986 and advanced in 2018 qualifying with a 6-0 aggregate victory over Dominica in June.
