Mexico Narrowly Gets Past Haiti to Secure Spot in the 2019 Gold Cup Final.

The Mexican National Team faced off in what was a tough game against Haiti in Phoenix, Arizona for a ticket to the 2019 Gold Cup Final. Coach Tata Martino opted for his most experienced players and started off the game with veteran’s Andres Guardado and Jonathan Dos Santos, as well as Hector Moreno in defense. Even with the old guard on the field, what most fans expected to be an easy task turned out to be rather complicated for the Mexican team.

The game started off intense, with the Mexican team attacking from the start. However, the Haitian team gave notice from the start that they would not go down easy and planted themselves firmly in defense. El Tri had the advantage on offense, making run after run towards the Haitian goal, however, Haiti’s men in defense would stop every attempt. Their biggest advantage and one they made full use of was their overall strength and size as compared to the players on the Mexico team. One of Mexico’s clearest opportunities came at the 20^th minute after a series of rebounds and back heel passes inside the Haitian area which left Raul Jimenez with a chance at goal, but the Haitian men were able too clear it out in the nick of time.

Perhaps the best chance El Tri had at goal in the first half came in the 35^th minute, when Jimenez was able to send a strong header towards the Haitian goal, however goalie Johny Placide was able to grab the ball mid-air. The first half was marked by these types of missed opportunities by the Mexican team, coming close but failing to finish their plays so that they would culminate in goals.

The second half started off just as intense, with Mexico again taking the initiative to do all of the work on offense and with Haiti patiently waiting for their opportunity to strike on the counter. However, neither team were successful in their endeavors. Perhaps Mexico’s most notable opportunity came off a free-kick taken by captain Andres Guardado at the 66^th minute of play. His effort, well placed and on its way to opening up the scoreboard, was slapped away by Placide, who, arguably, could be labeled Haiti’s man of the match.

At the 67^th minute, El Tata made two key modifications in the hopes of opening up the match in his favor, bringing in Uriel Antuna and Carlos Rodriguez for Roberto Alvarado and Andres Guardado. The two youngsters gave Mexico two pairs of fresh lungs and legs and did their best in creating opportunities for El Tri. However, things would end level after 90 minutes and Tata’s men would be forced to go into overtime for their second straight game.

This time however, luck struck for Mexico early on in the first half of extra time, as Jimenez would find himself on the receiving end of a foul inside the penalty area just after two minutes of play. The referee did not hesitate in calling the penalty and it was the Wolves forward who took it upon himself to execute the shot at goal. After having missed a penalty in his previous instance against Costa Rica, Jimenez sought to shake himself of his ghosts and did so by easily scoring against Placide, thus giving Mexico the 1-0 lead.

In the end it was all they needed to advance to the final, although not without a final scare at the 119^th minute by Haitian winger Mikael Cantave, whose shot hit Memo Ochoa’s top right bar, just narrowly missing the chance to send the game to penalty’s.

Mexico will now travel north to Chicago to play in the 2019 Gold Cup Final, to be played Sunday July 7^th against the winner of tomorrow’s matchup between the United States and Jamaica.