El Salvador’s Christian Martinez (left) and Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla in action. AFP
Doha: Qatar will meet Panama for a place in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, after the Central Americans topped the Group C points table following a 2-2 draw with El Salvador.
In a quarter-final doubleheader, Qatar will take on Panama before Mexico meet Costa Rica on Saturday at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Dallas.
This marks Qatar's second appearance as a guest side at the Gold Cup, and also the second time the Asian heavyweights have advanced to the knockout stage. The Asian champions reached the semi-finals on their Gold Cup debut in 2021, where they went down 0-1 to eventual champions USA.
Canada and Guatemala also moved into the quarter-finals with goal-filled wins in group D on Tuesday, causing agony for Guadeloupe who crashed out. Canada will face the United States in the quarters while Guatemala will play Jamaica - with both games to take place on Sunday in Cincinnati.
On Tuesday, there were a total of 25 goals in the last four games of the group stage and while Canada took care of business with a 4-2 win over Cuba in Houston, the drama was in New Jersey where Guatemala came from 2-1 down to beat Guadeloupe 3-2 with two goals in the last 20 minutes.
In Group C, Costa Rica beat Martinique 6-4, after leading 5-1.
Panama, already qualified after two wins, emerged on top of their group with seven points. El Salvador needed a win and for results to go their way and they started off well with Brayan Gil scoring in the fourth minute. But goals from Panama’s Fidel Escobar and Ismael Diaz -- along with Costa Rica’s triumph -- killed off any hope.
Mayer Gil’s stoppage time leveler was some reward for El Salvador who finished bottom with two points.
Meanwhile, Guadeloupe, who have played some of the most entertaining football of the tournament, were top of the group with 20 minutes to go and would have still qualified with a draw if Matthias Phaeton had not had his 88th minute penalty saved. Red Bull Arena was packed with loud and passionate Guatemala fans, but their hearts sank when Andreaw Gravillon headed Guadeloupe into a 27th minute lead.
Guatemala fought back though, drawing level 12 minutes later with a superb glancing header from striker Rubio Rubin.
Then came a bizarre incident where Jordan Leborgne scored for Guadeloupe, but the effort was ruled out for handball.
The VAR review of the incident, however, spotted handling by a defender in the same move and a penalty was awarded. After a fan delayed the spot kick by running on the field, Ange-Freddy Plumain kept his composure to convert and make it 2-1 for the Caribbean side. Rubio leveled in the 70th minute, tapping in a low cross from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing after a defense-splitting pass from Pedro Altan.
The winner came in the 75th minute when a poor clearance was pounced on by Carlos Mejia on the edge of the box and he twisted and turned to create space before unleashing a superb drive.
That goal saw Guadeloupe sink from first to third in the group, but then a handball by Marlon Sequen handed a lifeline. However, Phaeton’s penalty was saved by Nicholas Hagen, securing a place in the last eight for Guatemala.
