As the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup enters the final round of group games, there is all to play for in Group A. While Canada and Costa Rica sit at the top of the group on 4 points, all is not lost for Honduras and French Guiana who have a point each.
Having played Florent Malouda in their previous match, French Guiana could find themselves in trouble but Honduras know a win over Canada will almost certainly be enough to see them qualify for the quarter-final.
If Honduras fail to defeat Canada in their final game, their participation in the tournament will be all but over.
Canada have won one and drawn one of their two matches to date and started with a good 4-2 win over French Guiana. However, having taken a comfortable 3-0 lead, Canada began to relax and allowed French Guiana back into the game to make the final 20 minutes a tense affair. Alphonso Davies struck for Canada with 5 minutes left to seal the win.
Canada’s second match against Costa Rica was always going to be tough but having taken the lead through Davies, Canada once again allowed their opposition back into the match. Costa Rica equalised on 42 minutes and the match finished 1-1.
Trends show Canada are a team who struggle to keep clean sheets and this has become apparent in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. They have kept one clean sheet in their last fifteen matches, which came in a friendly against Mauritania.
Honduras started the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica. This was always going to be a tough game but once Costa Rica took the lead just before half-time, it was always going to be difficult for Honduras to get back in the game.
Their second match was the one in which Honduras were hoping to win 3 points but they could not break down a stubborn French Guiana defence. This match was notable for the fact French Guiana played Florent Malouda, a man who has already represented France at international level. It remains to be seen what CONCACAF and FIFA will do about this but as things stand, it was a poor result for Honduras and one which leaves their tournament participation in the balance.
Trends show scoring goals has become a problem for Honduras lately and they have failed to score in three of their last four matches.
Canada are sweating on the fitness of Alphonso Davies as the young forward was taken off with an ankle injury against Costa Rica. Goalkeeper Milan Borjan has become a key player for Canada and he delivered a man of the match performance against Costa Rica.
Honduras need to start scoring goals and fast. The MLS based trio of Romell Quioto, Alberth Elis and Boniek Garcia will carry much of their attacking threat in this game and will need to find a way to score Los Catrachos’ first goal of the tournament.
Honduras must play this match to win and that will leave space for Canada to exploit on the counter-attack. A point will be enough for Canada to progress but will probably leave Honduras out of the tournament. Canada to win and both teams to score seems like a good bet for this game.