Haiti seemed to have it all in the bag with 10 minutes to go in their CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifier against Nicaragua in Managua on Tuesday.
With only 10 minutes to go the Central American hosts were down 3-1 on aggregate to the Caribbean team and a spot in the Gold Cup was within sight for the Haitians, but Juan Barrera had other ideas.
Barrera sent Nicaragua into the Gold Cup with a hat trick that effectively booted the first Caribbean country to qualify for the World Cup out.
The home team needed two goals to advance, but things began to look up for the Nicaraguans when they were awarded an 82nd minute penalty. Barrera stepped up to score and hand his team a ray of hope.
The goal seemed to knock the wind out of the Haitians who handed the Nicaraguans a second goal in the 88th minute after goalkeeper Steward Ceus lventured off his line to gather a high ball played into the area, but missed and allowed Barrera to score an opportunistic header.,
One minute later Barrera killed any hopes the Haitians had of clawing their way back when he beat the offside trap and made a beeline to goal before firing high and wide of the hapless Ceus.
Barrera will miss the next match however, as he received a second yellow card for removing his shirt during the celebrations and was ejected from the game.
Nicaragua will tackle the United States, Panama and Martinique in Group B when the regional tournament begins in the United States in July.
