MIAMI, Florida – Monday was a historic day for Martinique, who earned their first Concacaf Gold Cup group stage victory since the 2019 tournament with a 2-1 win over El Salvador.

One of the many heroes of Les Matinino’s triumph was DF Florent Poulolo, who made three steals, completed 15 of 16 passes and crucially, contributed the assist on Patrick Burner’s opening score by intercepting a pass from El Salvador’s Alex Roldan and finding a wide-open Burner on the left flank.

“I always try to play a bit forward, that’s important for us, to play forward so we can create danger,” said Poulolo in an exclusive post-match interview with Concacaf.com. “I know how we play; I know that we have to play forward. I played the ball to Patrick and thankfully he scored the goal.”

It was also the first Gold Cup win for Martinique against El Salvador in two attempts and their first victory against a Central American opponent since their 2-0 triumph over Nicaragua to open the 2017 tournament.

“This is a proud victory. We beat El Salvador. El Salvador is not a small team, they are one of the big teams in Concacaf, so I’m very proud of us. We are a team that needs to stay humble because the road is still very long. Today we won a game because we did things well, and I hope we can continue this going forward to try to get as many points as possible,” said Poulolo.

Monday’s affair at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was their first Gold Cup match in South Florida since their memorable 2002 campaign when they reached the knockout stage for the only time in their history. 

On that occasion, Martinique played both group stage matches at the Orange Bowl in Miami, earning three points and a place in the quarterfinals against Canada, against whom they fell in a penalty shootout, also at the Orange Bowl.

There is just something about South Florida surroundings that inspires Martinique to play some of their best football.

“This is the first step for us and we had to win this game here. We feel like we are a good team. There is a lot of cohesion in the group and it’s making a difference on the field,” said DF Jean-Claude Michalet to Concacaf.com.

“We won the first game here and the first game is very important. We still have two games, which will be very hard, but we control our future, so it is up to us to play hard and work hard to win and go to the next stage,” concluded Michalet.