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Fulltime: Panama 1, Haiti 1
90+3': There is the full time whistle.
90+3': Panama making one last rush.
90+2': BLOCK! The ball is played to Torres who slams the ball into the collapsing defender.
90': The match is starting to get very chippy. Blas Perez and Jean-Jacques Pierre get into it, another Panama player goes down behind the play. There are three minutes to go and Panama has a free kick from 22 yards out.
88': The Panama manager is livid on the sidelines.
86': GOAL!!!!!!! HAITI!!!!!!!!!! DUCKENS NAZON!!!!! Nazon gets in behind the defense, makes two great cuts and then fires the shot past Penedo. 1-1
85': Haiti with an easy giveaway on their end. The passes are losing their crispness.
84': Panama Sub - Valentin Pimentel (Out), Miguel Camargo (In)
83': Fatigue is starting to set in for Haiti as their pace of play has dropped.
80': SAVE! Arroyo fires a low shot to the far post that Placide is able to get down to and make the save.
79': Haiti Sub - Kervens Belfort (Out), Duckens Nazon (In)
77': He appears to be up and off the field now.
76': It looks as though Kervens Belfort is down on the field. We didn't see what happened there.
74': Roman Torres is the target on a free kick from Gabriel Gomez but he cannot get his head on the ball. Goal kick to Haiti. Panama is starting to go to ground with any sort of contact.
72': SAVE!!! Johnny Placide makes a dynamic diving save on a shot from Blas Perez who found himself wide open.
70': Haiti Sub - James Marcelin and Jean Sony Alcenat (Out), Pascal Millien and Jean-Eudes Maurice (In)
70': Nothing to show from that corner.
69': Louis earns another corner after a firecracker of a shot goes out for a corner.
67': Panama Sub - Luis Tejada (Out), Abdiel Arroyo (In)
66': Guerrier is back onto the pitch.
65': The corner is driven through the box and takes a deflection off a defender and out for a Haiti throw-in.
64': Guerrier makes a darting run down the wing. His cross is deflected out for a corner but his momentum takes him into the advertising boards. He is down off the field right now receiving treatment.
62': A great run down the wing from Guerrier. He plays a ball across the top of the box, which finds its way to Alcenat who cannot find a ton of power on his shot. An easy save for Penedo.
60': Haiti is starting to push a little more forward. Their latest attack is gone after Jean Sony Alcenat is called for a foul.
58': OFF THE LINE!!! Jeff Louis touches a ball past Jaime Penedo that is cleared off the line by Harold Cummings.
57': That was a very poor attempt at a clearance from Goreux who otherwise has played a good game.
56': GOAL!!!!! ALBERTO QUINTERO!!!! Reginal Goreux mistimes a bouncing ball that falls right to Quintero who floats the ball over Placide and into the side netting for the 1-0 lead.
55': MISS! Anibal Godoy fancies a shot from the top of the box that just curls over the bar and out for a goal kick.
54': It has been Haiti with the best chances of the second half. They are frustrating Panama at the moment.
53': Haiti is starting to put some pressure on Panama in the Panama defensive third on giveaways. Haiti is really exploiting Panama on the wings with their speed.
52': The ball is cleared only as far as midfield, Haiti looks towards Belfort but he is offside.
51': Jeff Louis with a great turn, he fires a shot that sails out of play. It is deflected out for a corner.
50': Frequent fouls as starting to slow the pace down.
49': What a great bit of defending from Reginal Goreux to earn a free kick from a very dangerous position. He was running towards the end line with a Panama attacker on his back and he was still able to earn a goal kick after kicking the ball into his defender. Great effort.
47': Luis Henriquez plays a cross to the bar post that is just out of the reach of Pimentel.
46': Guerrier is played in behind the defense. He tries to break through the defense but is eventually called for a foul as he pulls and tugs Roman Torres.
46': Panama starts the second half with the kick. They are now moving from left-to-right on your keyboard.
It will be interesting to see how this second half goes. Can Haiti keep Panama off the board? When will Panama start pushing numbers forward?
Panama dominating with 73.1% of the possession. They are also outshooting Haiti 10-2 with a 3-0 shots on target advantage.
Halftime: Panama 0, Haiti 0
45+1': There is a scuffle after a foul at the midfield stripe. No bookings to show. And there is the halftime whistle.
45+1': One minute of stoppage time to be added.
45': Godoy takes a shot from distance that is well wide.
45': The Panama support are making themselves heard as the momentum starts to swing in their favor.
44': Placide is still in some pain but we continue play.
44': MISS! Luis Tejada again attempts an overhead kick that goes wide. Johnny Placide collided hard with his own defender as the corner was sent in.
43': SAVE! Alberto Quintero fires a shot to the near post that is pushed out for a corner.
42': Penedo comes off his line to gather the cross on the free kick.
42': Panama really likes to play that long ball from Roman Torres that Blas Perez flicks into the path of Luis Tejada. One of these times, that is going to work.
41': Yellow Card - Jean Sony Alcenat
40': The free kick is played into the area where Jean-Jacques Pierre is called for a foul.
39': Louis looks to split the defenders on a break but he is fouled by Luis Henriquez.
37': BLOCK!!! Panama cuts through the box. A cross falls to Blas Perez who takes his shot right into the defender. The rebound falls to Pimentel who fires his shot into the side netting.
36': The free kick is played to Blas Perez who looks to flick into the path of Tejada but Placide gets to the ball first.
34': Ouch. Pimentel takes a knock to the back of the leg as he looks to play the ball off to a teammate. He is walking off the field but that looked like it hurt.
33': BLOCK! Haiti pushes quickly on the counter. Guerrier lines up a shot that looked destined for goal but it is blocked by the defense. The ball comes back around to Jean Sony Alcenat who sends his shot just wide of the post.
31': Blas Perez is played in behind the defense, he is called for a foul as he pushes down Mechack Jerome. A free kick coming for Haiti.
28': Tejada with a give-and-go with Quintero. The ball is played to Tejada who chips the defense as Quintero continues his run. The ball is just beyond the reach of Quintero as Placide takes the ball.
26': Louis plays the free kick in but it is just too far and out for a goal kick.
26': Guerrier beats Machado forcing the Panama defender to tug him down.
25': Yellow Card - Adolfo Machado
25': Panama is attempting to slow the match down. They are trying to keep possession.
23': Haiti looks dangerous on the counterattack on the 5-on-5. Belfort takes the ball on the wing, he takes on his defender as three more collapse to him. Belfort nearly splits the defense but the ball is cleared.
20': Luis Tejada attempts a spectacular overhead kick but he doesn't get enough on it. Placide makes the save.
18': Alberto Quintero is played down the wing. He runs onto the ball but Mechack Jerome makes a strong defensive play to shield Quintero to earn a goal kick.
17': Panama nearly converts as they beat a Haitian offside trap. The ball just bounces ahead of Harold Cummings and Johnny Placide makes the grab.
16': Luis Tejada takes a shot from the top of the box that takes a deflection on for a corner.
15': No doubt about that one as Godoy clipped the Haitian player as he looked to break on the counterattack.
14': Yellow Card - Anibal Godoy
14': Goreux is called for a foul on the near side.
13': Panama looks to play direct as Roman Torres lobs a longball towards Luis Tejada but it easily cleared.
12': MISS! James Marcelin takes a rising shot from distance that just misses over the crossbar. What a shot there.
11': A great piece of skill from Jeff Louis that forces Panama to clear errantly .
10': Anbial Godoy takes the shot, it curls over the wall and just wide of the near post.
10': A dangerous free kick coming for Panama here from about 24 years out angle left from Placide's view.
9': Yellow Card - Jean Alexandre
8': Haiti is looking to use their speed down the wings to break down the Panama defense. They have not run an attack down the middle just yet.
6': The throw comes into towards Belfort. He heads it back to the throw-in taker who fires a low cross into the box. It is cleared out.
5': Harold Cummings cuts the first look into the box for Haiti. A deep throw-in coming for the Haitians.
4': Louis is called for another foul, that is three early for Haiti.
4': Hard tackle from Jeff Louis from behind, free kick from midfield coming for Panama.
3': Not much in terms of attack from either side as they both look to hold early possession. A foul is called on Kervens Belfort though the ball was what hit Luis Henriquez in the face.
1': Haiti immediately plays the ball back to their keeper who looks to play a longball forward. It is headed away by the Panama defense.
