FRISCO – North Texas SC midfielder Bicou Bissainthe will return home to Toyota Stadium along with Haiti to face Nicaragua in their second game of the group stage for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup on Thursday, June 20. Kickoff is scheduled at 6PM and the game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 in English and UniMas en Español.
Familiar Field
Bissainthe could get his first full international cap for his country in the stadium where he has already played in five games for North Texas SC this season. All five games that Bissainthe has played in Toyota Stadium resulted in wins for North Texas SC, who is leading USL League One with only one loss in 10 games.
The 20-year-old former Real Hope Academy player has played in a total of nine matches for North Texas since signing in January, making three starts. Bissainthe comes into this game as one of Haiti’s least experienced senior players, but also as one of the more prolific scorers from their youth teams.
Bissainthe led Haiti with three goals in four games at the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship where Haiti nearly got past the group stage, finishing second in Group E behind Costa Rica. He was the team’s first-choice penalty taker, scoring twice from the spot.
Team Overview
Le Rouge et Bleu defeated Bermuda 2-1 in their debut match in the Gold Cup with two goals from Frantzdy Pierrot on June 16. Haiti looks to win its first ever Gold Cup in the nation’s history after winning the now-defunct Concacaf Championship once in 1973.
Meanwhile, Los Pinoleros fell 4-0 to Group B favorites Costa Rica on June 16. Nicaragua has yet to win a game in its now three Gold Cup appearances and has only scored one goal in seven Gold Cup games all-time.
Past Matchups
These two sides met in a Gold Cup qualification two-legged play-off back in March 2017. Haiti won the first game, 3-1, but Nicaragua got the last laugh with a 3-0 win in the second leg to qualify for the 2017 edition.
More recently, Haiti defeated Nicaragua 2-0 in a Concacaf Nations League qualifying match on Nov. 17, 2018 in Nicaragua’s home stadium.
Haiti takes the all-time series between these two countries with a 4-1-2 record all-time against Nicaragua.
