Truemors
Haiti defender Raymond Ednerson (R) fights for the ball with Canada striker Andrazes Ornoch. (Getty)
Los Angeles.– Maynor Ignacio Lopez scored in the 67th minute to give Guatemala a 2-1 victory over Mexico on Friday night in Group B play at the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying tournament.
The game was the second of a doubleheader. In the first game, Haiti beat Canada 2-1.
Guatemala earned its first victory over Mexico in 40 years of Olympic qualifying and earned a berth in the March 20 semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.
With one game left, Guatemala has six points, Haiti has three points and Mexico and Canada each have one. The group's top two finishers qualify for the semifinals.
Lopez, who entered the game in the 54th minute, broke a 1-1 tie with a glancing 2-yard header off Marco Papa's corner kick from the right flank.
Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute on Edgar Castillo's 13-yard shot. Guatemala tied the score in the 40th minute when Jean Marquez's midfield pass freed Carlos Villa for a breakaway, and Villa converted from 19 yards.
[q
url="http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-soccer15mar15,1,7118473.story"]Mexico
Coach Hugo Sanchez may soon hear the words Donald Trump famously utters
on his reality TV show: You're fired.
Even though the president of Mexico's soccer federation,
Justino Compean, said on Thursday that Sanchez's job was safe, it's
hard to imagine Sanchez keeping his job if Mexico fails to qualify for
the Beijing Olympics.
Once the favorite in the regional qualifiers, Mexico is faced with
the possibility of not even going to Nashville for the next round after
losing to Guatemala, 2-1, on Friday night at the Home Depot Center.
Mexico scored first, but poor defensive marking down the stretch
allowed Guatemala to end Mexico's 21-game unbeaten streak in Olympic
qualifiers.[/q][q
url="http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-soccer15mar15,1,7118473.story"]Mexico
Coach Hugo Sanchez may soon hear the words Donald Trump famously utters
on his reality TV show: You're fired.
Even though the president of Mexico's soccer federation,
Justino Compean, said on Thursday that Sanchez's job was safe, it's
hard to imagine Sanchez keeping his job if Mexico fails to qualify for
the Beijing Olympics.
Mexico is in a win-or-go-home situation heading into Sunday's game
against Haiti. Mexico is tied for third in the Group B standings with
Canada. Guatemala, which clinched a spot in the semifinals with the
results, is in first place with six points followed by Haiti in second
with four.
Haiti beat Canada, 2-1, in the earlier game with two
spectacular goals in the second half. Leonel Saint-Preux, who plays for
Zenith AC of the Haitian league, scored the winner in the 84th minute
and had the assist on the first goal.[/q]
[q
url="http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/03/14/canada_haiti_olympic_qualifying/"]CARSON,
Calif. -- Canada's hopes to qualify in men's soccer for the 2008
Olympics received an unexpected blow when Haiti rallied late for a 2-1
victory Friday night in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament at the Home
Depot Center.
With one game left in Group B play, Canada fell
to last place in the four-team group with one point. Haiti earned three
points with the victory.
"It definitely puts a dent in the
plans just because if we win, we're through," Canada coach Nick Dasovic
said. "We still need to win but now we have to rely on other teams to
do us a favour.
"It's not quite that simple but Canadian
football, for us, has never been simple. We always find the hard way to
do things -- and here we are again in a hard situation."
Canada ends group play Sunday against Guatemala, which played Mexico in the second game of Friday night's double-header.
[/q]
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