PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Cuba (1W-1D-0L, 4 points) moved a step closer to advancing to the next round of the 2017 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship with a 2-1 win over Canada (0-0-2, 0) on Tuesday afternoon at the Estadio Maracana.
Yandry Romero and Manuel Cruz scored their first goals of the competition on either side of halftime for the Caribbean runner-up, which moved provisionally into first place in Group B.
Cuba took a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute, when Romero converted a rebound of Brian Savigne's shot from the right side past goalkeeper Gianluca Catalano.
Cruz doubled the advantage in the 59th minute, latching on to a right-wing cross from Carlos Ibarra. He then beat two defenders and slotted the ball home past Catalano from six-yards out.
The Canadians pulled one back in the 71st minute as second-half substitute Alessandro Hojabrpour slipped in an eight-yard shot to the lower left post past goalkeeper Danny Echeverria.
Both sides returns to action on Friday with Cuba taking on Costa Rica (1-0-0, 3), while Canada will look to bounce back against Suriname (0-1-0, 1).
