HOUSTON (AP) - Haiti reached the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time, overcoming a two-goal deficit to beat Canada 3-2 on Saturday night.
The 101st-ranked Haitians will play Mexico on Tuesday night in Glendale, Arizona. Mexico beat Costa Rica 5-4 in a shootout after they tied 1-1 in the second game of the doubleheader.
“All it takes is one goal and we can create history after that,” Andrew Jean-Baptiste told his Haiti teammates at halftime. “Miraculously, that’s exactly what happened. … I pointed out that this may be a few guys’ last Gold Cup and I said, ’I’m going to go out there and give every single thing that I can possibly give and I want my brothers to follow with me.”
Jonathan David scored on a free kick in the 18th minute, his tournament-high sixth goal, and No. 78 Canada doubled its lead when Lucas Cavallini beat goalkeeper Jhony Placide in the 28th minute for his fifth goal.
Duckens Nazon cut Haiti’s deficit in the 50th and Herve Bazile tied the score in the 70th with a penalty kick after he was taken down by Marcus Godinho. Wilde-donald Guerrier scored the go-ahead goal in the 76th.
“The players all have certain qualities and they know that, as long as the match is going on, before the final whistle they have to fight on the field, not only for themselves but also the team,” Haiti coach Marc Collat said.
“We just looked at the fact that we had goals that could have been avoided and, despite the fact that Canada was dominating, we had opportunities we had created. If during the second half we were more serious, we could be more difficult for them and I think that’s what happened and we came back and that’s when Canada started to doubt.”
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