El Tri battled hard to gain their spot in the Gold Cup semifinals as they needed overtime and penalties to beat Los Ticos after a 1-1 score in regulation.
The match was controlled by Mexico the first 70 minutes. They controlled the rhythm and timing of the match since Costa Rica wanted to be solid in the back line and going to Pks was a good thing for them until Raul Jimenez opened up the score just before half time in the 44th minute.
In the second half Costa Rica started pressuring but Mexico still had everything under control. That was until Joel Campbell was fouled just inside the box to get a Penalty Kick. Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz transformed the opportuny into a goal levelling the score at one in the 52nd minute.
One of the most important players of the match for ‘Los Aztecas’ was Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa, whose saves kept Mexico in the game, since his side gas out for the last 20 minutes of the match.
Eventually, everything remained tied and penalites where needed to settle everything up. Then, ‘Memo’ blocked two shots to give his side the win to advance to the semifinals where they will face Haiti in Phoenix, Arizona.
This was a though loss for Costa Rica whose golden generation seems that it’s coming to an end. Even though they had a new coach in Gustavo Matosas, they were not able to do better than the last Gold Cup edition, where they reached the semis, where they lost against the USA.
On the other hand, Mexico is looking to win the tournament again since they had a disappointment tournament two years ago when they were eliminated by Jamaica in the semis.
The match between Mexico and Haiti will take place on June 2nd.
Editor’s Note: All photos are courtesy of Jose Castellanos.
Mexico
CONCACAF Gold Cup
