MIAMI, Florida – Robinhood of Suriname have advanced to the Final of the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup and qualified for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup after defeating Dominican Republic side Moca 3-2 in a penalty shootout following a 1-0 victory in the second leg of their semifinal on Thursday night at Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Franklin Singodikromo scored in the final moments to even the series 1-1 on aggregate, and then GK Jonathan Fonkel made two saves in the spot kicks to help secure the penalty shootout win and the club’s first Champions Cup berth since 1994.
Moca will look to still qualify for the 2024 Champions Cup in the Caribbean Cup Third-Place Match versus Harbour View of Jamaica.
Robinhood started off by pinning the visitors back early and often, with Dimitrio Andro missing on a pair of shots in the 15’ and 23’, Quiliano Stedenburg hooking a shot wide in the 21’ and Tuur Don heading right at Moca GK Odalis Baez in the 32’.
Robinhood continue to apply pressure and a deep cross from Jamilhio Rigters in the 52’ from the left wing nearly resulted in an own goal.
But as time went by, the Moca back line just seemed to get stronger and kept the Robinhood attack under wraps.
Just when it looked like Moca were going to finish the job, Robinhood brought the home fans to their feet with a dramatic goal in the third minute of second half stoppage time, as Singodikromo wiggled away from a trio of defenders and fired in past Baez to even the series at 1-1 and force a penalty shootout.
From the spot, Robinhood proved the better of the two sides, with Fonkel making two stops to help the home side emerge victorious.
