Six-minute hat trick sends Nicaragua into United States' Gold Cup group

Jon Arnold

•
Six-minute hat trick sends Nicaragua into United States' Gold Cup group image

Three goals from Juan Barrera over a seven-minute period saw Nicaragua overcome a 3-1 first-leg defeat to Haiti and qualify for the Gold Cup.

Mexico fortunate to escape Trinidad

The teams met in the two-legged series between the fifth-place team from the Caribbean Cup and the fifth-place team from the Copa Centroamericana. With the second leg scoreless entering the final 10 minutes, it seemed Haiti would go through.

But Barrera, the first Nicaragua international to play club soccer in Europe though he now plays in Guatemala, converted a penalty in the 82nd minute and followed it up with goals in the 86th and 88th minute. That gave Los Pinoleros a 4-3 aggregate victory and sent them into the Gold Cup for the first time since 2009 and for only the second time in the country's history.

The qualification prompted joyful fans to rush onto the field to celebrate with the team. "We're thankful for the people who truly believed in this comeback," Barrera told reporters after the game.

Nicaragua slots into Group B with the United States, Panama and Martinique. 

Jon Arnold

Jon Arnold Photo

Jon Arnold covered the Mexico national team and Concacaf region in English for Goal until March 2020. His byline also has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the New York Times Goal blog, FloFC and Pacific Standard. In addition to his written work, he serves as the Concacaf expert on the BBC's World Football Phone-In and has appeared on SiriusXMFC in English and Fox Deportes and Milenio in Spanish. Formerly based in Tijuana and currently living in Texas, Jon covered the 2018 World Cup, the 2015 Copa America, the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the last five Gold Cups.