Mexico beat Costa Rica on penalties in a tense semi-final on Thursday to reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup final where they will play the US, 2-0 victors over Honduras.
Costa Rica’s Froylan Ledezma went from hero to villain, equalizing in injury time at 1-1 but then missing the penalty in the shootout that cost his team a place in the final.
In the earlier semi, goals from Clarence Goodson and Kenny Cooper took the US into the final of the tournament, for North and Central America and the Caribbean teams, for the third consecutive edition.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Honduras had the better of the early exchanges, going close in the 20th minute with a well-struck effort from Marvin Chavez that was tipped over the bar by Troy Perkins.
Midfielder Stuart Holden was impressive again and in the 43rd minute produced a curling free-kick that Donis Escobar tipped over and then Brian Ching struck the bar with a deflected effort.
The pressure paid off on the stroke of half-time when defender Goodson rose well to head home Holden’s corner.
Honduras were unable to create many chances despite having plenty of midfield possession although Carlos Costly might have done better with a close range effort in the 83rd minute, which Perkins did well to block.
In the final minute, Ching back-heeled to Holden who played a low ball across the face of the goal that was turned in by substitute Cooper.
Costa Rica had plenty of chances to get the lead against Mexico, Armando Alonso hit the post in the 12th minute, but Mexico should have been ahead at the break when Giovani Dos Santos headed wide from in front of goal.
Mexico were awarded a penalty in the 58th minute when Costa Rica defender Freddy Fernandez was ruled to have handled the ball but Miguel Sabah’s soft penalty was easily saved by Keilor Navas.
The Mexicans looked to have grabbed a fortunate victory when they went ahead in the 88th minute, Guillermo Franco scrambling the ball home, but the celebrations from the large Mexican crowd at Soldier Field proved premature.
In the second minute of injury time Ledezma raced on to a flick on from Alvaro Saborio, ran past the hesitating Mexican defense and rocketed home a fine shot.
Again Costa Rica had the better opportunities in extra-time but with no breakthrough the game was decided by spot kicks — Ledezma being the only man failing to score.
The forward’s well struck penalty was superbly saved by Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa and Carlos Vela kept his cool to give the Mexicans a chance at revenge for their loss to the US in the final two years ago.
Tomorrow’s final will be held at Giants Stadium in New York.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS