MIAMI, FL -The exotic team of Gudeloupe got to Miami trying to show everyone in CONCACAF that they are ready for this level of playing. With their star Jocelyn Angloma, a former French international, the Caribbean team was ready to bring their fearless style of soccer onto the field, which they displayed in a 1-1 tie with Haiti on Wednesday in Miami.
The team, however, did not think of the fact that the Haitians were going to be playing at home in Miami, since the Orange Bowl hosted plenty of Haiti fans, whom did not stop singing and dancing throughout the game.
The Haitians were not very comfortable on the pitch, and they fouled a bit too much during the first couple of minutes of the match. To a certain extent, they were relying on the inexperience of Guadeloupe's attackers, since Jean-Jacques Pierre kept screaming at his defense to push out. Because of this, Haiti got their first scare at the 15th minute, when David Fleurival found the ball 35 yards away from the net and without any clear opposition in front of him. His shot went over Gabart Fenelon's goal, but Haiti noticed that they were not playing against any ordinary team.
Pierre-Richard Bruny, Haiti's captain, was the man in charge of commanding his team, and he did so from the 20th minute on. Always correcting his midfielders, he managed to take care of the few chances of Guadeloupe, while still setting everyone straight in front of him.
One of the players who took Bruny's commands to heart was Brunel Fucein. He was the first player to bring some danger to Grandel's goal, when at the 20th minute he shot from 25 yards only inches away from the crossbar. But Guadeloupe kept pushing up looking for a surprising break in Haiti's defense. Although they did not get the break, Fiston, the most dangerous man in Guadeloupe, was able to pull off a shot from the right of their attack that went over Fenelon only to hit the crossbar and end up out of bounds.
When Guadeloupe was playing its best soccer, Haiti's Boucicaut flew past his defender and found himself inside the box. Sommeil was only able to stop him with a foul and, at the 34th minute, Mones Cherry scored the first goal of the game from the penalty spot.
The goal obviously hindered Guadeloupe's chances of taking the first three points in the tournament, but it seemed it also affected them psychologically. Capoue, whom had been having a decent game up until that point, completely disappeared from the field and Haiti started moving the ball without any opposition from the Guadelupean players.
The second half started just as the first had finished, although slowly but surely Guadeloupe began to show that their attackers also wanted to speak for themselves. On perhaps the best play of the whole game, Capoue broke lose on the left and made it to the end line. His cross found Cedrick Fiston wide open in the six-yard box and the forward only had to tap it into the back of the net.
The equalizer gave wings to Guadaloupe and they tried to push their way through the Haitian defensive lines, but they seemed to be running out of air. Plus, coach Salnot substituted Fiston, the best man on the Guadeloupe side, and it seriously affected their attacking chances.
The last minutes of the match diluted between some harsh tackles and the substitutions made by both coaches. Boucicaut made the fans rise from their seats at the 84th minute when he dribbled past two players inside the box, only to take a very soft shot that was saved by Grandel without major problems.
In the end, the tie justified what both teams showed on the field, since neither seemed to be willing to put the extra effort to take the three points.
Alfonso Duro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
