It took 428 minutes, but Canada finally got its first goal in the Hexagonal. Substitute midfielder Eddy Berdusco scored to lift the Canadians to a 1-0 win over Costa Rica June 1 in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. Canada is now tied for third place with the United States, which has played one less game, and Jamaica. Berdusco, who replaced Carlo Corazzin after halftime, tapped a crossing pass from Fernando Aguiar past Costa Rican goalkeeper Eric Lonnis in the 68th minute. “I guess I feel like a little bit of a hero,” said Berdusco, who plays in the A-League for the Montreal Impact. “It was an important game for us and to get that winning goal feels really good.” Berdusco was also the hero in his last appearance in Edmonton three years ago when he scored to give Canada a 1-1 tie with Brazil in a World Cup ’94 tuneup match for the eventual champion. Canada goalie Craig Forrest made three big saves on Hernan Medford, Ronald Gomez, and Mauricio Solis to keep the Ticos off the board in the first half. Minutes before the Canada goal, Forrest came up big again, stopping Gomez’s shot from 20 yards out. Medford failed to connect on the rebound, and Mark Watson cleared the ball out of danger. The win probably saved Canadian coach Bob Lenarduzzi’s job. He gambled by allowing Polish-born star Tomasz Radzinski to play for his club team Ekeren in the Belgian Cup final on the same day. The move worked out for both teams. Radzinski scored the winning goal as Ekeren came from two goals down to upset Anderlecht 4-2 in overtime. “It’s not so much relief but vindication,” Lenarduzzi told Canadian reporters after the game. “People had written us off, but now we’re in third place.” Canada must pick up points when it travels to Jamaica and El Salvador Sept. 7 and 14, respectively, to make up for the points it dropped when it tied the same two teams 0-0 at home. Costa Rica remained in second place behind Mexico in the six-team standings. Nonetheless, the Tico press rang the alarm bells. “Alerta roja” (“Red alert”) was the headline in one daily. Costa Rica’s problems away from home aren’t anything new. The Ticos have beaten the United States twice at Saprissa Stadium, but lost by a 2-1 score last December at Stanford Stadium. According to the newspaper La Nacion, Costa Rica “loses its soul and personality” when it plays away from home.