Project Start XI
It will always be an uphill climb for Nicaragua only in their third Gold Cup appearance. A neutral match at the site against an experienced Ticos squad would be quite difficult for Los Pinoleros, but one match at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose proved too much.
Bryan Oviedo opened the scoring in the seventh minute, followed by Celso Borges's goal to double Costa Rica's lead in the opening 20 minutes. Elias Aguilar made it 3-0 in extra time, only for Allan Cruz FC Cincinnati to score in the 75th minute.
Haiti
It was more difficult than expected, but Haiti recovered from a first-half deficit to beat Bermuda debutants, 2-1, thanks to two second-half buffer goals by former Coloradoant pick Frantzdy Pierrot.
Haiti trailed 1-0 when driver Dante Leverock of Bermuda struck in the first round. But Pierrot equalized in the 54th minute and then stuck to the winner finally 12 minutes later was made by Etienne, who gave a spark from the bench.
PREDICTION
Haiti won with a hard struggle against Bermuda and knew that victory here would almost certainly lead them to the knockout stages. The way they improved in the second half against Bermuda bodes well, especially in attacking areas. Nicaragua was given a difficult opening schedule against Costa Rica and was outnumbered and it is not known how many disruptions with repatriated players will affect performance even though that may not be positive. Withstanding that, they still tend to be more competitive here but will only come short because Haiti made two wins from two matches.
Nicaragua vs Haiti Head to head (h2h)
Teams have met each other on three occasions.
Haiti became the top in their last meeting, which ended 2-0.
Nicaragua only managed one victory over Haiti.
Both teams have recorded each clean sheet with each other.
Nicaragua vs Haiti Prediction
Marc Collat's squad is the favorite to come out top when they face Nicaragua in the second round of the group match at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
With zero wins in their last three matches, Juan Barrera and his team-mates, of course, through difficult times. Apart from not getting a victory, they also conceded 10 goals in that match alone. Their recent loss against Costa Rica shows clearly, namely that they still have a lot of work to do before they can take it to the big stage.
Their opponents, on the other hand, have enjoyed a much better performance. They are currently in two consecutive wins and can extend it to three when they are against Henry Duarte.
The match, on Friday, however, may not be as sloping as the previous two for the last. It is possible that they will be out of target with goals but no more.
Full-time results from the Gold Cup group stage meeting will certainly benefit Haiti.
