Suriname says goodbye to Gold Cup with first win ever

Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 06:34• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 06:43

Suriname has said goodbye to the Gold Cup, the tournament for countries from North and Central America and the Caribbean, with a victory. The team of national coach Dean Gorré was 2-1 too strong for Guadeloupe on Tuesday evening local time. Both countries lost their first two games in Group C and therefore had no prospect of the quarter-finals before the meeting at the BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

Gorré opted for a 4-2-3-1 system on American soil with Warner Hahn on target, a defense with Sean Klaiber, Dion Malone, Kelvin Leerdam and Ridgeciano Haps, and before that Sergino Eduard and Ryan Koolwijk. Ivenzo Comvalius, Diego Biseswar and Dimitrie Apai were responsible for the supply to Gleofilo Vlijter, who netted ten goals in six matches in the CONCACAF Nations League and ultimately finished the Gold Cup with two goals in three group matches.

After fourteen minutes of play, Suriname took the lead in Houston. Vlijter ran after a pass from Comvalius on the left side of the penalty area and shot the ball from a difficult angle diagonally behind the surprised goalkeeper Kevin Ajax: 1-0. Guadeloupe, which had previously lost 1-2 to Jamaica and 1-3 to Costa Rica, reacted well and a firm shot from Kelly Irep ended up on the crossbar over Hahn just a minute after the opening goal. It turned out to be a harbinger of the equalizer, as Matthias Phaeton shot the ball behind Hahn not much later at the penalty spot: 1-1.

For Irep, the game was over after 28 minutes. He was shown red for a big charge on Comvalius’ ankle and left Guadeloupe with ten men. Suriname, which lost 2-0 to Costa Rica and 1-2 to Jamaica, tried to force a second goal before halftime via Apai, Koolwijk and Haps, but Ajax stood in the way. After less than an hour of play, in the search for a winning goal, Gorré chose to bring Roland Alberg, Damil Dankerlui and Sheraldo Becker within the lines.

Thanks in part to a few saves by Ajax, which was declared Man of the Match, Guadeloupe was well on its way to force a draw with ten men, but after 79 minutes Suriname scored again. Nigel Hasselbaink, who had come in ten minutes earlier, shot in on the pass from Comvalius again. Alvaro Verwey participated as a substitute in the last minutes. Things got a bit grim in the final phase after a foul on Biseswar. The already substituted Koolwijk received a yellow card and that also applied to Quentin Annette, who was also substituted, who already had a yellow card and therefore saw a red card in minute 96.