June 17, 2023

Gasner Delvarin Jr, Writer

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - French Guiana beat Sint Maarten 4-1 at the DRV PNK Stadium in the Gold Cup Prelims behind a dominant performance from Arnold Abelinti.

With only 8 minutes in the opening period, Sint Maarten hit the post with T-Shawn Illidge, who aimed toward the goal.

French Guiana, however, would find an opportunity in the 28th minute to break the deadlock when the referee whistled for a penalty. To ensure the call was correct, he double-checked with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a handball in the penalty area by the defender.

The referee confirmed the penalty. And Abelinti stepped up to the penalty spot to take it and successfully converted it, sending the goalkeeper one way while he shot the opposite side to give French Guiana a 1-0 lead.

Arnold Abelinti after scoring his double against Sint Maarten

Gasner Delvarin Jr

Shortly after, in the 40th minute, Sint Maarten built an attack with Gerwin Lake, who passed the ball to Chovanie Amatkarijo and fired just from outside the top of the penalty box for a historic goal for Sint Maarten as it marked their first-ever Gold Cup goal.

However, the night was far from over for Sint Maarten as three minutes later, Abelinti delivered a lobbed cross well-executed that Loic Baal capitalized on it in the 43rd minute with a header, beating Sint Maarten's goalkeeper Gikay Croes and giving Les Yana Dokos a 2-1 lead at halftime.

After a slightly prolonged halftime break due to lightning weather delay, the French Guiana extended their lead to 3-1. In the 49th minute, Abelinti broke past the defender's tackle on the right wing and got into the box. He had Croes lounged the opposite side of the ball once again by hitting the ball into the far corner of the net for another goal celebration.

In the 73rd minute, Amatkarijo nearly found the net again when he made a run from the left into the box, but only to be denied by the post.

Nevertheless, Abelinti continued to dominate the defense in the 75th minute by entering the penalty box and spinning around from his left to set up Thomas Nemouthe for a sliding right-foot finish putting the game away at 4-1.

Arnold Abelinti was on every of French Guiana's goals. He scored twice and assisted on two, which left no doubt that he was the man of the match.

The French Guiana will face Saint Kitts and Nevis on Tuesday 20, at 9:00 p.m. at the DRV PNK Stadium to advance to Group A.

2023 Concacaf Gold Cup, Arnold Abelinti, Chovanie Amatkarijo, Gerwin Lake, Loic Baal, Gikay Croes, French Guiana, Sint Maarten, Thomas Nemouthe Gasner Delvarin Jr., Sports Action Rundown