With the Gold Cup winding down, the American crowd is more excited than ever. The home team is cruising through their football games and is set to make the final. Meanwhile, semi-final opponents Costa Rica are riding a winning form of their own and should provide a tough challenge for the Stars and Stripes.
Of course, betting odds will favour the Americans. However, we must look into the quarter-finals to check if Costa Rica have any chance of beating America and their 12th man.
Costa Rica 1-0 Panama
Pundits called this game as a close one, and both sides did not fail to disappoint the Philadelphia crowd. It was a masterful performance from both sides. Both nations attacked the wing and the middle and had decent chances with the ball. Both had solid backlines, forcing the attackers to settle for amazing long shots that challenge the keeper. Both Patrick Pemberton and Jose Calderon made amazing saves that kept the score level.
Putting all of these things into consideration, it’s unfortunate that Panama’s Anibal Godoy’s attempt to clear David Guzman’s free kick in the 77th minute did not go over the bar and went straight to the net. Given how tight the game was, it was understood that the own goal was the decider.
USA better take note of how dangerous Costa Rica looked at how Los Ticos looked deadly from the wings and from beyond the penalty box. If they don’t keep their wits about them, they might get the rug swept under their feet.
United States 2-0 El Salvador
I believe the Americans are more than prepared to match Costa Rica’s cannons with equal amounts of firepower. The question now lies on whether their defence can hold up against Costa Rica’s blistering attacks.
The majority of this quarter-final’s first half saw the United States and El Salvador split on attacking opportunities. Tim Howard and Derby Carillo were forced to flex their goalkeeping muscles early in the match, with both nations failing to crack through the other’s defence.
The winning goals eventually came in the last five minutes of the first half. A beautiful free kick from Michael Bradley found Omar Gonzalez inside the penalty box and put the Americans ahead. Eric Lichaj slotted the second goal past Carillo’s legs to seal the win.
However, the Americans spent the majority of the second half trying to keep out an all-out attack from El Salvador. There are times when the Americans were able to contain the situation, while there were also instances when they were barely lucky that Rodolfo Zelaya and the rest of the attackers failed to convert their chances.
Costa Rica will definitely be a lot more dangerous than El Salvador, so Bruce Arena has a lot of adjustments to make in order to secure their ticket to the final.
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