Tuesday June 7 saw the first lot of group matches of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup completed with two matches at Detroit's Ford Field.
The day began with the clash between Panama and Guadeloupe which yielded a 3-2 result to the Panamanians who almost cocked up a 3-0 lead.
A spirited fightback from the 10-man Guadeloupe side almost saw them steal a point but they were unable to break down Julio Dely Valdes' La Marea Roja who hit the lad when striker Blas Perez side-footed home in the 28th minute after a well-worked set piece from a throw-in on the right flank.
Soon after it was 2-0 when Luis Tejada produced a neat individual effort to curl a left-footed shot into the bottom corner and when Gabriel Gomez slotted home from the penalty spot in the 57th minute, it seemed like there was no way back for Guadeloupe who earlier had Mickael Tacalfred sent off for a challenge on Luis Henriquez in the 37th minute.
But despite their shortcomings, Guadeloupe hit back through substitute Brice Jovial in the 64th minute who followed up his initial shot to slot home before the Le Havre striker grabbed a second just over ten minutes from time when he slid in at the back post, however, it was not enough to kickstart their Gold Cup campaign with any points.
In the second match of the day, tournament favourites USA scored a 2-0 win over neigbours Canada thanks to goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey.
Villarreal striker Altidore hammered his 15th minute shot home from the right side of the area before supplying Dempsey with the pass that allowed the Fulham star to volley in his 20th international goal.
The next Gold Cup fixtures will see Group A back in action on Thursday when Costa Rica meet El Salvador before Cuba take on Mexico at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup re-cap
Group A
Costa Rica: 5 (Marco Urena 7'/46', Alvaro Saborio 41', Heiner Mora 47', Joel Campbell 71') Cuba: 0 Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX - Sunday June 5
Mexico: 5 (Efrain Juarez 55', Aldo de Nigris 58', Javier Hernandez 59'/67'/90+5') El Salvador: 0 (red card: Marvin Gonzalez 90+4') Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX - 80,108
Group B
Jamaica: 4 (Luton Shelton 21', Ryan Johnson 39', Demar Phillips 79', Omar Daley 84') Grenada 0 The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA - Monday June 6
Honduras: 0 Guatemala: 0 (red card: Gustavo Cabrera 61') The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA - Monday June 6
Group C
Panama: 3 (Blas Perez 28', Luis Tejada 31', Gabriel Gomez (p) 56') Guadeloupe: 2 (Brice Jovial 64'/78' - red card: Mickael Tacalfred 37') Ford Field, Detroit, MI - Tuesday June 7
USA: 2 (Jozy Altidore 15', Clint Dempsey 62') Canada: 0 Ford Field, Detroit, MI - 28,209
