In the first of two WC warm-up games for the debutants-to-be, Uzbekistan’s all-time top scorer Eldor Shomurodov spurned a golden opportunity to grab an early opener. The 30-year-old benefited from Moise Bombito’s failed interception on a rain-drenched pitch in Edmonton, only to send his attempted chip harmlessly wide of Maxime Crepeau’s goal.
Shomurodov then finally found his radar when he raced through on goal just before the half-hour mark, but Crepeau reacted smartly with a save low down to his left.
The Canadian shot-stopper made another fine stop from Shomurodov on the stroke of HT, and while the assistant quickly raised the offside flag, it was still a useful intervention in his battle with Dayne St. Clair to be Jesse Marsch’s number one at the WC.
Marsch, who had recently extended his contract until the 2030 WC, opted to use the half time break to make several changes. And with just 10 days to go until their opening game of the WC finals, the experienced Jonathan Osorio, made a perfect bid to claim a starting spot against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Even before he’d played a quarter of an hour, he collected the ball on the right side of the box before using the greasy surface to drive a near-post shot through Abduvohid Nematov’s grasp.
Union Saint-Gilloise forward Promise David thought he had doubled Canada’s advantage with a late thumping effort, only for his celebrations to be curtailed by an offside flag. However, there was no denying Jayden Nelson in stoppage time, with the 23-year-old slotting a composed strike beyond Nematov after being teed up by Tani Oluwaseyi.
Buoyed by a strong second-half display, Canada will now prepare for their final warm-up game against the Republic of Ireland, while Fabio Cannavaro's Uzbekistan will face a tricky friendly against the Netherlands before their WC debut.