Costa Rica defeated Guadeloupe, 1-0, in the teams' third match of Group A play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. With the victory, the Ticos secured the second quarterfinal spot, while Guadeloupe will need to wait for the other groups to finish play to see if they qualify as one of the two best third-place teams.
Costa Rica needed a win against surprising Guadeloupe. The Caribbean nation won their last game against Canada, which put them atop Group A. Meanwhile, Costa Rica could only manage a tie against Haiti, endangering their qualifying chances. They were hoping for a victory over Guadeloupe and a Canadian victory over Haiti to advance to the next round.
The Ticos started up strong, and at the tenth minute they had already enjoyed two great scoring chances. Costa Ricans Michael Barrantes -- at the seventh minute -- and then Alvaro Saborio -- two minutes later -- knocked on Guadeloupe keeper Franck Grandel's door. But it was once again Walter Centeno who capitalized for the red team. At the 14th minute, a magic, right-footed free kick by Centeno put his team ahead of Guadeloupe, keeping alive Costa Rica's tournament chances.
The goal shocked Guadeloupe, but Aurelien Capoue managed to keep things under control for the islanders. He later became the first one to try his luck against Costa Rican keeper Francisco Porras, but his top-of-the-box shot went awry.
Costa Rica kept up their high-speed playing style, and Guadeloupe showed no resemblance to the carefree team that beat Canada two nights before in this same stadium. At the 30th minute, Costa Rica came knocking again and they almost went ahead 2-0 on the scoreboard. Saborio, with yet another staggering run on the right flank, crossed a ball through the area, but no one was able jump high enough to connect with it. Allan Aleman made a huge effort on the opposite post with a diving header that sent the ball against the side netting.
Costa Rica's attacking game kept flowing and Centeno was the most dangerous threat for Grandel. At the 36th minute, he tried a long-range shot from about 45 yards out. Then the Costa Rican fans jumped out of their seats with another Centento free kick at the 40th minute.
Before the end of the first half, Guadeloupe tried to dust some pressure off and almost capitalized on the frailty of the Costa Rican defense. Capoue and David Fleurival -- Guadeloupe's most inspired players in the first half -- had two good chances to tie things up, but Porras denied them on both occasions.
A split second before the whistle, Barrantes tried his luck against Grandel once again, but the players went to the locker room with Costa Rica up by a score, 1-0.
The second half started with an inspired Guadeloupe taking charge. In the first 20 minutes, they accounted for three clear chances against Porras, but the Costa Rican goalkeeper was able to save his team. Capoue was the most active player during these minutes when the islanders became a major threat for the reds. His shot in the 55th minute was the clearest chance the green team had up until then, and Porras had some trouble deflecting the ball, resulting in a corner kick.
By the 60th minute, Costa Rica had completely given up control of the match to Guadeloupe and were betting on capitalizing on a counterattack. Coach Hernan Medford subbed in Victor Cordero for a tired Saborio and Rolando Fonseca for Barrantes, while Guadeloupe's Roger Salnot thought of bringing in veteran Jocelyn Angloma to further impose his team's game on the reds.
With ten minutes left in the match, the Ticos didn't seem to realize that by scoring another goal they would secure a quarterfinal berth, barring a Canadian victory over Haiti. Cordero still managed to have a great chance at the 81st after a quick counterattack.
Alfonso Duro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
