MONTREAL (AP):

DWAYNE DE Rosario and Ali Gerba each scored twice as Canada defeated St Vincent and the Grena-dines 4-1 and advanced 7-1 on aggregate in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Friday.

The victory put Canada into the third round of CONCACAF qualifiers, in a tough round-robin group against Honduras, Jamaica and likely Mexico, who hold a 2-0 advantage from the first leg of their second-round tie against Belize going into yesterday's home second leg. Only the top two from that four-team group, starting in August, will advance to the final stage of qualifying.

Houston's De Rosario, who should have had a hat-trick in the first half, opened the scoring in the 29th minute, slipping past defender Wesley Charles, cutting inside, beating Charles again and firing home before 11,502 spectators at Saputo Stadium.

Header

Gerba, who also scored twice in a 3-0 win in the first leg, was at the goalmouth to head in a De Rosario pass in the 38th.

Five minutes into the second half, De Rosario blasted through goalkeeper Winslow McDowall's hands and then he put in a smart cross from the right that Gerba, of German lower-division club Ingolstadt, headed past McDowall in the 63rd for 4-0.

St Vincent got a consolation goal in the 76th minute, as Malaysian-based striker Marlon James swept in on the right side and the captain chipped the ball over goalkeeper Pat Onstad in the 76th.