By Ivan Orozco
DALLAS - Javier Aguirre didn't waste much time walking down the aisle to the middle of the team's charter flight to Dallas after stowing a carry-on bag.
He wasn't giving away his seat on the front row of the plane that was to transport El Tri, Guadeloupe and referees to one of the sites of the Gold Cup quarterfinals from Phoenix.
Aguirre was making the walk to meet the man he'd been looking for since Mexico's match against Panama in Houston.
Mexico's coach approached referee Joel Aguilar in his seat and offered an apology.
"I want to apologize since I didn't get to the other day," Aguirre said to the Salvadoran while extending his hand for a handshake. "I am very sorry. Thank you."
They shook hands and Aguirre returned to his window seat before Mexican players boarded the plane.
It was perhaps a moment of closure for Aguirre in the aftermath of receiving a three-match suspension for an altercation with a Panamanian player that led to havoc on the field when Mexico and Panama played to a 1-1 draw July 9.
The handshake was the end of the issue for Aguirre. He'll serve his suspension and move on.
Mexico moved on. So did Guadeloupe. Both squads have been joined by Haiti and Costa Rica in Dallas for a Sunday doubleheader at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium on the second day of quarterfinal play.
Guadeloupe takes on Costa Rica in the early game. Mexico-Haiti caps the doubleheader.
Mexico qualified to the next round as the top seed in Group C with seven points and Guadeloupe behind them with six. That was expected since El Tri came into the tournament favored to win the group.
Costa Rica finished behind Group A winner Canada, while Haiti squeezed in as the third place team out of Group B.
But results in Group C didn't necessarily reflect a conventional outcome after the second leg of group play.
Guadeloupe led in the standings and were seemingly the best team with two-straight wins, 2-1 against Panama and 2-0 against Nicaragua.
Mexico appeared to struggle against Nicaragua despite a 2-0 win and things became more complicated against Panama.
Everything changed when a motivated Mexico, without its suspended coach, came out firing in a 2-0 win against Guadeloupe. That and Panama's 4-0 rout of Nicaragua altered the group.
Haiti, a team that didn't qualify to the Gold Cup but rather replaced Cuba who withdrew, is making its second trip to the quarterfinals.
Haiti reached that round in 2002 where it lost to Costa Rica.
Coach Jairo Rios' squad finished the group stage in this Gold Cup with four points. The Haitians beat Grenada 2-0, lost to Honduras and gave up a late goal to the United States to end in a 2-2 draw.
Had Haiti held against the Americans, the win could have been considered one of the top outcomes in the country's history despite facing a youthful U.S. team.
Haiti will get another chance at an upset against Mexico.
Canada topping Group A could be considered an upset.
After all, the Canadians won the group ahead of Costa Rica, a team that leads the region in the World Cup qualifying standings.
Costa Rica sees that as motivation.
The Ticos enter the quarterfinals off a 2-2 draw to the Canadians last Friday. That result combined with a 1-0 win against Jamaica gave Costa Rica four points and the second place finish in group play.
Costa Rica was shocked by El Salvador in its first group game, losing 2-1 in Los Angeles. The UNCAF Nations Cup runner-up is well rested and awaits its toughest challenge yet against Guadeloupe.
Points won't matter. Goals will decide the games. No more second chances. The group stage is done and gone.
