Costa Rica and Mexico advance to Gold Cup Quarterfinals
Washington: Costa Rica secured their place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals after defeating the Dominican Republic 2-1 in their second match of Group A of the tournament, co-hosted by the United States and Canada.
The Dominican Republic took an early lead in the 16th minute, but Costa Rica equalised just before halftime with a 44th-minute penalty. The Ticos sealed the victory in the 85th minute when scored the decisive goal.
In another match of Group A, Mexico booked their quarterfinal spot with a 2-0 victory over Suriname. César Montes scored both goals for El Tri in the 57th and 63rd minutes.
With this result, Mexico now leads the group with a perfect six points, holding a one-goal advantage over second-placed Costa Rica, who also have six points. Both Suriname and the Dominican Republic remain pointless after two matches.
The final group stage match between Mexico and Costa Rica will now determine the group winner and runner-up, though both teams have already secured knockout stage berths.
According to the tournament format, the Group A winner will face the runner-up of Group D - which includes the United States, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago - in the quarterfinals. The Group A runner-up will play against the Group D winner.
The 16-team tournament features four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
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Times of Oman
13 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Costa Rica and Mexico advance to Gold Cup Quarterfinals
Washington: Costa Rica secured their place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals after defeating the Dominican Republic 2-1 in their second match of Group A of the tournament, co-hosted by the United States and Canada. The Dominican Republic took an early lead in the 16th minute, but Costa Rica equalised just before halftime with a 44th-minute penalty. The Ticos sealed the victory in the 85th minute when scored the decisive goal. In another match of Group A, Mexico booked their quarterfinal spot with a 2-0 victory over Suriname. César Montes scored both goals for El Tri in the 57th and 63rd minutes. With this result, Mexico now leads the group with a perfect six points, holding a one-goal advantage over second-placed Costa Rica, who also have six points. Both Suriname and the Dominican Republic remain pointless after two matches. The final group stage match between Mexico and Costa Rica will now determine the group winner and runner-up, though both teams have already secured knockout stage berths. According to the tournament format, the Group A winner will face the runner-up of Group D - which includes the United States, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago - in the quarterfinals. The Group A runner-up will play against the Group D winner. The 16-team tournament features four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
US, Saudi, Costa Rica and Mexico win in CONCACAF
LOS ANGELES, United States: The United States ended their four-match losing run with a resounding 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday in San Jose. Mauricio Pochettino and his team, which is missing several Europe-based regulars, had faced plenty of criticism after recent friendly defeats to Turkey and Switzerland. In desperate need of a change in mood around the team, a year out from the World Cup they will co-host with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino fielded an attacking line-up. Against a Trinidad team, coached by former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, it proved to be just the kind of stress-free comfortable win that the Argentine coach was seeking. The USA were on top from the outset with two early chances for striker Patrick Agyemang and it was the striker who helped create the 16th-minute opener. Agyemang won the ball off Trinidad defender Alvin Jones, found Jack McGlynn on the right who kept his cool and clipped the ball to the back post where Malik Tillman collected and then slotted home. It was a tough day for Jones, who then gifted the USA their second goal with a back-pass that went straight to winger Diego Luna who broke away and then unselfishly squared to Tillman for the PSV Eindhoven midfielder's second. Trinidad were showing why they have fallen down the FIFA rankings, slipping to 100th and fourth in the Caribbean, below Curacao, lacking any kind of solidity. The lively Luna created the third, a minute before the break, when he cut in from the left and his low shot deflected off Agyemang and beat the helpless Marin Phillip. It was easy going for Pochettino's side in the second half with Trinidad managing to threaten once when Tyrese Spicer put a low ball across the face of the goal but the sliding Dante Sealy was unable to connect. With the game fizzling out, Pochettino made a triple substitution and that added some late urgency to his side's attack. Sub Brenden Aaronson cut in from left and squeezed a low shot past Phillip's near post and then another man off the bench, Haji Wright completed the convincing victory when he broke down the left and drifted inside before placing the ball in the far corner. The USA, looking for an eighth Gold Cup title, face Saudi Arabia and Haiti in their remaining two games in Group D. SAUDI ARABIA WIN OVER HAITI Saleh Al Shehri's penalty kick in the 21st minute held up as the winner as Saudi Arabia shut out Haiti 1-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A, play on Sunday night in San Diego. Al Shehri drew a foul in the penalty area on Frantzdy Pierrot in the 18th minute, then converted a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner to lift Saudi Arabia (1-0-0, 3 points) in the opener for both teams. Haiti had an opportunity to pull even in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi (four saves) denied Dany Jean in the center of the goal on a right-footed shot from outside the box. Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide finished with three saves. MEXICO DOWN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Edson Alvarez registered a goal and an assist to help Mexico post a 3-2 victory over the Dominican Republic in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A, play on Saturday night in Inglewood, Calif. Peter Gonzalez and Edison Azcona scored goals for the Dominican Republic. Mexico struck in the 44th minute when Orbelin Pineda sent a cross to Alvarez, who sent a header into the net. Mexico made it 2-0 in the second minute of the second half when Jimenez scored on a right-footed shot. The Dominican Republic got on the board in the 51st minute when Gonzalez sent a left-footer into the net. Two minutes later, Mexico countered on a corner kick taken by Alexis Vega. Alvarez headed the ball, and it glanced off Montes' head and went into the net. The Dominican Republic tallied again when Azcona's right-footed shot caromed off a defender to cut its deficit to one. COSTA RICA SINK SURINAME Costa Rica upended Suriname 4-3 with a penalty-kick goal in the 13th minute of stoppage time in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A, play on Sunday night in San Diego. Capitalising on a foul in the penalty area by Suriname's Dion Malone, Manfred Ugalde converted the winner on a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner. It was Ugalde's second penalty-kick goal of the game after he scored in the 19th minute to give Costa Rica 3 points. — AFP
Observer
03-06-2025
- Observer
Al Zubair takes Al Manar to Gold Cup victory
MONZA, Italy: Al Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al Faisal al Zubair, Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck delivered another driving and strategic masterclass to finish fourth overall and first in the Gold Cup class at the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS at Monza late on Sunday afternoon. Despite qualifying in seventh, the trio carried out their pit stop strategy perfectly and were able to move through the field during a yellow flag-interrupted three-hour race to finish fourth overall ahead of nine other rivals in the Gold Cup category in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It was another proud day for Al Zubair and the Sultanate of Oman in endurance racing. The Racing Aston Martin was a distant second overall and the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi rounded off the Gold Cup podium. A delighted Al Zubair said: 'I'm happy to clinch the win in the Gold Cup Category. Honestly, this is a dream come true. Especially because we started the race from seventh on the grid. But the strategy from Team WRT was excellent. We had the speed throughout the weekend, but in qualifying we faced some issues, particularly in Q3. 'Fourth position in the overall classification and winning the Gold Cup category, this was fantastic. I'm very proud to raise the Omani flag high. We are aiming to achieve even more.' From a start position of seventh in the Gold Cup category, Al Zubair held eighth until a full course yellow brought proceedings to a stop after around 20 minutes. The Garage 59 McLaren had the lead from the CSA Racing McLaren. Action resumed around the half-hour mark and Al Zubair made up a place to take seventh shortly afterwards. The Omani maintained his composure and was soon up to sixth with the Garage 59 McLaren continuing to lead from the Racing Aston Martin. Herberth Motorsport's Porsche was sidelined after 13 laps. Al Zubair retained sixth to another full course yellow with around 1hr 50min of the race remaining. The handover to Tuck was a good one and, when action resumed, Tuck held the lead from the Garage 59 McLaren and the Verstappen Aston. The leading six Gold Cup cars were tightly bunched but Tuck retained the lead through 48 laps with 68 minutes of the race remaining. The CSA Racing McLaren had fallen by the wayside after 36 laps. With less than an hour to run there was yet another full course yellow with Tuck still leading. Racing resumed under a green flag with 54 minutes to go and the final changeover to Klingmann was a successful one with the team retaining an advantage over the Aston Martin and the Optimum Motorsport McLaren. A seventh interruption to the race happened with 31 minutes to run and Klingmann holding the lead and a superb fourth overall. But it was a brief stoppage and the German retained his position, only for a yellow to halt the race for the eighth time with just three minutes left of the 84-lap race. Al Manar Racing by Team WRT carried out a short unofficial test session on Friday with Al Zubair posting a best lap of 1min 46.840sec. Free practice took place on Saturday morning for the 10-car field and the fastest lap of the session went to the Nordique Racing Mercedes in the hands of Japan's Kotaka Kazuko. Tuck's best run for the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT operation was 1min 46.345sec and that put the BMW M4 in the middle of the group in fifth. Pre-qualifying saw the Al Manar Racing BMW down in a subdued eighth with a best lap of 1min 46.694sec in a session won by the Racing Aston Martin. Klingmann carded a best run of 1min 46.101sec in the first of the two qualifying sessions to put the BMW in sixth of the Gold Cup runners. Tuck ran a 1min 45.826sec lap in Q2 and Al Zubair finished his Q3 stint with a best lap of 1min 46.848sec. With the times collated from the three qualifying stints, the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW lined up on the grid in seventh with pole position falling to the Garage 59 McLaren from the CSA Racing McLaren and the Racing Aston Martin. Action in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS resumes with the prestigious Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa on June 25th-29th.
