KINGSTON, Jamaica – Arcahaie FC of Haiti advanced to the final round of the 2020 Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship thanks to a 1-0 win over Jamaica’s Portmore United on Sunday night in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Haitian side will now battle with Cibao FC and Atletico Pantoja of the Dominican Republic and Jamaican club Waterhouse FC to determine the winner of the 2020 FCCCC and a place in the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
Following Sunday’s contest, Arcahaie Head Coach Michel Gabriel could not help but beam with pride at his team’s achievement.
“I am very proud. The players worked hard, we worked on this for two-and-a-half months to come here, so the expectation was to qualify. It doesn’t matter if it was first or second, so we are proud,” said Gabriel in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
Heading into Sunday’s match, Gabriel knew that it was going to be a difficult 90 minutes, especially considering that Portmore United were playing in front of their home fans.
“It was a very hard game. We knew it was going to be difficult. They were home in front of their fans, they are a very good team and we know they are very good technically, so that’s why we tried to control the game. At the beginning of the second half it was not easy for us, I think maybe the players got tired, but what we wanted to do was score a goal and that’s what we did.”
Arcahaie now have ample time to prepare for the final round, which will be played in May, and it’s a safe bet that Gabriel’s team will be ready to battle when they step on the field.
“We know it is going to be harder once you are in the final round, we are going to work hard to achieve the final goal. We may add one or two players because our league starts on March 1, so we will go to the final round to make a statement,” concluded Gabriel.