Martinique capitalizes early, shocks El Salvador 2-1 in Gold Cup Group C opener

Martinique played a man down for nearly the entire second half, but still managed to defeat El Salvador 2-1 at DRV PNK Stadium on Monday during the Gold Cup Group C opening match.

It was the first time in 20 years that the two teams played each other in a Gold Cup.

Early on before the game, supporters of all four participating teams flocked into DRV PNK Stadium, although it was obvious that El Salvador had earned the crowd’s support because the stands were drenched in the color blue.

Carlos Guzman, an El Salvadorian living in Homestead moved to the United States at the age of 15. He and his family had always been ardent supporters of his home team.

“The minute my family found out that El Salvador was playing in South Florida, they bought the tickets right away,” Guzman said.

Other fans traveled hundreds of miles away to support their team, like Edgar Ochoa who is an El Salvador native from Washington, DC.

“It feels great to be around everybody that’s from the same country and everyone that still has hope in El Salvador, because they haven’t had the greatest history in soccer,” Ochoa said. “But I love them and I’m loyal to them.”

Martinique had a strong first quarter and swiftly stunned everyone by leading by two goals in the game’s 16th minute.

By the end of the first half, Martinique scored on two out of three of their shots with 15 steals and two corner kicks.

“It was complicated because we never expect to play a game at 10 for 45 minutes in the second half, so we tinkered a little bit,” Martinique head coach Marc Collat said after the game. “I still regret the referee’s decision because there are more games to play.”

Despite controlling the ball for 64 percent of the first half, El Salvador attempted eight shots but scored none while trailing by two goals.

Fans of El Salvador booed their team as they left the field before the half.

Three substitutes were made to begin the second quarter by El Salvador head coach Hugo Perez, an El Salvador native and former USA player who competed in the 1990 World Cup. They returned to the field in an effort to turn the game around.

El Salvador started off the second half with an opportunity.

In the 48th minute, Martinique player Jonathan Riviérez was ejected from the match for violent behavior, giving El Salvador a significant break. Now that Martinique was down a player, they would need to work to maintain their lead.

El Salvador had a great chance of putting a goal on the board at the 65th minute mark when Erick Cabalceta tried a through ball but Brayan Gil was caught offside.

El Salvador failed to capitalize on an opportunity to close the gap when they were awarded a penalty kick late in the second half but made up for it when Bryan Tamacas converted a penalty in the fifth minute of extra time with a right footed shot to the center of the goal, capping off the score 2-1.

Perez reflected on his players possibly taking the opposing team too lightly after the game.

“They knew that we shouldn’t take them lightly,” Perez said. “So at the end, I’m not here to blame any of our players, but we beat ourselves. And that can cost any team when they get an opportunity and that’s what happened tonight.”

Up next, EL Salvador plays Costa Rica and Martinique plays Panama on Friday night at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 9:44 PM.