Luis Fernando Tena's Guatemala is dying in the qualifiers after drawing 1-1 in Suriname
Guatemala tied 1-1 away from home with Suriname, affecting Luis Fernando Tena's project in Concacaf World Cup qualifying
Mexican coach Luis Fernando Tena failed again in his attempt to revive Guatemala in the final phase of Concacaf World Cup qualifying after drawing away with Suriname 1-1, causing them to remain stuck at the bottom of Group A in this final phase.
Guatemala came into this match with the squad of the nation that shares a geographical region with the Caribbean and South America almost in intensive care, after losing to El Salvador 0-1 and drawing 1-1 with Panama, which is why they urgently needed a victory against the Surinamese team, but they could not add more than a point, worsening their qualifying situation for the 2026 World Cup.
The Surinamese team benefited from Jean-Paul Boetius' goal in stoppage time in the second half, when the Guatemalans were already licking their lips for this result that seemed ideal for their interests and in the end everything remained a simple draw.
It is true that the Guatemalans entered a difficult field with Luis Fernando Tena trying to strengthen the Central Americans' football scheme, but at the right time they failed again at the right time and offer the same uncertainty of their games against the Salvadorans and Panamanians.
For this reason, Guatemala's existence was complicated in the match from the first minutes and they had to toughen the siege of the Surinamese to the point that they could not leave their own field to the point that in the first half it complicated the task of being able to have opportunities in front of the local goal.
Guatemala was close
In the second half Guatemala changed its scheme, trying to jump lines and take advantage of the fact that the Surinamese players went all out to attack, thus generating advances that would turn their opponents' backs, to the point that in the 75th minute Darwin Lom put the Guatemalans ahead 1-0
But Suriname took a chance in the last minutes increasing the pressure against the Guatemalan goal and as they say, the pitcher goes more to the water until it breaks and at the end of the day in stoppage time,Virgil Misidjan unleashed a long-range shot, leaving the Guatemala goalkeeper with no chance and causing the fans to erupt in a sad 1-1 draw.
Now Guatemala depends on beating El Salvador next Tuesday and Panama on the FIFA date in November to determine whether they can qualify for the World Cup, but this depends on Suriname's results.