The US advanced to the final of the CONCACAF regional soccer tournament by scoring two first-half goals on the way to a 2-1 victory over Canada in a match that ended amid controversy.
Frankie Hejduk in the 39th minute and Landon Donovan from the penalty spot in the 45th gave the defending champion US a 2-0 halftime lead and they held on book their sixth appearance in the Gold Cup final in nine editions of the tournament.
The title match is tomorrow at Chicago's Soldier Field.
The USA-Canada match ended acrimoniously after Canada's Atiba Hutchinson appeared to have knotted the score in injury time, only to have officials rule the play offside.
Vehement argument
Canadian players argued the call vehemently and had to be restrained from going after the linesman as he left the field at the end of the match.
"Their player headed the ball backwards, so we can't be offsides in that situation," Canadian coach Stephen Hart insisted.
"Referees are something I am not in control of, and they are like us, they have good days and bad days," he said.
Canada's Dwayne De Rosario said his teammates "feel cheated."
"When you play teams like US and Mexico, you are not going to get calls, you have to beat them straight up," he said.
The US had opened the scoring in the 39th minute when Hejduk capitalized on Donovan's center pass to the top of the penalty box.
Hejduk's first goal of the tournament and sixth career international goal was blasted low off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net.
The US team went on the attack again in the 45th, when DaMarcus Beasley broke free down the left side and was taken down by netminder Patrick Onstad, setting up a penalty kick.
Donovan took the penalty and drilled the ball to the center of the net as Onstad dived to his right. It was Donovan's third goal of this tournament and his 11th overall in Gold Cup competition.
Iain Hume pulled one back for Canada in the 76th minute, collecting a pass from Hutchinson above on the right and firing a hard left-footed drive.
The US will be bidding for a fourth title tomorrow, having won in 1991 and 2002 as well as most recently in 2005.
They lost to Mexico in the finals in 1993 and 1998.
The Gold Cup winners qualify for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was