Michael Findlay, the interim coach of Canada, was encouraged with his team’s performance after they turned their greater possession into goals yesterday.

“I was pleased with the application and some of the football we played, but it is a lesson learnt,” Findlay said.

Canada arrived in Bermuda from a weeklong training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while Bermuda, with many based overseas in England and the United States, only got together last week.

“You have to take your hat off to Bermuda, they came with an interest in being competitive and made it very difficult for us and took their opportunities,” Findlay said.

“The players were incredibly motivated with the home crowd behind them and those are the sorts of things we have to deal with in those scenarios.

“In the end we’re pleased and it was good to end our project with a win. It’s a game that fit right into our strategic planning for 2017 and it is a good way to start.”

Findlay is in charge of Canada after the dismissal of Benito Floro in September following their exit from World Cup qualification. He handed the captaincy Marcel de Jong, the 30-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps defender who was making his 50th appearance for Canada.

De Jong was born in Ontario to Dutch parents but moved to Holland at the age of four and spent time in their national youth system before playing for the Canada Under-17 side after his mother contacted the country’s football officials to inform them of his dual citizenship.

“We gave him a special day today, he’s been a great servant to our programme and a great servant to our country and our younger players,” Findlay said. “We’re really pleased to give him that opportunity today.”

Findlay, who previously served as Floro’s assistant, said he is open to taking on the job permanently.

“I have made my position clear and that will be a process that the association will take, but right now I have a mandate to move the team along,” he said.

Clyde Best, the West Ham striker, watched the match and reiterated the need for more international competition for Bermuda.

“We definitely have some talent. I liked what I saw of Shayne Hollis when he came on,” said Best, a former BFA technical director.

“It’s important the team gets in more games, you can’t play once a year.”