The US and Costa Rica both qualified for the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday with victories in their Group C matches.
In-form striker Chris Wondolowski scored a brace to steer the Americans to a comfortable 4-1 win over Cuba while an own-goal gifted Costa Rica a 1-0 victory over Belize.
Wondolowski continued his red-hot form for the US national team with two superbly taken goals in the second half to clinch an expected win, after Cuba had grabbed a surprise lead.
Jose Ciprian Alfonso had put the visitors ahead at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, with a 35th minute goal against the run of play, but the US dominated the remainder of the match.
The Americans, who thumped Belize 6-1 in their previous Group match, got back on level terms when Landon Donovan converted a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half.
Joe Corona gave the Americans the lead when he scored his first international goal after 56 minutes, before Wondolowski banged in two more to lift his tally for the tournament to five, following his hat-trick against Belize.
Costa Rica, who had beaten Cuba 3-0 in their first game, kept another clean sheet with a 1-0 win over Belize. The only goal came in the 49th minute when defender Dalton Eiley accidentally put the ball in his own net.
The US and Costa Rica each have a maximum six points from two matches.
They are to play each other in the final group match in Connecticut this week with both teams already through to the last eight.
Cuba and Belize have a mathematical chance of advancing as a third placed team if they win their last match.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
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