Concacaf News — A dramatic two-goal comeback in the final minutes earned host nation Dominican Republic a 2-2 draw with Saint Lucia and a spot in next year’s 2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship, as CMU20Q wrapped up on Saturday 13th November 2021.
With Dominican Republic on 9 points and Saint Lucia on 7 points to start the day, Group B looked set to go the way of Saint Lucia, who held a 2-0 lead heading into the final minutes thanks to a brace from Keegan Caull with goals in the 28th and 45th minute.
But the Dominican Republic never threw in the towel, beginning with a Jason Joseph goal in the 88th minute to make it 2-1. The electricity could be felt throughout the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo and the home side fed off that energy by scoring the decisive goal through Edison Azcona in the 90+4’minutes to earn the 2-2 draw that sends them to the 2022 CMU20.
Play in Group B on the day started with Belize topping Anguilla 4-0. Kevin Higinio started things off in the 19th minute before Daijon Daniels notched a brace with goals in the 38th and 61st minute. An own goal in the 90+1minute then rounded out the score line for the Central Americans.
Curacao are the winners of Group A after downing Grenada 4-2. With both teams level on nine points heading into the encounter, things were wide open, but Curacao would take over just before halftime with goals from Rayhim Inesia in the 42nd minute and Naygiro Sambo in the 45th minute Keanu Does made it 3-0 with a goal in the 46th minute but Grenada would pull one back through Deanroy Phillip in the 59th minute.
Curacao regained their three-goal advantage with a second score from Sambo in the 77th minute but Grenada kept things interesting with a Keishon Clarke goal in the 82nd minute. In the end though, Curacao would hang on for the victory to book their place in the 2022 CMU20.
The day started with the British Virgin Islands closing CMU20Q in very strong fashion with a 1-0 win over Dominica, to take third place in Group A. Two days after picking up their first three points of the tournament in a 1-0 win versus Sint Maarten, a Jake Forbes goal in the 39th minute earned British Virgin Islands a second straight victory.
The winner of each group of the Qualifiers will participate in the championship in the round of 16; Curacao, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua earn their spots to the next edition of the Under-20 Championship.