Gold Cup - Mexico upsets Costa Rica and will face US in the final
By Audrey Nolan
Thursday’s Golden Cup semifinals proved very interesting; Mexico beat up Costa Rica in penalty shots after the game in regulation ended 1-1, with neither team able to score in overtime.
The semifinal was a breathtaking match and gave evidence of each team’s skills. Although Mexico put up a great fight, Costa Rica had far more openings, more opportunities to take the lead overall in the game. In fact, Costa Rica clearly led in the first half of the game, starting the attack from the first minute of the match. Costa Rica’s first clear scoring opportunity came at minute 12, when Armando Alonso made a move toward the goal; nevertheless, the ball bounced off the right post.
In the second half, both Mexico and Costa Rica enjoyed scoring opportunities. Mexico in particular seemed to take the advantage in the latter half, but the team also revealed its weaknesses. Mexico was given a penalty shot when Freddy Fernandez touched the ball with his hand, but the team failed to score – Mexican Miguel Sabah kicked a soft shot saved by Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Afterwards, the Mexican team seemed to gain motivation. Luck finally fell on Mexico’s side in minute 88, when Guillermo Franco scored for his team. But the celebration didn’t last long; at minute 92, Froylan Ledezma took a pass from Alvaro Saborio to make a powerful shot for Costa Rica, evening the score and leaving no other option than to go into overtime.
In overtime, Costa Rica once again had more opportunities to score, but the team failed to convert. Nor did Mexico manage to score any additional points.
The resolution came in penalty shots. Here Ledezma, who gave hope to the Costa Rican Squad and its fans of winning the game, failed to convert one penalty shot, which was saved by Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Mexico, on the other hand, scored in its five attempts, giving the final victory to El Tri.
Now, the Mexican squad must focus on its final game, held on Sunday against the United States, which defeated Honduras on Thursday with a final score of 2-0. This game promises the same tension that marks every game between the Mexican and the U.S. squads.
In addition, the two longtime rivals are going to meet again on August 12th for the World Cup qualifier, held in Azteca, where the U.S. team has never before won. However, the Mexican squad refuses to rely too much on hope, and is taking one game at a time.
"We're not focusing on that right now, we're focusing on our next match," Guillermo Ochoa about the World Cup qualifier. "What's important is the match coming now, and we need to play well against them before we can start looking forward to Aug 12th."
About the Author
Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer for the CONCACAF Gold Cup as well as the top ranking sports betting: www.instantactionsports.com/uk/
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