1': We are underway from Frisco, Texas!
Haiti will be getting us underway, they are moving from left-to-right on your keyboard.
Our officials are from Costa Rica
The anthems are done and we are now ready for football!
Now it is time for the Haiti national anthem.
Panama's national anthem will be played first.
This is the first meeting since 1961 between Panama and Haiti. They have never met in the Gold Cup.
The teams are coming out onto the pitch.
Panama will be wearing their all-white uniforms while Haiti will be in all-blue
The flags are both coming out onto the pitch. The players are lining up in the tunnel.
Between the two nations facing off tonight, Panama has the clear advantage in terms of support though that number does not appear to be very high.
There are a good amount of United States jerseys around the park right now as we prepare for the opening match of the 2015 Gold Cup.
We know that all of the tickets have been sold but the question becomes how many folks will show up for our opening match tonight.
Both clubs are out on the pitch for warmups right now.
The big shock in the Panama lineup would be the inclusion of Valentin Pimentel. The 24-year-old from Plaza Amador has only two international appearances coming into the match. Could that be an area in which Haiti could exploit?
No real surprises in the lineup for Haiti, the biggest question coming in would be who would get the start alongside Jean-Jacques Pierre? Would it be Judelin Aveska, Mechack Jerome, or Frantz Bertin? The answer is Charlotte Independence centerback Mechack Jerome as selected by head coach Marc Collat.
We will be back in just a few minutes with more pre-match coverage.
Here is the starting eleven for Haiti: (4-2-3-1): Placide; Goreux, Pierre, Jerome, Jaggy; Guerrier, Alexandre; Louis, Alcenat, Marcelin; Belfort
Here is the starting eleven for Panama: (4-4-2): Penedo; Machado, Cummings, R. Torres, Henriquez; Pimentel, Gomez, Godoy, Quintero; Perez, Tejada
We should be just moments away from seeing the lineups for tonight's match
Nobody is giving Haiti much of a chance tonight. This writer though thinks that this match will not be as easy as people think. Blas Perez will want to score in front of his club's fans tonight so don't be surprised to see him take some shots that he may not normally take.
Get yourself prepared as we could be in for a bumpy evening tonight. The winds are starting to pick up and there are thunderstorms in the forecast through Wednesday afternoon. It looks like the biggest chance for storms will be around 8 pm local time as a cold front will drop the temperature by about five degrees with a big increase in the wind speed.
How do you see our match Panama - Haiti Live going? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Our player to watch though is 22-year-old Jeff Louis. He has 20 caps for Haiti and plays for Standard Liege in Belgium where he has made 35 appearances since signing in August of 2014. He made his international debut at age 19 and has a very bright footballing future. Do not leave him any space or he will make defenses pay.
There are some names in the Haiti squad that would be familiar to Major League Soccer fans, players like Mechack Jerome and Andrew Jean-Baptiste. A few other players ply their trade in the United States; they are James Marcelin of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Pascal Millien of the Jacksonville Armada, Sebastien Thuriere of the Charleston Battery, and Bitielo Jean Jacques of Kraze United.
Tonight’s match will be only the second played in 2015 by Haiti. They drew with China PR on March 27, 2015 at the He Long Stadium. Goals were scored by Jeff Louis and Wilde Donald Guerrier for the visitors.
Haiti defeated Cuba in the third place match to claim their second consecutive third-place finish at the Caribbean Cup and their fourth since 1998.
Jamaica would beat Haiti 2-0 coupled with a 2-0 win for Martinique was enough to send Haiti into the Gold Cup though it was nervy for the last few minutes for Haiti.
Group B was where Haiti would be drawn alongside hosts Jamaica, Martinique, and Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti put themselves in a pretty good position to advance after a 2-2 draw with Antigua and Barbuda along with a 3-0 win over Martinique. They just needed to keep the result close with Jamaica and hope that Antigua or Martinique didn’t blow out their opponent.
Haiti’s 0-0 draw with Saint Kitts and Nevis coupled with the 2-0 win for French Guiana gave the Haitians the group win advancing them into the 2014 Caribbean Cup alongside French Guiana.
