Mexico streaks past Haiti at State Farm Stadium

Follow our updates from State Farm Stadium in Glendale as Qatar faces Honduras and Haiti faces Mexico in a Concacaf Gold Cup doubleheader on Thursday.

Mexico has its sixth win at State Farm Stadium all time, after its 3-1 win over Haiti in which Henry Martín and Santiago Gimenez scored goals and Haiti provided an own goal. Danley Jean scored Haiti’s only goal.

The Jaime Lozano head coach era is off to a 2-0 start, and Mexico’s offense provided plenty of action with many scoring chances. That seems to be the hallmark of Lozano’s approach — a faster tempo with players moving up from their positions to be part of the attack.

Uriel Antuña provided two assists, and fans got to see Mexico’s first win in Glendale since July of 2021, which was a 3-0 victory over Honduras in the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Mexico has all but assured itself passage to the knockout round of this year’s Gold Cup, with two wins in two matches. Haiti is on three points with a win and loss, and Honduras and Qatar are still alive with a point each from a draw in Group B.

‘The most dangerous lead in football’

It’s been said that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead for a team to have in a soccer match, and sure enough, Haiti cut Mexico’s lead to 2-1.

Danley Jean, who plays professionally in France, got on the end of a corner kick not marked well by Mexico and sent the ball past Guillermo Ochoa in the 77th minute.

But Mexico was having none of the comeback. Uriel Antuña came up with his second assist of the night, serving a perfect cross off the counterattack to Santiago Gimenez for a goal and a 3-1 lead. Gimenez stretched out to get a foot on the ball.

The crowd in Glendale was announced at 34,517. That’s not close to what Mexico typically draws in the Phoenix area over the years, but Mexico did play before a bigger crowd in April against the U.S., and maybe a second appearance in the area in less than three months was a factor.

Mexico strikes fast for 2-0 lead

After several chances for a goal in the first half, Mexico needed just 45 seconds into the second half to take the lead over Haiti.

Uriel Antuña lifted a cross to teammate Henry Martín, who headed the ball into the goal. State Farm Stadium went wild, and Mexico, which has been more technically sound than Haiti but unable until the goal to overcome Haiti’s athleticism, has a lead it deserves.

That lead became 2-0 when Jesús Gallardo crossed toward the goal and defender Ricardo Adé of Haiti knocked in an own goal in the 56th minutes.

This is the quick-strike offense Mexico had in its first game under new head coach Jaime Lozano on Sunday. It just took a half, as opposed to right away to start the match against Honduras Sunday.

Mexico’s different kits

Mexico is wearing a different uniform tonight against Haiti with white jerseys and black shorts. It’s not the combination from the World Cup last winter, in which Mexico wore green tops with white shorts and cream-colored shirts with maroon-ish trim and green shorts.

It’s a nice crowd, but the lower deck isn’t full at State Farm Stadium and it makes one wonder if some local fans lost some faith in the team leading up to the Gold Cup.

Both of Haiti’s chances to score through 29 minutes were very good. A glaring turnover from Luis Romo gave Wilde-Donald Guerrier a wide open shot on net, but Mexico goalkeeper Memo Ochoa saved it.

Lineups are in for Haiti-Mexico

Haiti and Mexico will try to follow up a thrilling finish to the opener between Qatar and Honduras. For Mexico, the same lineup that crushed Honduras 4-0 last Sunday starts vs. Haiti, including one of the best Gold Cup performers of all time, veteran goalkeeper Memo Ochoa.

Luis Hernandez, the Spanish-language voice of the Arizona Cardinals, is this evening’s Spanish-language public address announcer at State Farm Stadium as kickoff nears.

Haiti is coming off a Gold Cup-opening win of its own. It will challenge Mexico with its ability to play fast.

Elis goal in stoppage time earns draw for Honduras

Alberth Elis got a leg on a header into the box and pushed the ball into the net in the final minute of stoppage time in the second half, and Honduras came away with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Qatar in the first Concacaf Gold Cup match of Thursday in Glendale.

Both teams earned their first point of Group B play.

Honduras had several chances in the second half to draw even with Qatar, and was the better quality side on the field throughout the game, but a seventh-minute goal looked like it would hold up until Elis overpowered his defender and put away a deflection as time was running out.

Honduras missed good chances early in the second half, and Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham stretched out to knock away a drive from José Pinto in the 87th minute. Honduras looked finished, but Elis came to the rescue.

Qatar takes lead into halftime

Qatar lost 2-1 to Haiti on a late goal in its Gold Cup group stage opener, but the maroon-clad side is up 1-0 on Honduras on a header from Tamim Mansour in the seventh minute at State Farm Stadium. Mansour got space in the box and scored off a cross from Moustafa Meshaal.

Honduras has had more scoring chances but has been unable to put them away. The crowd was sparse at kickoff, but fans, mainly those in the green of Mexico, are making their way out of the heat to their seats.

Honduras has some good support in the stands, as several blue-and-white flags are being waved from the stands.

Interestingly, midfielder Yousuf Abdurisag is in Qatar’s lineup. Abdurisag was accused of using a racial slur to Michael Boxall of New Zealand, who is of Samoan heritage, during a friendly between the two teams earlier this month.

Abdurisag denied the saying anything offensive afterward, though New Zealand’s players did not come out for the second half of the match when officials took no action against Qatar for the alleged incident. Abdurisag has been with Qatar at the Gold Cup in the U.S. ever since, as the country’s soccer federation backed him.

It’s Gold Cup time in Glendale

The Concacaf Gold Cup doubleheader at State Farm Stadium is under way, with lineups announced for Qatar and Honduras.

Honduras lines up as follows:

Qatar, also looking for it first result from Gold Cup Group B play, has played in Glendale before. In July 2021, the eventual World Cup hosts defeated El Salvador 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup as an invited guest team.

Qatar lost 1-0 to the U.S. in the semifinals.

Forward Alberth Elis, who played with the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer, is the player to watch for Honduras. He plays professionally in France and much of the Honduras attack runs through him.

Elis had a great scoring chance blocked near the goal in the third minute of the match against Qatar.

Here is Qatar’s lineup. Both teams lost their openers in the Gold Cup and need three points from a win today.

What to know if you are going to Gold Cup matches in Glendale

The parking lots for the event at State Farm Stadium will open at 1:30 p.m. and the doors at the venue will open at 3 p.m.

The match between Qatar and Honduras is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m., while the even between Haiti and Mexico is set to start at 7 p.m.

Parking information at State Farm Stadium

It is recommended that fans purchase parking in advance through SeatGeek.com. Fans without pre-paid parking should arrive to any State Farm Stadium carpark and pay with credit or debit card ready. Cash is not accepted.

Parking at the stadium is $25 per vehicle if purchased in advance or $30 per vehicle if purchased upon arrival into lots.

Fan conduct at matches

All patrons must comply with the fan code of conduct, including the prohibition of discriminatory chants. Failure to do so could result in ejections and pausing, suspending, or concluding the match, in which case refunds will not be issued.

One of the things to watch will be if the largely pro-Mexico crowd behaves and refrains from shouting a word that is offensive to the LGBTQ community. While done in “fun” to razz the opposing team’s goalkeeper, the use of the word has also led to penalties against the the Mexican soccer federation and public service announcements from players urging fans to stop usage of the term.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Concacaf Gold Cup from Glendale: Mexico streaks past Haiti at State Farm Stadium