The Mexican wave passes in front of Costa Rica

July 8 – Mexico beat Costa Rica 2-0 in Arlington, Texas to advance to the Gold Cup semi-finals in Las Vegas next week.

After losing 1-0 to Qatar in a moody final group game, this performance put the Mexicans, under interim coach Jaime Lozano, back on track. They could have, maybe should have won more.

Costa Rica came into the game having had an uneven run in the Gold Cup. They only qualified for the round of 16 after a 6-4 win over Martinique. In their first two games, they had scored just one goal, losing to Panama and drawing with El Salvador.

The form book was against the reconstruction of Costa Ricans. In their last eight games against Mexico, they have not won a single match, having lost five and drawn three.

Mexico

Mexico, on the other hand, needed to get their game back on track and find a rhythm after being brought down by the Qataris. Above all, they had to start scoring goals.

Mexico started on pace and in the 5th minute could have been ahead. Henry Martin fed an overflowing Jorge Sanchez on the right who had his shot blocked on the right by Kevin Chamorro in the Costa Rican goal.

In 8 minutes, Costa Rica almost equalized. Joel Campbell fed Anthony Contreras, a driving force for Costa Rica all night, to perform a dive to his right.

Costa Rica

The game was up and down throughout, but neither team created clean chances, although if it was a match decided on points, Mexico would have had the advantage.

During the half hour, Costa Rica experienced a period of pressure. A foul on the edge of the box from Luis Chavez saw Costa Rica needlessly kick the ball into the wall. The Costa Ricans posed most of their threat down the right but couldn't find the last ball in the box to create any real danger.

In the 43rd minute, a ball through Martin into danger saw him stumble over the wide goal line.

Mexico scored their goal five minutes into the second half. A ball threaded on Martin in the box sees him awkwardly brought down in front of goal by Kemal Waston. The impressive Orbelin Pineda came forward to casually score the penalty past Chamorro.

Costa Rica responded and almost equalized thanks to Aaron Suarex shooting from just above. But Mexican captain Luis Romo dominated the midfield. At 65 minutes he shot over the bar.

A few minutes later, a free kick from Jorge Sanchez flew over the Costa Rican goal.

As the clock ticked down in the final 10 minutes, Santiago Gimenez fired a low shot from distance just past Chamorro's post.

Mexico finally scored their second goal in front of an AT&T Stadium packed with Mexican fans. The goals were created and scored by two of the Mexican subs.

Roberto Alvarado entering the Costa Rican goal area, kicked the ball through the box towards an incoming Erick Sanchez to finish - 2-0.

Mexico now head to Las Vegas to face either Guatemala or Jamaica.

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