The US looked dangerous in the first half, but in the end it ended 0-0.

Coming back for the second half things changed.

In the 56th minute a penalty was given to Mexico after Giovani Dos Santos went down in the box. Heaps and Dos Santos had a tousle in the box, and the referee Campbell gave Mexico a penalty. Captain Torrado stepped up to the spot and scored to make 1-0 to Mexico.

It didn’t take too long before Mexico brought on the goal fest.

Vela made a run into the area in the 62nd minute and gave it to Sabah, who’s shot was saved by Perkins. Dos Santos took the rebound to give Mexico a 2-0 advantage.

Two goals wasn’t enough and a third goal was added in the 67th minute by Carlos Vela. Dos Santos found Vela who calmly chipped it over Perkins. The ball rolled slowly into the goals, unable to be stopped by any of the US defenders to make it 3-0.

It wasn’t enough, and in the 79th another goal was added. Carlos Vela slipped in a perfect pass to “Gringo” Castro who added the fourth past Perkins. 4-0

The final dagger in the US’ heart was in the 90th minute with a goal by Guille Franco. Fausto Pinto fed the ball to Franco outside the area, and the naturalized Argentine took a powerful shot to make it 5-0 in the night.

And with that Mexico won 5-0 against the US to become the 2009 Gold Cup Champions.

Giovani Dos Santos also won the award for Player of the Tournament.

And Miguel Sabah went home with Top Goalscorer.

Up next…the showdown on August 12th at the Azteca.

Mexico
1 G. Ochoa (GK)
2 J. Magallón
5 F. Pinto
21 J. Valenzuela
22 E. Juárez
6 G. Torrado
8 I. Castro
7 A. Medina
13 P. Barrera
14 M. Sabah
17 G. Dos Santos

Subs

Castro
Franco
Vela

Costa Rica

1 K. Navas (GK)
3 F. Fernández
20 D. Marshall
2 D. Delgado
15 H. Wallace
5 C. Borges
6 C. Oviedo
14 A. Alonso
11 A. Herrón
9 A. Saborío
7 P. Brenes

Costa Rica wasted no time in attacking the Mexican goal. Herron came in close to almost score, but Efrain Juarez slid across goal just in time to keep out the ball during the opening minute.

In the 11th minute, it was Costa Rica once more who were on the attack. Alonso took a shot, and it hit just under the cross bar to keep the score level.

Mexico finally had an opportunity just before the half hour break. Medina flew down the right flank and sent in a shot to Miguel Sabah who was blocked by Costa Rican goalkeeper Keilor Navas blocking the way.

Then in the 40th minute Costa Rica once more had a chance. Alonso decided to surprise once more and took a shot from far out, but Ochoa was able to make the save.

Mexico was the one that had the last opportunity in the first half. In the 45th minute Barrera sent in a cross from the left towards Giovani. Dos Santos made contact with the ball, but didn’t give it any direction, and it went wide of the goal to keep the score at 0-0 during the first half.

Coming back, Mexico was given a penalty in the 56th minute for a hand ball by Costa Rican Brenes. With many of the Mexican players staying away from the ball it was finally Sabah that stepped up to take it. Sabah shot the ball to the right, but it was too soft, and easily saved by Navas to keep it as 0-0.

Near the end of the game in the 88th minute, Mexico put themselves up. Medina’s free kick was headed out, but Franco arrived and kicked it strongly back in and put Mexico up 1-0.

The excitement wouldn’t last as Costa Rica equalized with 10 secs left in added time in the 92nd. Magallon failed to take control of a ball and it went through to Ledezma who escaped from Castro and Valenzuela.

In the 91st min(extra time) Vela had a chance, but his shot was saved by Navas’ hand.

Then in the 97th min, Mexico once more had a chance. Vela received a cross from Giovani, but failed to put it in as it came down on his left foot.

In the 107th minute Herrera unleashed a strong shot, but Ochoa barely stretched to prevent it from going in.

Franco had an opportunity in the 112th minute but he headed it over the bar, from a free kick from Medina.

In the 117th minute Costa Rica came close when Valenzuela mishandled a ball, but Castro was able to get it out. It was then a corner kick where Oviedo shot, but ultimately Ochoa was able to control.

PENALTIES

Mexico(Franco)- Scores! Top of the net, coolly stets u

Costa Rica(Saborio)- Scores. Ochoa goes the wrong way and Costa Rica levels

Mexico(Giovani)- Scores! Just next to right post

Costa Rica(Borges)- Scores. Ochoa dives, and goes the wrong way

Mexico(Torrado)- Scores! Near center, goes right in.

Costa Rica(Ledezma)- Ochoa stops! Goes to the left and keeps the ball out to keep Mexico up.

Mexico(Juarez)- Scores! Sends Navas the wrong way on a soft penalty.

Costa Rica(Oviedo)- Scores. Just under the cross bar, and hits just past the line.

