HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 20 (acn) Cuba was eliminated after losing to Martinique in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which is held for the first time in three different countries.
At the Broncos Stadium of Denver, USA; Martinique beat 3-0 Cuba in their second match for Group A.
Both teams had chances in the first half; with Cuba's captain Arichel Hernandez nearly open the score with a tremendous header in the 30' and the referee didn´t award Cuba a penalty kick after a clear hand in Martinique´s box at 32´.
But when Cuba was doing it better, Martinique's Joris Marveaux managed to head in a corner kick in the 45' for a 1-0 lead.
In the second half the Cuban side showed again its naïve behavior and Mickael Biron earned a penalty in the 58', but Kevin Parsemain was unable to convert the spot kick.
Cuban goalie Sandy Sanchez kept his team in the game with a number of excellent saves, but Martinique would finally find its second when Stephane Abaul headed home after a corner kick in the 70'.
Everything fell apart for Cuba when right back Erick Rizo was sent off (81') after an aggression to a rival and in the 84´, Parsemain back-heel pass was stroked into net by Kevin Fortune for the 3-0 final.
Thus, Cuba became the first team eliminated in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup as they were previously thrashed 7-0 by Mexico in their debut and only have to play one more game against Canada on June 23rd.
Mexico leads Pool A with two wins, no loss and 6 points after defeating yesterday 3-1 Canada, who despite losing follow them with 3 units, just like Martinique, but with better goal difference, while Cuba appears on bottom of the standings with no point.
The leaders of the other pools are Costa Rica and Haiti (B), Jamaica and El Salvador (C) and USA and Panama (D), all with one win and no loss.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
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