The Guatemalan team advanced to the next round of the Gold Cup preliminaries by defeating Guyana four goals to nil on Saturday at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
An own goal by Reiss Greenidge at 21 of the first half, Luis Martínez at 54, Darwin Lom at 71 ‘and substitute José Martínez at 80 earned the Central American team the victory and will now face Guadalupe on Tuesday in the game decisive for both in their aspirations to qualify for the Gold Cup where the Chapines have not been since 2015.
The winner will play in Group C alongside Costa Rica, Jamaica and Suriname.
The first touchdown came when Steven Robles shot from long range and the ball was deflected into his own goal by Bolton Wanderers defender Reiss Greenidge with his right foot to prevent goalkeeper Kai Mckennzie-Iyle from reaching.
From there, the Guatemalans took possession of the game and after 30 minutes they generated two goal situations. The first shot by Moisés Hernández went over the bar and then a free kick by Marvin Ceballos was deflected with the head by Keanu Marsh-brown .
Guyana stepped into the Central American team’s penalty area for the first time in danger when a Stephen Duke-Mckenna free kick opened from the second post in the 35th minute.
Guatemala again moved closer to the goal when Antigua GFC forward Jairo Arreola unleashed a shot that was saved by Kai Mckennzie-Iyle in the 39th minute.
Guyana received a significant casualty in the 40th minute when Keanu Marsh-Brown received a red card from Costa Rican referee Juan Gabriel Calderón for a foul against Marco Domínguez .
At 54 of the second half, Guyana’s Terrence Vancooten made a rejection with his pectorals, the rebound fell to Luis Martínez who took a shot to put the two to zero.
Guyana did not stop fighting and substitute Omari Glasgow injected dynamism into the Caribbean attack and demanded Nicholas Hagen twice at 67 and prevented Guyana from getting close to the scoreboard.
But Guatemala responded with a quick play that ended with the third goal. A Marvin Ceballos centre was finished off inside the area by Darwin Lom of the California United Strikers at 71.
The Guatemalans did not slow down and after recovering a ball on their land they generated a counter attack that ended with a centre from Wilson Pineda that found José Martínez from the Municipal CSD inside the area, who headed the four to zero for Guatemala to the 80 minutes. (Concacaf.com)