Mexico(Vela)- Scores! Sends to bottom left and sends Mexico through to the finals against the US.

And if you want to torture yourself again…it’s not the best quality, but the best condensed.

Surprisingly, Mexico started out playing decently. Panama got in a few times in the opening minutes, but nothing very dangerous.

In the 10th minute Giovani Dos Santos received the ball from Alberto Medina who had gone up the left field on a counterattack. Dos Santos latched on and came up against Penedo, but sent it to Sabah who scored and made it 1-0 to Mexico.

Then Panama leveled the game in the 29th minute when Blas Perez overpowered Johnny Magallon and Jose Antonio Castro to shoot past Ochoa and make it 1-1.

Both teams ended the game with 10 men after Luis Miguel Noriega and Armando Gun were sent off after some pushing and shoving.

Nothing too spectacular happened in the second half, as both teams were less active than the first part.

However, in the 79th minute trouble ensued when Javier Aguirre stuck out his foot at Ricardo Phillips as he was chasing a ball near the Mexican technical area. There were some shoves and the Mexican manager and Panamanian player were both sent off. Phillips refused to leave, and stopped the game for a little over 10 minutes.

Mexico will now move on to Glendale, Arizona to play Guadeloupe on Sunday at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Guadeloupe has yet to lose a game and is currently top of group C.

There were two goals. One was a penalty at the end of the first half, which frankly, I don’t think it should have been called. I’ve been looking at replays and I still don’t see it. Anyways, Luis Noriega stepped up and scored giving Mexico the 1-0 advantage.

In the second half things weren’t looking good either. It wasn’t until the 85th minute that Mexico scored a goal on their own. Medina sent in a cross and Barrera was there to put it in for a 2-0 win.

Again, I don’t think there’s much to say about this game. The team has been severely disappointing these past few games. Yes, the defense has kept clean sheets, but really? It’s been against “little” teams so they shouldn’t exactly been celebrating that fact.

Something that’s very unfortunate is Vela’s injury. He’s been having trouble scoring, but with this injury, it looks to dampen his confidence perhaps. Hopefully he recovers.

Next up is Panama on Thursday for which I’m predicting a similar game. The team will play in Houston at the Reliant Stadium.

While there are still some things to be worked on, finishing especially, things are coming together and hopefully will continue to advance for the Gold Cup that starts soon, and of course World Cup Qualifying.

Mexico:
Ochoa, Castro, Magallón, Rodríguez, Pinto, Torrado, Noriega, Martínez, Dos Santos, Vela, Sabah.

Venezuela: Romo, Salazar, Boada, Lleguez, Flores, Perozo, Rincón, Giorgi, Seijas, Moreno y Maldonado

It was Venezuela who first got off to a good start. In the 3rd minute Maldonado shot first giving a quick warning.

In the 15th they again had a chance with Moreno having a good opportunity. Had he made contact, they would’ve scored their first goal.

Then in the 17th minute Vela fell to the ground appealing for a penalty, but nothing was given.

Again, in the 20th Vela had a shot on goal, but it was too weak, and nothing came.

In the 24th Venezuela had one of the best opportunities when Ochoa was left alone with Giancarlo Maldonado, but he missed as Ochoa kicked it out with his left foot.

In the 33rd, Carlos Vela and Gio Dos Santos combined well, but the Venezuelan keeper managed to stop the shot with his boot.

Finally, in the last minute of regular time, Vela and Gio once again came together. Gio crossed in from the right for Vela who was past the goalkeeper and all he had to do was push the ball in to make the score 1-0.

It wasn’t long after the restart that Mexico once more got into scoring ways. In the 48th minute Giovani took care of making the score 2-0 by shooting from far out to curl over the keeper.

The in the 50th, Gio once more scored to make it 3-0 by coming up against the keeper and scoring. He had found his way through defenders and ignored an open Vela to set himself up and score.

Then in the 69th it was Venezuela who decided to have a shot. Moreno shot from far out and forced Ochoa into a fingertip save with his right hand.

In the 72nd Mexico decided to score once more. Omar Bravo came up the left and crossed to Omar Arellano who sent it through the legs of the keeper to make the score 4-0 for the night.

The 84th produced the last significant chance as Omar Arellano came close to scoring the 5th, but his shot went just wide.

Overall, I think that the team did well. They finally scored, and hopefully that gives them confidence.

Hopefully, the goals won’t dry up because the team hasn’t exactly been very prolific.

Giovani had the best game. He was involved in 3 of the 4 goals, scoring 2 himself. Unfortunately, the opposition wasn’t the highest, although they gave a good game and were physical at times which is what Mexico needs.

Ochoa looked confident, but then again he didn’t have much to do during this game, so I think that Aguirre should give Corona an opportunity to showcase himself on the national team.

The next game is on Sunday against Guatemala. It will also be a friendly, but these friendlies will hopefully help prepare the team for the Gold Cup which starts in July.