The first game to take place at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA for Copa America Centenario will feature Haiti against Peru. This will be the opening game of Group B for both teams. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 PM ET and can be seen on FOX Sports 2.
Peru favorites against Haiti
Peru enters this game as the favorites against Haiti. Coming into the game, Peru defeated Trinidad & Tobago 4-1 and El Salvador 3-0 in their two Copa America Centenario tune-up games. Peru brings a young, but talented team to Seattle to face Haiti. Head coach Ricardo Gareca decided to leave behind a group of veterans for this 100th addition of Copa America. The most notable players to stay on the team are Renato Tapia, Christian Cueva, Cristian Benavente and Beto da Silva. They join youngsters Edison Flores, Andy Polo and Raúl Ruidíaz.
Haiti lowest ranked team in Copa America
Haiti enters the Copa America Centenario has the 71st ranked team in FIFA’s world rankings and will be making their Copa debut. Their top players include goalkeepers Johnny Placide, midfielder Soni Mustivar and forward Duckens Nazon. Haiti will more than likely rely on their defense in this game as well as the other two group stage games if they want to collect any points.
Leading up to Copa America, Haiti suffered a 3-1 defeat to Colombia. They have failed to win in four straight competitive games as they also lost their first three CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches.
Only fifth all-time meeting between the two teams
This will be just the fifth meeting between these two countries. The first meeting was way back on May 26, 1977, in an international friendly, that saw Peru walk away with a 2-1 win. Just three days later, they squared off again. This time, the two teams battled to a 2-2 draw.
It would be another 23 years before they would see each other again. In the 2000 Gold Cup, the two battled to a 1-1 draw. Three years later, in another international friendly, they battled once more. This time, Peru dominated Haiti by a score of 5-1.
Lineup predictions
Hatti (4-3-3): Placide; Alcenat, Genevois, Jerome, Jaggy; Marcelin, Hilaire, Lafrance; Belfort, Nazon, Guerrier
Peru (4-2-3-1): Cacede; Tapia, Ramos, Rodriguez, Trauco; Balbin, Yotun; Cueva, Benavete, Polo; Guerrero
Keys to the game
As mentioned above, Haiti will more than likely rely on their defense in this game. They will need to keep an eye on Paolo Guerrero. He has 67 international caps and has scored 26 goals in those games. Haiti’s goalkeeper, Johnny Placide, will need to be at the top of his game if Haiti has any chance. He has just 27 caps to his name. Placide, as well as the defense, will need to play the game of their lives if they have any chance in this game.
Prediction
Even though Peru hasn’t been playing their best as of late, they should have no problem exploiting Haiti. Expect this one to be all but over by halftime. Haiti’s only real chance is if they can keep all 11 players back and hit Peru on the counter-attack.