Defending champions Mexico on Thursday claimed the final semi-final berth in the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 1-0 win over offensively-challenged Honduras at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Rodolfo Pizarro scored the only goal of the contest in the fourth minute, finishing off a nice passing series in front of the Honduras goal as Mexico took another step toward trying to win a record-extending eighth Gold Cup.
Orbelin Pineda started the play on the left side with a short back pass to Jesus Duenas, who redirected across the front of the goal to the back post, giving Pizarro an easy tap in.
Photo: AFP
Mexico advanced to tomorrow’s semi-final, setting up a rematch of the 2015 final against Jamaica, who punched their ticket earlier in the day with a 2-1 win over Canada.
Mexico and Jamaica faced each other in the group stage, where they played to a 0-0 draw. The semi-final is to take place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
The US and Costa Rica are to square off in the other semi-final today at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
Honduras were eliminated from the Gold Cup after failing to score a goal in four games. Their only win came when French Guiana had to forfeit their game in the group stage after they fielded an illegal player.
Mexico reached the semi-finals despite fielding a B-team roster that includes just one player from their fourth-place FIFA Confederations Cup squad. The seven-time tournament champions are now unbeaten in 10 consecutive Gold Cup contests.
Mexico had several opportunities to add to their goal total, but either failed to get a shot on goal or the Honduras defense broke up the scoring chance.
Honduras had one last chance to equalize in the 93rd minute on a free-kick, but the ball sailed wide and deep, leaving them without a clear shot on net.
Honduras coach Jorge Luis Pinto said he was proud of the way his team competed.
“I am not happy, but somehow satisfied,” Pinto said. “We won in behavior in the Gold Cup, even if we didn’t score or win.”
Earlier on Thursday, goals from Shaun Francis and Romario Williams secured victory for the Reggae Boyz.
“It wasn’t easy,” Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake said. “Canada is a very good team. When we got the second goal, I think we lapsed a little bit. They scored a beautiful goal. We figured it out and we won the match.”
Jamaica got off to a dream start at the University of Phoenix Stadium when Francis scored after only six minutes.
Forward Darren Mattocks pounced on a stumble from Canada defender Steven Vitoria and darted into the area before squaring for Francis, who thumped his finish high into the roof of the net.
Mattocks almost doubled Jamaica’s lead shortly afterward, only for his shot to be blocked by goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
Canada striker Cyle Larin went close six minutes before the break, but his shot was parried to safety by Andre Blake.
Jamaica doubled their lead five minutes into the second half with a sublime goal from Williams.
The Charleston Battery forward picked up Mattocks’ layoff before curling his shot from outside the area beyond Borjan.
Canada hit back with a superb long-range strike from Junior Hoilett to set up a nervy finale.
Hoilett came close to leveling with another thunderbolt from distance in the 71st minute, only to see his shot brilliantly turned around the post by Blake.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier