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GUATEMALA CITY - Joel Campbell scored his third goal in two games and set up another to lead Costa Rica to a 3-0 victory over Canada on Friday, finishing it atop Group C at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship and avoiding Mexico in the quarterfinals.
Mynor Escoe Miller converted a cross by Campbell in second-half injury time and Juan Golobio also scored on a mistake by Canadian keeper Julien Latendresse-Levesque. Costa Rica concluded the first round with six points atop Group C, three better than Canada, sending it to Tuesday's quarterfinals against Group D runner-up Cuba.
Both sides already had clinched berths in the quarterfinals, the winners of which will qualify for the U-20 World Cup in Colombia July 29-August 20.
The loss will force Canada to take on the 10-time CONCACAF champion Mexicans in the quarterfinals,
Campbell, who had a pair of goals in Costa Rica's 3-0 victory over Guadeloupe on Wednesday, had several chances early in the game and finally converted in the 66th with a left-footed free kick drive from just outside the arc.
It curled around the wall and into the top left corner of the net, with Canadian keeper Julien Latendresse-Levesque not even bothering to move his feet.
He also ran down a ball out of the back, turned inside Canadian defender Donell Henry at the byline and served a low cross to Escoe, who volleyed into an open net a step inside the six-yard box 42 seconds into injury time.
Costa Rica dominated the match, testing Latendresse-Levesque as early as the fifth minute with a header by Yeltsin Tejada. Latendresse-Levesque made several saves, denying Campbell and Escoe several times, but had a howling mistake in the 34th that enabled Costa Rica to take the lead.
A giveaway by Roger Thompson at the top of Canada's defensive third enabled Escoe to get possession and serve a lazy rolling ball into the path of Juan Golobio.
Golobio took two touches before hitting a right-footed effort from 30 meters that skipped in front of Latendresse-Levesque, who went low and was reaching to his right as the ball appeared to curl back to the right and into the goal.
Canada had few chances until late in the second half, managing only one shot on goal in the first half -- Ethan Gage's bouncing free kick from 30 meters that was easily handled by goalkeeper Mauricio Vargas.
The defending champion Costa Ricans are looking for a third straight trip to the World Cup, where they finished fourth in 2009. Canada is seeking a return to the World Cup after appearing in the world championship four consecutive times before its streak ended in 2009.
