Guyana, Grenada clash headlines second day of Gold Cup qualification

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CMC):

Another six Caribbean Football Union (CFU) teams will take to the field today in the United States, hoping to advance to the next stage of qualification for the Concacaf Gold Cup.

A contest between CFU ninth-ranked Guyana and 16th-ranked Grenada in the final match of the first round of the preliminary stage will be the feature attraction at the DRV PNK Stadium, but the other two matches also hold plenty intrigue.

CFU eighth-ranked Suriname face the always feisty 17th-ranked Puerto Rico in the second match of the day, and seventh-ranked French Guiana will be looking to prove their class against 27th-ranked St Maarten.

Grenada have won 10 of the previous 17 matches against Guyana, so history will favour them, but that is not likely to play out on the field.

The Grenadians have appeared in the group stage on three previous occasions, and they are now two wins away from doing so for a second consecutive tournament.

The Spice Boyz ended up in the preliminaries after a third-place finish in their Nations League A group, behind the United States and El Salvador.

The Guyanese reached the group stage for the first time four years ago, and they are making their second trip in a row to Florida for the prelims.

The Golden Jaguars advanced to the tournament by way of Nations League B, where they finished with a record of three wins, one draw, and two losses.

A victory will be the first at the Gold Cup for either side, and the winners will also move on to face the winners of the match between Antigua & Barbuda and Guadeloupe on Friday at the same venue for a spot in the group stage.

ROSE TO PROMINENCE

Suriname made their Gold Cup debut two years ago, and they made a good showing and rose to prominence in the Nations League era, dazzling fans during the inaugural competition and becoming one of the stronger sides in the region in the process.

Puerto Rico are making their debut at a major Concacaf tournament and have got through the path of Nations League C after dominating their group wire-to-wire and their place was never in doubt.

This will only be the second match between the two sides, with the first, a 2005 Gold Cup qualifier, ending in a 1-1 draw.

The Surinamese line-up includes star striker Gleofilo Vlijter, who has 10 Nations League goals in his career and scored twice during the 2021 Gold Cup, and defender Kelvin Leerdam had a long and successful career in the Eredivisie, and more recently in Major League Soccer.

For Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rivera led the way with six goals and two assists during the Nations League and was simply dominant throughout the competition.