By Robert H. Kelly
HOUSTON, TX (June 17, 2007) In what could be considered as a battle between David and Goliath, the tiny archipelago of Guadeloupe faced off against Honduras the second game of quarterfinal action of Gold Cup 2007 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
Absolutely stunning Honduras and everyone in the stands, Guadeloupe sent the Hondurans home with a 2-1 thumping.
Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France and as a result is a member of the European Union. However, it is allowed to compete as an independent entity in international sports competition.
What makes the Guadeloupe victory so amazing is the fact that they are not even ranked on the current CONCACAF or World Cup rankings.
Guadeloupe struck first in the 17th minute when Jocelyn Angkoma (Etoile de Morne-a-l’Eau) found the goal to take the score to 1-0.
Five minutes later, teammate Richard Edward Socrier (Brest-France) raised the score to 2-0 with an assist from Loic Loval (FC Utrecht-Netherlands). After a mere four minutes of play after the second goal, Loval was issued a yellow card.
After trading possessions numerous times in the first half, Guadeloupe took a 2-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The second half saw Honduras take offensive control of the game with Carlos Pavon (Real CD-Spain) picking up where he left off on Wednesday evening, scoring his team’s only goal of the match in the 70th minute.
Guadeloupe will now face Mexico in the second game of the semifinal double header on June 21 in Chicago.
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