It could be the same story as it were against Grenada but despite Haiti’s low position in the FIFA rankings, the USA will not attempt to underestimate their regional counterparts.
The Americans are dominative in every part of the field. Demerit and AC Milan’s new signing, Oguchi Onyewu, both represent the Yankees’ force in defense.
Bob Bradley also disposes a good striking pair upfront (composed of Davies and of Ghanaian-born Freddy Adu) that can be replaced by the likes of Clint Dempsey and Josy Altidore. It’s hard to imagine how the USA’s front men will underperform especially if the midfield, supported by their playmaker Landon Donovan, manages to control the game.
Haiti may opt to play an entirely negative game against the USA. Packing men at the back to prevent the Americans from finding space to shoot could be the right solution for Haiti to get a respectable result. However, being forced to play a defensive game might also come at Haiti’s peril.
Despite the heroics of goalkeeper Zephrin, ‘Les Grenadiers’ succumbed to Costly’s 75th minute header in their opening game of the Gold Cup tournament.
Haiti’s game against Honduras certainly came as a great experience to the players who now want to erase the misery of getting no point from that encounter.
According to statistics, Haiti do not pose so much of a threat in attack. Les Grenadiers also struggle a lot to keep a clean sheet. Analytically, the USA should emerge winners whether convincingly or not.
