2019 Concacaf Gold Cup — Group Stage
Nicaragua vs. Haiti
Toyota Stadium — Frisco
June 20 — 7:00 PM ET
TV: FS1, UniMás, UDN,
STREAMING: FOX Sports GO, TSN GO
Fresh off a tight 2-1 win over Bermuda, Haiti can book a fourth-ever berth in the Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals with a win against a Nicaragua side looking to rebound from a lopsided defeat to host Costa Rica in both team's Group B opener.
Although the teams have never met in the Gold Cup, Haiti won the last encounter, 2-0, in Concacaf Nations League qualifying in November. Mikael Cantave and New York Red Bulls winger Derrick Etienne scored first-half goals.
Nicaragua
It was always going to be an uphill climb for Nicaragua in just their third Gold Cup appearance. A neutral-site match against an experienced Ticos squad would have been difficult enough for Los Pinoleros, but one at Estadio Nacional in San Jose proved too much.
Bryan Oviedo opened the scoring in the seventh minute, followed by a Celso Borges goal to double Costa Rica's lead inside the opening 20 minutes. Elias Aguilar made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time, only for FC Cincinnati's Allan Cruz to cap the scoring in the 75th minute.
Haiti
It was tougher than expected, but Haiti rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat debutants Bermuda, 2-1, thanks to a second-half brace by former Colorado Rapids draft pick Frantzdy Pierrot.
Haiti trailed 1-0 when Bermuda's Dante Leverock struck in first-half stoppage time. But Pierrot leveled in the 54th minute and then tacked on the eventual winner 12 minutes later set up by Etienne, who provided a spark off the bench.
Series Matchup
- This is the first all-time meeting between Nicaragua and Haiti in the Concacaf Gold Cup
Officials
- Referee: ESCOBAR TOCA, MARIO ALBERTO (Guatemala)
- Assistant Referees: PANJOJ CHITAY, HUMBERTO NOEL (Guatemala), ZEEGELAAR, ZACHARI JAIR (Suriname)
- 4th Official: VILLARREAL, ARMANDO (USA)
