Tajon Buchanan's brace lifts Canada to Gold Cup blowout win over Honduras
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Niko Sigur has made some special memories over his years of watching soccer at BC Place.
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He added another Tuesday as he scored his first goal for Canada and helped his country thump Honduras 6-0 to open their Gold Cup campaign.
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'Of course, it feels really nice,' Sigur said of the strike. 'Something I'm working for all these years. You don't always see right away the work paying off, but this is one of those days that it is.'
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The 21-year-old rightback/midfielder from Burnaby, B.C., was part of a well-rounded offensive onslaught for the 30th-ranked Canadians on Tuesday.
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Sigur opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and Tani Oluwaseyi followed with a tally in first-half injury time. Tajon Buchanan notched a brace with goals in the 48th and 65th minutes, substitute Promise David scored in the 75th, and Nathan Saliba sealed the win with a strike in the 90th minute.
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Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair stopped all four on-target shots he faced from No. 75 Honduras.
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The victory was a 'total team' effort, said Canada's assistant coach, Mauro Biello.
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'I can't look at one guy and find someone who had an off game. Everybody came out with the right mentality,' said Biello, who stood in for head coach Jesse Marsch on the touchline as he sat out the first game of a two-game suspension.
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'We played within our identity, and we were able to not give them much and score goals. And that's part of who we want to be. And I think for this first game of the tournament, super happy to get it started in that way.'
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The Canadians settled into the game midway through the first half and took charge when Sigur scored in the 27th minute.
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Sigur passed off to Jonathan David at the top of the penalty area and, when David chipped it right back, he sent a right-footed shot sailing in past Honduras 'keeper Edrick Menjivar.
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His first goal for the senior national team came in his sixth appearance, and with ample friends and family in the announced crowd of 24,286.
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'I don't often get to play in front of my family and friends in Croatia. I've maybe got two, three people I have to give tickets to,' said Sigur, who plays for signed with Hajduk Split in Croatia's first division back in December 2023. 'This night was a little different. But it means the world to me.
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'And with the World Cup coming, we have two group stage games here (in Vancouver). But we have a little bit of work to do in between, so we'll get to that.'
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