Coming into this game I heard a lot of Canadian fans feeling like this should be an easy win for the team because Guadeloupe are an unranked nation but that ignores the fact that most of their players are professionals in the French League system with a fair few of them playing for good teams in the Ligue 2. With that said they were not a team that Canada would be able to get away with taking lightly which they proved by making Panama work so hard to win in the first round despite having gone down to 9 men. The second game was no different as Canada were going to have to work for everything despite Guadeloupe again going down a man. This time the sending off game in the 4th minute when Will Johnson was hit by a two footed tackle from Jean-Luc Lambourde. It may not have been the worst tackle I have ever seen but I have also seen red cards being given out for less and Guadeloupe cant really feel that hard done by this one. So Canada were taking on 10 men for basically the entire game now and they must certainly have been the clear favorites, right?
The first chance of note in the game would go the way of Guadeloupe as Borjan was forced to get down to his right quickly and did well to turn aside the low shot. Before the first half was over Canadian striker Ali Gerba got what was clearly the best chance of the half as he found himself unmarked in the box but when he hit the cross first time he was unable to get it on target. The first half would end without much else happening and the sending off was the only real talking point.
The second half began with Guadeloupe creating the first chance as once again Borjan was forced to get down quick to make a save right by his post. Borjan continued his solid play tracking down crosses and making easy work of any shots that did come his way making Hart look like a genius for deciding to start him in this match. Canada generated a half chance a few minutes later with a speculative shot from range by De Rosario but on the 50th minute De Rosario sent a cross into the box that was aimed towards Ali Gerba but Gerba went down under contact from the defender and the referee awarded Canada a penalty. De Ro would step up to the spot and after sending the keeper the wrong way he slotted home the opening goal of the game. The penalty was by no means cut and dry and when I said that Gerba went down under contact it really was slight contact and he went down rather easily as he had no chance of getting to the ball. The decision is one that Canada have often been on the other end of and it has often angered Canadian fans to see teams going down so softly against us so it is no surprise that the reaction to this has been rather mixed even among Canadian fans. Gerba going down softly does raise the question though of whether this is the kind of thing Canada needs to do if they want to gain an edge against their opponents in the Gold Cup and later in World Cup qualifying. I personally do not like the idea of our players diving but if you are under contact and start to fall why not go down and just see what happens. No point busting your butt to state on your feet when at the other end of the field the opposing team might just go down and win the game as a result.
The game would continue on with both teams looking to create chances but to be honest there was a real lack of offensive talent on display in this one. The best chances the rest of the game came from long range efforts which were all turned away by the keepers. In the end it was that penalty decision that proved to be the difference as Canada escaped with a 1-0 win. For Canada I am sure they would have liked to score a couple more goals to try and improve the goal difference and their chances of finishing higher up after the group stage ends. For Guadeloupe on the other hand they will feel that once again the ref has cost them a chance to win the game with that sending off and then the penalty decision. Things will not get any easier for Guadeloupe though as they finish off the group against the United States and they will need to not only win the match but will need to win it by a comfortable margin. That basically means that come the last match day Guadeloupe will be only playing for pride. Canada on the other hand will have everything to play for when they round off their group schedule against Panama in a match where a positive result could see them finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in group C.
The second game of the evening in the group was another exciting one and surely left a lot of fans scratching their hands. Panama was taking on the United States and with the US being one of the favorites for this Gold Cup you would have expected them to have a fairly easy time disposing of Panama. The match was nothing like that though as Panama came out flying and really took it to the US. Throughout the first half the Americans were kept on the back heel an Panama's hard work was rewarded in 18th minute when Luis Tejada scored to give them a lead that surprised all of the American fans watching the match in Tampa. Things only got worse for the Americans though as defender Tim Ream brought down Perez in the box handing Panama a penalty in the 35th minute. The spot kick was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a shock 2-0 lead which they would hold until the half.
The Americans would fight back in the second half but Panama put up a solid resistance. Panama would manage to hold back the powerful attack until the 67th minute when Clarence Goodson scored to give the States hope. In the end though they were unable to find the second goal that they needed to salvage any sort of result. Panama's early onslaught combined with resolute defending and some strong keeping from Cano were enough to hand them their second win in the group.
So with 2 rounds in the book now Panama find themselves sitting on top of the group with 6 points and if they get a result against Canada on the last day they will be going through in first place. The Americans will be looking to extract some revenge for this loss on Guadeloupe in their final match as they need a comfortable win to try and finish as high up the group as they can. A win could see them finish 1st or 2nd. There really is almost everything to play for on the final match day in this group and teams will be fighting hard for better positions to ensure they get the easier quarter finals.
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