The next match was very important for Haiti as they took on group leaders Barbados. Kervens Belfort did not wait long to give the home side the 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute. Belfort added his second in the 43rd to go along with a 27th minute strike from Wilde Donald Guerrier to cancel out a goal from Mario Harte as well as an own goal by Frantz Bertin to make the score 3-2 Haiti at halftime. The insurance goal came off the boot of Alcenat in the 67th minute to give Haiti the 4-2 win and top spot in the group.
Haiti opened up with a match against French Guiana. They would get the scoring going on a goal from Standard Liege midfielder Jeff Louis in the 29th minute. That lead would be short lived though as Mickael Solvi equalized less than 60 seconds later to make the match 1-1. Jean Sony Alcenat gave the Haitians a 2-1 lead at the stroke of halftime. The final goal of the match would come in the 54th minute as Jean-David Legrand pulled the match level for French Guiana. 2-2 the final score.
Group 8 was a very difficult group as Haiti were paired with French Guiana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Barbados. The group’s winners and runners-up each qualified for the Gold Cup.
Haiti’s qualification road to the Gold Cup started with the qualification round into the 2014 Caribbean Cup. They were given a bye in the first group stage round and drawn directly into the second round. They actually hosted all of the matches for Group 8 at the Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince.
Haiti qualified for this edition of the Gold Cup after a third place finish in the 2014 Caribbean Cup. This is their 6th appearance in the Gold Cup. They will be looking to match their best performance which was appearances in the quarterfinals in 2002 and 2009.
Another big issue is where their goal scoring will come from in the future. Their two best goal scorers are Blas Perez (37 goals, 34 years old) and Luis Tejada (38 goals 33 years old). Internationally, their next best goal scorer is Gabriel Gomez but even he is 31. Their next best option looks to be Colorado Rapids striker Gabriel Torres but he only has nine goals in 50 caps. One wonders how much of Torres we will see in this competition.
Panama brings a very experienced group to the Gold Cup but the biggest problem is that they are not getting any younger. Five of their six caps leaders are 30 years old or older including goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.
The third-placed match would see Panama matched up with the runner-up from Group A, El Salvador. The lone goal of the match came in the 5th minute as Roman Torres would score to lift Panama to the 1-0 win.
Panama threw everything they had forward in hopes of a third. They had some good looks in the final few minutes but Nicaraguan goalkeeper Justo Lorente did a phenomenal job to keep his net clear. The final score was Panama 2, Nicaragua 0. Panama would have to settle for a spot in the third place match, though they did earn qualification to the Gold Cup.
Nicaragua played a very defensive match with numbers in their own box to try and clog the shooting lanes for Panama. This strategy paid off for the first 81 minutes before Blas Perez was able to open the scoring. Roman Torres scored a minute later to make the match 2-0 in favor of Panama.
This left Panama needing at least a three goal win to pull level with Costa Rica on top of the group or a four goal win to win the group outright.
Unfortunately for Panama, Costa Rica had other ideas about how this match would end. Johan Venegas brought the match back to 2-1 with his 81st minute goal before a penalty make from Celso Borges in the 87th minute split the points.
The match looked to be going in favor of Panama as they took a 1-0 lead off of a strike from striker Blas Perez in the 51st minute. 20 minutes late, Panama doubled their lead off a wonderful strike from Dorados de Sinaloa forward Roberto Nurse.
Panama started their journey with their toughest match against Costa Rica. Costa Rica was coming off of a 3-0 win in their opener against Nicaragua. A win for Panama would give them a big advantage towards making the final needing just a draw with Nicaragua.
There was no margin for error for Panama in the 2014 Copa Centroamericana as they were draw into the three-nation Group B alongside Costa Rica and Nicaragua. They did know that they would at-least qualify for the fifth-place playoff match and the playoff against the Caribbean Cup fifth-place squad for a berth in the Gold Cup but any dropped points could keep them out of the final.
Panama qualified for this edition of the Gold Cup after a third place finish in the 2014 Copa Centroamericana tournament. This is their 7th appearance in the Gold Cup. Their best performance in the past were two runners-up finishes back in 2005 and 2013.
Good afternoon and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. It is the opening matchday of the 2015 competition and we have Group A matches today starting with the clash between 2013 Gold Cup Finalist Panama and Haiti. My name is Matthew Evans and I will be your host today.