Belize pulled off the upset of the day when they visited the Spice Boyz of Grenada. Grenada were widely known as the weakest of the top seeds in round two of CONCACAF qualifying, but they were expected to fall at this hurdle due to defeats inflicted by Guatemala, not by upstart Belize. However, Belize were boosted by the news that they would be allowed to play games at home in this round of the competition, so they wanted to come home on a high note. Deon McCaulay scored his fourth goal of the tournament barely more than ten minutes in to put Belize up 1-0. A second goal followed with ten minutes left in the half, and the stunned crowd at St. George's were left shocked by the 2-0 halftime score.
As it to prove that the lead was no fluke, Honduras-based Elroy Smith knotched Belize's third with little more than ten minutes to play, announcing to Guatemala that the group's toughest challenge would be their neighbors to the east. Belize won 3-0.
Guatemala were probably suprised by the result of the first match, but they had business to attend to in the final qualifier of the day. The crowd in Guatemala City would not be let down by their Chapines against St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Star midfielder and Chicago Fire player Marco Pappa scored after a quarter hour, and another goal came a quarter hour later off an egregious dropped cross by St. Vincent's goalie to spring the Chapines to a 2-0 lead at the half.
After the restart, it took Guatemala six minutes to seal the victory at 3-0, the second consecutive Guatemala goal scored off a rebound. An insurance goal was scored twenty minutes later for a 4-0 lead. Halftime substitute Mario Rodriguez proved a force by scoring the third goal and assisting on the fourth. A frustrated Devon Browne was sent off for St. Vincent for a straight red card, leaving his underdog side down a man against group favorites Guatemala for the final two minutes. No other goals were scored, however, so Guatemala left with a 4-0 victory and a mouth-watering matchup at Belize next Tuesday for group supremacy. Grenada travel to St. Vincent on 18 September 2011.
Belize
Deon McCaulay 11
Harrison Roches 35
Elroy Smith 79
Guatemala
Marco Pappa 14
Yony Flores 30
Mario Rodriguez 52
Freddy Garcia 71
Match Reports:
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba1Rj74pPp0 (Guatemala v. St. Vincent)
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