Haiti edges Canada 3-2 to advance to semifinals of CONCACAF Gold Cup

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyrightr 2019 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 29, 2019) Coming back from a 2-0 deficit at halftime, No. 101 Haiti (shown right) scored three unanswered goals in the second half to down No. 78 Canada by the score of 3-2 in the first of two quarterfinal matches of the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Houston's NRG Stadium. This win was the first in the quarterfinals for Los Catrachos, having dropped three previous quarterfinal matches in Gold Cup history.

The first goal for The Canuaks came in the 18th minute on a nice shot, off a free kick, by Jonathan David. The fleet-footed forward, who plays professionally for KAA Gant, took his shot from the top right corner of the penalty box; drilling it past Haitian goalkeeper Jhonu Placide. The goal gave David his sixth goal in four games in the 2019 Gold Cup. Ten minutes later, forward Lucas Cavallini tapped in the second Canadian goal, for his fifth goal in four games in the tournament.

Five minutes into the second half, Haiti forward Duckens Nazon found himself in the "right place at the right time" when Palcide tried to "finesse" the ball out of the penalty

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyrightr 2019 All Rights Reserved

area. A misstep left the ball unprotected; allowing Nazon to gently tap it into goal to cut Canada's lead to one. They evened the score twenty minutes later when forward Herve Bazile converted at penalty kick. Haiti took the lead, and secured the win, in the 76th minute on a phenomenal pass from Nazon to midfielder Wilde-Donald Guerrier (No. 10, shown above) for the final goal of the match

The match was the third time the two teams met in Gold Cup history. Canada won the previous two meetings by the score of 2-0. The first meeting was on January 18, 2002, with Kevin McKenna score twice secure the win at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.came on June 11, 2017. Dwayne DeRosario scored twice in their win, which occurred at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.