In a battle of two lightweights, Guatemala will face winless Cuba in the final round of Group C qualifications in the 2015 Gold Cup. The match is set at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, July 15.
La Azul y Blanco is coming off a stunning 0-0 draw with tournament favorite Mexico in their match at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday, via Yahoo Sports. The result was especially shocking as Ivan Franco Sopegno's boys finished the match down by a man in the final 14 minutes.
Guatemalan midfielder José Manuel Contreras was booked two times in the 73rd and 76th minutes which resulted in a red send off, giving El Tri an opportunity to crash the board of the goalless standoff.
But the Mexican assault never came even with the advantage as midfielder Carlos Esquivel's power shot off the bar was the only convincing attack by Miguel Herrera's squad late in the game.
Cuba continued its goalless stint in this year's Gold Cup as they were defeated by Trinidad and Tobago, 2-0, in the day's other match, as per Fox Sports.
Even with Raúl González Triana now on the sidelines, the Cubans could still not find the back of the net as their strikers and wingers struggled throughout the match against the stingy defense of the Soca Warriors.
The match means more to Los Chapines than to the Leones del Caribe as the former still has a chance to enter the quarterfinals with a win. Even if Cuba wins, they would not be able to qualify in the ranking of third-placed teams due to their high goals-allowed statistic.
Prediction: Guatemala will win a tough 1-0 match versus Cuba as they will ride on the momentum of their draw with powerhouse Mexico.
Guatemala starting lineup (4-2-2-2 formation): Motta; Morales, Vásquez, Lalín, D. López; de León, Hernandez; Figueroa, Aparicio; M. López, Ruiz
Cuba starting lineup (4-1-3-2 formation): Guerra; Napoles, Vaquero, Clavelo, Diz; Gómez; Luis, Márquez, Cervantes; Martínez, Reyes