PANAMA CITY (AP) — Rolando Blackburn scored in the 26th minute and Blas Perez added a goal in the 56th to lead Panama over Canada 2-0 Tuesday night in a World Cup qualifier.
Blackburn out-jumped defenders to score on a header off a post. Perez scored off a pass from Alberto Quintero.
Panama (3-1) leads Group C of the North and Central American and Caribbean semifinals with nine points, followed by Honduras and Canada (both 2-1-1) with seven points each, with the Central Americans ahead of goal difference. Cuba (0-4) is last.
The top two nations advance to next year's regional finals, which will produce three qualifiers for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Canada hosts Cuba on Oct. 12, when Honduras is at Panama. In the final group games four days later, Panama is at Cuba and Canada is at Honduras.
