It was the Salvadoran Larin who delivered a dangerous cross that skipped just past striker Irvin Herrera before it found Denis Pineda, who put the ball past Canadian keeper Simon Thomas. The cross was so good that El Salvador had two cracks at putting it in — and the second man in the box was the one who got the decisive touch.

“We had to do what was best for our club. We’ve played three games in eight days,” Watson said before mentioning that the lineup Schallibaum sent out came as a bit of a surprise. "We didn’t expect them to field their A-team.”

“In tournaments like this it’s important for a team to start well,” said Canadian head coach Tony Fonseca. “I think the way they faced this game was a certain level of stress coming into the first game. I think they faced it with being a little bit nervous for our taste.”