Marcel de Jong started for Canada on Monday in a 3-0 win at Puerto Rico, however his 33rd international appearance ended early as the Sporting Kansas City defender was replaced by Karl Ouimette in the 34th minute of the international friendly for precautionary reasons.
Canada cruised to the comfortable victory away from home with goals courtesy of Tosaint Ricketts (41'), Randy Edwini-Bonsu (60') and Cyle Larin (77'). Goalkeepers Milan Borjan and Quillan Roberts combined for the clean sheet in net.
Three days after a 1-0 victory over Guatemala -- and the subsequent 1,000-mile trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- Canada head coach Benito Floro made no changes to his starting lineup for Monday's match at Estadio Juan Roman Loubriel in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The pair of victories during the weeklong training camp sees Canada improve to 2-1-1 in 2015 with two important competitions on the calendar this summer.
Canada -- ranked No. 116 by FIFA -- will begin 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying with a home-and-away series against Dominica in June, followed by their participation in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in July. Canada was drawn into Group B for their 12th all-time Gold Cup appearance alongside Costa Rica, El Salvador and Jamaica.
De Jong will now return to Kansas City, as will teammates Roger Espinoza and Erik Palmer-Brown who were also away on international duty during the recent FIFA fixture dates. Sporting KC hosts the Philadelphia Union at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday at Sporting Park (tickets) in a nationally televised match-up on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.
