Mexico cruises into semis; El Salvador ties U.S. to win Group A
Mexico will face Canada and El Salvador will meet Honduras in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying with the winners qualifying to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Mexico arrives undefeated to Kansas City having won Group B with a perfect nine points after defeating Panama on Tuesday with a goal from Erick "Cubo" Torres (90+').
Honduras finished with six points in Group B with a 2-0 victory of Trinidad. Eddie Hernandez (37') and Anthony Lozano (70') scored for the Central Americans.
On Monday, in Nashville, Tennessee, Jaime Alas scored in the fifth minute of injury time to give El Salvador a 3-3 draw with the United States and send it to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament. The result eliminated the host and moved the Group A winning Cuscatlecos within one victory of the Olympics for the first time since 1968.
The U.S. took an early lead (Terrence Boyd 1'), fell behind (Mark Lester Blanco 35', Andres Flores 37')and then rallied to go ahead midway through the second half (Terrence Boyd 65', Joe Corona 68').
Earlier in the day Canada tied Cuba 1-1 to secure second place in the group. Evan James put the North Americans into a 25th minute lead before Maykel Reyes equalized a minute into second-half injury time.
The Canadians had upset the Americans, 2-0, on Saturday through goals by Doneil Henry (58') and Lucas Cavallini (83').
Mexico acquired six points from its first two matches, beating Trinidad & Tobago (7-1) and Honduras (3-0). Alan Pulido has the led the way for Mexico with four goals, including all three against the Hondurans.
Prior to its loss to Mexico, Honduras defeated Panama (3-1) on goals by Eddie Hernandez (19'), Mario Martinez (47') and Alexander Lopez (87').
For more CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying information, click here.
CCL Semifinals start on Wednesday
Mexico's Santos Laguna travels to Toronto FC's BMO Field this Wednesday to open the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. Later that night, defending champion Monterrey will welcome Pumas to the Estadio Tecnologico.
Toronto FC, which got past fellow Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy 4-3 on aggregate in the quarterfinals, is led by forward Ryan Johnson. The Jamaican international has five goals in 10 Champions League appearances.
High-scoring Santos advanced to the semifinals after a 6-1 second-leg quarterfinal rout of the Seattle Sounders, taking the series 7-3 on aggregate. US international Herculez Gomez scored three goals in those two games.
Monterrey easily raced past Morelia 7-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinal pairing. The Rayados are unbeaten in six all-time CCL games against Mexican opposition.
Pumas reversed a 2-1 first-leg quarterfinal loss to Isidro Metapan with a record-tying 8-0 second-leg victory. The result equaled Herediano's mark of most goals scored In a single CCL match and the largest margin of victory.
For more Champions League information, please click here.
U.S. travel to Japan for Kirin Cup
The United States women's national team will take part in the three-team Kirin Cup in Japan beginning on Sunday.
The U.S. opens against the host nation in a rematch of the 2011 Women's World Cup final and a recent group stage game at the Algarve Cup, before facing Brazil two days later in Chiba.
Jamaica and Costa Rica tie 0-0 in Kingston
Jamaica and visiting Costa Rica played to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday in an international friendly in Kingston.
Both teams used squads largely made up of domestic players and Jamaica played much of the match shorthanded after Jermaine Taylor received card after 36 minutes.
