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This match will decide the 12th and final qualifier for the 2017 Gold Cup. Haiti carries a 3-1 lead into this decisive second leg, but may yet have cause to regret allowing Nicaragua to score a late goal in the first leg. The away goal may yet prove significant: it means Nicaragua is chasing an achievable 2-0 win at home as its minimum required result to make the Gold Cup.
Still, Haiti should be confident. Les Grenadiers have brought together a strong squad for this series. So strong there was no place in the first-leg starting lineup for New York Red Bulls' Derrick Etienne, or former RBNY man Andrew Jean-Baptiste. Both players were stalwarts of the Caribbean Cup qualifying tournament that landed Haiti in this playoff for a Gold Cup berth, but head coach Jean-Claude Josaphat's selection confirmed that neither is regarded as a first-choice starter when his full-strength team in assembled. Not yet, anyway - both players can hope for a long association with the Haiti national team.
Etienne and Jean-Baptiste might watch this second leg from the bench also, but both can be hopeful of a call-up to Les Grenadiers' squad for the Gold Cup if this game goes Haiti's way.
The star of the first leg was Les Grenadiers' Jeff Louis, who scored two goals for Haiti. The 24-year-old has been playing in France since 2010, and is currently attached to Ligue 1's Caen.
Haiti will have as tough a task containing Nicaragua in Managua as the Nicaraguans did keeping up with Les Grenadiers in Port-au-Prince. For both teams, qualifying for the Gold Cup is the biggest prize available this year and neither side should lack for motivation in a game that will determine which of them has the more meaningful soccer still to play in 2017.