Cuba Vs. Belize: Ariel Martinez Sends Cuba To Gold Cup Quarters With Big Performance Against Belize

Cuba and Belize entered Tuesday night's CONCACAF Gold Cup match knowing exactly what they needed to do to advance.

With a signifiacnt goal differential facing each club, a tremendous offensive performance was needed to leapfrog the top 2 third place team's in the tournament. Thanks to a slow star for nearly 40 minutes in the first half, one team needed to step up heading into the second frame.

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Cuban midfielder Ariel Martinez answered the bell as he broke a scoreless tie in the 38th minute with a left footed blast from the box to put Cuba up 1-0 and an onslaught began.

Martinez would cap off the hat trick with goals in the 63rd and 84th minutes to put Cuba up 3-0 and when Yenier Marquez added another, the Cuban nationals were able to walk away with a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Ending the opening round with an impressive victory, Cuba leap-frogged Martinique for a berth in the quarterfinals despite posting a 1-2 opening round record. The victory was Cuba's first in 14 Gold Cup matches.

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