The Cibao Football Club managed to pull off a victory in the last minute of their match with Real Hope, the semi-finalist from Group A of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup Championship.
The team from Cap Haitian was the ‘home’ team in last Wednesday’s match at the Track and Field football stadium on the campus of the PUCMM in Santiago. At the four minute mark, Cibao scored on an excellent play off a corner kick with Jean Carlos Lopez netting the header. However, just a few minutes later, a flagrant foul in the Cibao goal area gave Real Hope a penalty kick that was not wasted, and the game was 1-1 into half time.
The torrential rains did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds of spectators that came to cheer for their teams. As the rains diminished, the second half began, and the action was intense with excellent play on both sides.
About ten minutes into the second half, right winger Juan David Diaz recovered the ball, took just a few strides and curled the sphere into the upper right-hand corner of the net for a 1-2 lead for Cibao.
However, Real Hope came back in the last ten minutes of the match, and at minute 83, Angelo Exilus scored on a very good header making the score 2-2.
In the very last minute of regulation time, Hurguen Michel, a Real Hope defender, cut down Rivaldo Correa, the league’s leading scorer, inside the penalty area. Correa did not miss the penalty kick, giving the Cibao a 3-2 victory.
The next match with Cibao as the home team will be played on Thursday, 31 October at 8pm in the remodeled Cibao FC Stadium, also on the campus of the PUCMM in Santiago de los Caballeros.
Moca F.C. played host to Cavalier, the number one team in Group A. However, in a match played at Moca’s home field, the match was delayed for more than an hour and a half due to the torrential rains and an unplayable playing surface. Possibly due to the playing conditions, the match ended in a 0-0 tie. Now Moca F.C. must travel to Kingston, Jamaica, and play reigning Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalier SC in the National Stadium on Wednesday 30 October. The winner on aggregate will advance to the Caribbean Cup final and secure a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
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Listin Diario
28 October 2024