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Curaçao out of CONCACAF Gold Cup for positive COVID tests
July 9, 2021 GMT
MIAMI (AP) Curaçao was dropped from the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Friday because of positive COVID tests and replaced by Guatemala.
Ranked 76th, Curaçao was to open Group A on Saturday against El Salvador in Frisco, Texas, then play Mexico on Wednesday in Dallas and Trinidad and Tobago on July 18 at Frisco.
“Ahead of the start of the Gold Cup group stage, all competing national teams went through several rounds of testing and, unfortunately, the Curaçao delegation returned a significant number of positive results across their staff and players in the last round of testing,” CONCACAF said in a statement. “Although several Curaçao players returned a negative test result, local state guidelines require several of them to isolate due to being close contacts of those who tested positive. In light of these circumstances, CONCACAF and the Curaçao Football Federation have mutually agreed that Curaçao wil
Canada opens play Sunday at the CONCACAF championship against Martinique, so it still has time to name a replacement for the 16-team tournament.
Davies was preparing for his third Gold Cup, having helped Canada reach the quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Davies won the Golden Boot Award as top scorer, was named Best Young Player and chosen to the tournament s best XI.
Canada, ranked 70th in the world, will face No. 83 Haiti on July 15 and the 20th-ranked U.S. on July 18 in the group phase of the tournament. Martinique is unranked because it is not a member of FIFA.
Davies has nine goals and 12 assists in 23 appearances for Canada, playing both as a fullback and winger. He has four goals and a team-high five assists in six international matches this year, helping Canada reach the final round of World Cup qualifying in the region that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.