Mexico dealt Costa Rica a damaging home defeat while Honduras and the US won on Saturday to shake up the standings in 2010 World Cup qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Mexico more than met the challenge of taking on Costa Rica on the artificial pitch at notoriously hostile Saprissa Stadium, winning 3-0 with goals from Giovanni Dos Santos, Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado.
It was Mexico’s first away win in the six-nation final round of qualifying, while Costa Rica lost for the first time at home and fell from first place to fourth.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Dos Santos’ long-range, left-footed blast put Mexico ahead in the 45th minute. He also played a key role in Mexico’s other two goals, bringing the ball into the area and passing to Franco, who fired home in the 61st minute, and delivering the ball to Guardado for a shot from short range in the 70th.
The victory gave Mexico 12 points, the same as Costa Rica but ahead on goal difference. They trail Honduras and the US, both on 13 points.
In San Pedro Sula, Honduras pummelled Trinidad and Tobago 4-1, while the US rallied to beat El Salvador 2-1 in Salt Lake City.
Carlos Pavon in the 19th and 27th minutes, Amado Guevara in the 61st and David Sauzo in the 82nd scored for Honduras, while Kerry Baptiste scored in the 85th for Trinidad and Tobago.
Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore scored first-half goals to lift the US to victory after Christian Castillo had given El Salvador a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute.
But Dempsey equalized in the 41st when he headed in a free kick from Landon Donovan.
Donovan’s cross in first-half injury time also supplied Altidore, while Howard’s save of William Reyes’ point-blank shot in the 87th preserved the victory.
“The best part was the response when we went down,” US coach Bob Bradley said. “It’s never easy. You feel that pressure for a moment, but there was a real strong response from everybody on the field. That says a lot about what these guys are all about.”
Saturday’s defeats left Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador with their hopes of qualifying all but extinguished.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS