How Cruel for Martinique!

Who would have thought that either of Cuba or Belize would be able to beat the other by four goals, and qualify?
That's exactly what Cuba did, in an incredible match.

Both teams knew they needed to score four unanswered goals to progress.
They had scored one goal in the previous two matches, both against The States.

And the game against Belize started quite slow, too.

Cuba was pressing more, but no one could have predicted a win by four goals at half-time; even though Cuba was one goal to the good. Ariel Martinez (in minute 38) was the goalscorer.

Even when Cuba went 2-0 up, courtesy of the same alert Martinez, it was still hard to believe Cuba could pull the almost-impossible.

They did struggle, indeed, and they were lucky in the 84th minute. At this point, they could hope.
But there were only 6 minutes left.

Well, you know how the story ends. With a happy ending for the Cubans, and a total demolition of Belize.

But the real loser here was Martinique. They had nothing whatsoever they could do to prevent the disaster, the one practically-last kick of the game by the Cubans leading to the goal which meant Martinique was out.

Final classification of third-placed teams, ahead of last matchday in group C:

1.  El Salvador  3 1 1 1 3-3 0  4p
2.  Cuba  3 1 0 2 5-7 -2  3p
3.  Martinique  3 1 0 2 2-4 -2  3p

The only difference between Cuba and Martinique, really, is that Cuba scored 5 goals and Martinique only 2. How costly was that goal they allowed Mexico to score in the 90th minute, for Martinique.

So, now The United States is no longer to play Martinique, because Martinique is out. And they can't play Cuba, of course, because they were in the same group, so they shall play El Salvador. (What an unfortunate change of fortune for El Salvador!) And lucky, inspired Cuba is to face arguably the easiest task of all the minnows, playing against Panama on Saturday.

The winner of Mexico - Trinidad and Tobago will play the winner of Panama - Cuba in the semifinals. And the rest is obvious.

Highlights (from Cuba - Belize):

USA Thrash Belize

Belize was tied on goals with the United States for only 12 minutes, and behind only one goal for just 26.
And the United States could have scored 3-4 more, easily.

Yes, the defeat was crushing.

How did Belize get to the Gold Cup, one may ask?

Well, they did so through the UNCAF Championship, or the Copa Centroamericana, as it's also called.
They finished fourth.
By beating Nicaragua, 2-1, with the winner scored in injury time, they succeeded in overtaking Guatemala and finishing second in the first group (which Costa Rica won, with Nicaragua finishing bottom). That meant Belize could play in the semifinals of the competition, which of course they lost, 0-1, to Honduras, the eventual runners-up.

But the sports development methods in Belize are quite poor, according to a Belizean. So, even though they should have made improvements for this Gold Cup participation, probably they regressed a bit.

Hopefully, the other matches they play won't see them on the losing side of such crushing defeats, again.

Highlights: