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Guadeloupe draws at Canada and Guatemala wins in Gold Cup / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Guadeloupe draws at Canada and Guatemala wins in Gold Cup
Canada surrendered an own-goal equalizer in the 94th minute on Tuesday to lift Guadeloupe into a 2-2 draw in a Group D opening match at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In the night's other match in the biennial North American regional showdown, Guatemala blanked Cuba 1-0 at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to seize the group lead.
At Toronto, the hosts looked to have grabbed a victory when Guadeloupe's Thierry Ambrose, who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, smashed a low cross that deflected into the goal off Canadian Jacen Russell-Rowe for the stoppage-time equalizer.
Canadian forward Lucas Cavallini, a striker for Tijuana of the Mexican League, brought the hosts level four minutes into the second half.
Canada grabbed the lead in the 70th minute off an own goal by Guadeloupe defender Meddy Lina and kept the edge until the dying seconds.
At Fort Lauderdale, the game was scoreless at half-time after Cuban goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena deflected a penalty shot by Guatemala's Darwin Lom with his left hand off the left post in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
But Lom scored the match's only goal from inside the penalty area in the 48th minute, firing just inside the bottom corner of the far left post with a one-touch right foot blast that went between a defender's legs.
Group D play continues Saturday at Houston when Canada plays Guatemala and Cuba meets Guadeloupe.
Wednesday's matches begin the second group stage round with Group A leader Trinidad and Tobago facing Jamaica and the host United States playing St. Kitts and Nevis at St. Louis.
K. Petersen--BTZ
