St. Vincent and the Grenadines lost their second consecutive match in the fourth-round of CONCACAF Group “C” qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia yesterday, when they were beaten 4-nil by Guatemala at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex here.
It was the first win for Guatemala after they were beaten 2-1 by Trinidad and Tobago in their first match at home last Friday. St. Vincent and the Grenadines lost last Friday’s away match 1-6 to the USA.
Carlos Ruiz, the leading scorer in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying history with 31 goals, nearly put Guatemala ahead twice within the opening 20 minutes, before Stefano CIN-COTTA made it 1-nil with a 24th-minute free kick.
In the 32nd-minute, Minor Lopez scored Guatemala’s second goal. It came after Vincentian goalkeeper, Winslow Mc Dowall had saved a shot from Ruiz.
Three minutes after half-time, Guatemala’s defender, Dennis Lopez headed in a Brandon De Leon cross from a right side corner kick to give his team a 3-nil lead. With nine minutes left in regulation time, Gerson Tinoco sealed the victory by scoring his first International goal. The result was disappointing for a fair crowd of mainly Vincentians who turned out to support their team on a day that the Government had given a public holiday to encourage local support.
Guatemala’s next match will be at home against the United States on 25th March next year, the same day that St. Vincent and the Grenadines will host Trinidad and Tobago at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
