Cyle Larin scored late in the first half and early in the second for Canada, who emerged as the surprise CONCACAF qualifying round leaders with a 2-1 victory over an erratic and frozen Mexico side which dropped to third place on Tuesday.

With a temperature of 11 degrees below zero at the Commonwealth Stadium, whose ground had to be cleared of snow, fell in recent days, the “Tri” sank into its most alarming crisis during the almost three years of management of coach Gerardo Martino .

Larin opened the scoring two minutes into the first-half substitution, taking advantage of a blunder by goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Another inattention, this time from the Mexican defense, left the Besiktas striker alone to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute.

With 10 goals tied, Larin tied Dwayne de Rosario as the Canadian with the most international goals, with 22.

With losses on their travels to the United States and Canada in this double date of the final octagon of the encounter, Mexico sank from first to third place. He therefore clings to the last ticket which grants a direct ranking to Qatar, with 14 points, the same as Panama, the current holder of the invitation to the intercontinental playoffs.

Héctor Herrera closed Mexico with a header one minute from time. It was only then and during the surrender that Mexico generated opportunities from the start. Jorge Sánchez then found himself alone with a ball in front of goalkeeper Milan Borjan, without giving him a goal.

“One of the footballers with less continuity, like Héctor Herrera in his team, was Mexico’s best player,” said Atlético de Madrid midfielder Martino.

Against all odds, Canada leads the tie with 16 units, one above the United States, who resigned that day with a draw during their visit to Jamaica.

Beyond the setbacks in Cincinnati and Edmonton, those led by Martino showed very little football generation and, except for the final stretch, they were dominated for long periods by the maple leaf team. .

Martino had another interpretation.

“We had a decent first half. It’s true that by canceling the possibilities that Canada had, especially offensively, we lacked a little more attacking play and clarity… And in the second half, when we returned to our usual pattern, they had a better game, they had depth, especially in the last 15 minutes,” commented the Argentine strategist.

Behind, the Mexican players chained the blunders and suffered their first defeat in the playoffs against the Canadians since October 1976.

Ochoa spat a shot from Alistair Johnston well outside the box. With all the facilities, Larin arrived to take advantage of the rebound and open the scoring.

At 71, the Jamaican-born striker has come back to life. On a free kick, he broke the offside trap, in front of a Mexican defense which was taking a nap.

He came to the meeting on time with the ball and extended his right leg to finish Ochoa in the face. The Canadians celebrated by throwing themselves into snowdrifts at the side of the field.

“We must seek to improve, in the football part, in the defensive work, in the offensive work”, estimated “Tata” Martino. “We will continue to insist on that and basically try to reduce the errors which, especially in the last games, are the ones that made us lose.”

Towards the end of the match, there was an attempted fight between players from both teams.

Canada will visit Honduras on January 27, the next qualifying date and with an increasingly clear opportunity to attend what would be their first World Cup date since Mexico 1986.

The Mexican team will play their third straight game on a visit, this time against Jamaica. Ahead of this engagement, a media storm is predicted which will span the Christmas season for Argentine Martino in Mexico.

During the videoconference after the duel, a journalist already asked Martino if it had occurred to him to leave his post.

“It crosses my mind to get better, nothing more than that,” he replied.