Honduras Rolls, Haiti Gets Tie, Jamaica Gets No Help

The Honduras Grenada match was pretty much over before it started. Honduras scored early and often in a rout of the Spice Boys 4-0. Walter Martinez scored after just 2 minutes. They would score another 25 minutes into the game and two more in the second half. The match was completely dominated by the Central Americans. They will second place and will play Canada in the quarterfinals.

Haiti entered the match against the US knowing that they could lose by two goals and advance. They would do much better than that. Haiti earned a 2-2 draw against the US and were minutes away from taking the game. Had they done so, they would have topped the group. The Haitians performance in this Gold Cup has shown that they have made real progress, for a team that wasn't even supposed to be in this tournament. Davi Arnaud started the scoring after just six minutes. It looked like Haiti were going to have to hold on for dear life. They were able to keep the score the same until halftime. Then, the Haitians started the half in a shocking manner. Haiti scored two goals in the first four minutes of the half. The second goal will be a contender for goal of the tournament. Chery took a botched clearance from the keeper and riffled into the top corner of the net from close to 30 yards out. With progression now sealed, they looked to win the group. It looked as though they might succeed, but with only minutes left Holden struck to save the USA. This goal was also sensational, as it was a beautful dipping and curving strike from well outside the box. The Americans went through as group winners, and Haiti as one of the best third place finishers. 

Neither result will do any good for Jamaica. They now need Nicaragua to beat or tie Panama tomorrow if they are to advance. If they were able to do so, it would be their first points ever in the gold cup.