Mexico won its second consecutive Gold Cup and sixth overall Saturday, defeating the United States 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 93,420 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California,

The United States led 2-0 on first half-goals by Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan. Mexico equalized by halftime with tallies by Pablo Barrera and Andres Guardado and then went ahead on Barrera's second goal of the game before Giovani Dos Santos secured the win for El Tri.

Javier Hernandez was the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals and also claimed MVP honors, while Honduras' Noel Valladares was chosen as the Gold Cup's best goalkeeper.

With the title, Mexico qualified for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The crowd for the title match pushed the total attendance of the 2011 event to a record 601,712, eclipsing the previous mark of 573,587 set in 1998.

Defender Dennis Marshall, who scored in Costa Rica's Gold Cup quarterfinal loss to Honduras on Saturday, has died along with his girlfriend in an apparent car crash, the Costa Rican soccer federation confirmed on its website Thursday.

The Associated Press, quoting the Red Cross, said Marshall died Thursday when his car collided in a head-on collision with a truck in a mountainous region near the capital of San Jose.

The 25-year-old member of Danish club AaB Aalborg, had returned to Costa Rica following Saturday's loss, in which he scored in the 56th minute for "Los Ticos", equalizing and eventually sending the match to penalties where Honduras prevailed 4-2.

Marshall had been a member of the Costa Rican national team since 2009 and had played in eight games over two Gold Cups.

Four-time qualifier San Francisco of Panama will open the CONCACAF Champions League at home against the Seattle Sounders on July 26, kicking off the 78-game, nine-month championship with the first game of the Preliminary Round.

The 24-team field will be completed Saturday when Toronto FC hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps in the replay of the second leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship finals.

The first leg was abandoned midway through the first second half on May 25 due to heavy rain and lightning. The Whitecaps and Reds drew 1-1 in the first leg in Vancouver.

The winner qualifies for the Preliminary Round. For the complete Preliminary Round calendar, visit the Champions League schedule page at CONCACAF.com.

The United States opened its World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over North Korea on Tuesday, getting second-half goals from Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler.

Mexico overcame an early deficit with Monica Ocampo's goal from over 30 meters in the 33rd minute to tie England 1-1 in its first match at the Women's World Cup on Monday.

The team coached by Leonardo Cuellar will next face Japan on Friday.

Canada lost to Germany 2-1 in front of a crowd of 73,680 on Sunday in the opening match of the tournament. Christine Sinclair scored the lone goal for the Canadians, who will play France on Thursday.

Mexico will face Panama while the United States will play Germany on Thursday after the three CONCACAF sides advanced to the knockout round of the Under-17 World Cup in Mexico.

Mexico was one of only two teams to win all three of its first-round matches, finishing its unblemished Group A campaign with a 3-2 victory over the Netherlands on Friday. Panama finished third in Group E, advancing despite a 2-0 loss to Germany on Saturday.

Despite playing with 10 men, the United States held New Zealand to a 0-0 draw Saturday. The results finished both teams tied for second place in Group D, forcing a draw to determine second and third place. Although the draw assured both of advancing, the United States won the drawing of lots and was awarded second place, sending to the match against Germany, the only other team to win all of its first-round matches.

Earlier, Canada was eliminated from contention with its 0-0 draw with Rwanda, a result that also knocked out the African side. The Canadians finished with two points, in third place, five behind Group C winner England and four back of Uruguay.

Jamaica failed to advance as well, tying France 1-1 in its final match on Saturday. The Jamaicans had earlier lost to Japan 1-0 and Argentina 2-1.

Heviel Cordoves scored a three times over two games to lead Cuba to victories over Aruba and Guyana, sending it to the second round of men's Olympic qualifying in the Caribbean.

Cordoves had two goals in a 7-0 win over Aruba on Saturday and had the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Guyana on Monday. The results in Havana finished Cuba atop three-team Group C with six points

. The four first-round group winners will advance to the second round, from which two will qualify for the eight-team CONCACAF finals next year in the United States.

Women's Olympic qualifying in the Caribbean is to begin Wednesday with a pair of Group A games in Oranjestad, Aruba: Suriname vs. Haiti, and Aruba vs. Cuba.