Group A of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was completed yesterday with Mexico and Costa Rica moving through to the knockout stage. El Tri kept up their fine form with a 4-1 win over Costa Rica in Chicago, taking their group stage record to three wins from three, scoring 14 goals along the way.
Captain Rafael Marquez kicked off proceedings with a 17th minute header before Andres Guardado made it 2-0 a couple of minutes later with a left-footed volley.
The Deportivo la Coruna man then got his second and Mexico's third in the 26th minute before Pablo Barrera made it 4-0 prior to half-time, sending Carlos Salcido's cross into the back of the net.
Costa Rica managed to restore some pride in the 69th minute through Marco Urena but it wasn't enough to bridge the gap, however, they did manage to scrape through to the quarter-finals with a second-place finish in Group A, ahead of El Salvador on goal difference.
Earlier in the day, El Salvador put themselves in a good position to move through to the next phase with a 6-1 hammering of Cuba.
Rodolfo Zelaya scored twice, taking his Gold Cup tally to three, whilst Osael Romero, Lester Blanco, Arturo Alvarez and Eliseo Quintanilla all got in on the act as Yenier Marquez scored Cuba's one and only goal of their disappointing group stage.
Group B continues today with matches between Guatemala and Grenada prior to Honduras versus Jamaica, both at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup re-cap
Group ASunday June 5Costa Rica: 5 (Marco Urena 7'/46', Alvaro Saborio 41', Heiner Mora 47', Joel Campbell 71') Cuba: 0 Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX - 80,108
Mexico: 5 (Efrain Juarez 55', Aldo de Nigris 58', Javier Hernandez 59'/67'/90+5') El Salvador: 0 (red card: Marvin Gonzalez 90+4') Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX - 80,108
Thursday June 9Costa Rica: 1 (Randall Brenes 90+5') El Salvador: 1 (Rodolfo Zelaya 44') Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC - 30,530
Cuba: 0 Mexico: 5 (Javier Hernandez 35'/75', Giovani dos Santos 63'/68', Aldo de Nigri 65') Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC - 46,012
Sunday June 12El Salvador: 6 (Rodolfo Zelaya 11'/70', Osael Romero 28', Lester Blanco 69', Arturo Alvarez 83', Eliseo Quintanilla 90+4') Cuba: 1 (Yenier Marquez 82') Soldier Field, Chicago, IL - 62,000
Mexico: 4 (Rafael Marquez 17', Andres Guardado 19'/26', Pablo Barrerra 38') Costa Rica: 1 (Marcos Urena 69') Soldier Field, Chicago, IL - 62,000
Group BMonday June 6Jamaica: 4 (Luton Shelton 21', Ryan Johnson 39', Demar Phillips 79', Omar Daley 84') Grenada 0 The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA - 6,500
Honduras: 0 Guatemala: 0 (red card: Gustavo Cabrera 61') The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA - 6,500
Friday June 10Jamaica: 2 (Demar Phillips 65'/77') Guatemala: 0 (red card: Cristian Noriega 69') FIU Stadium, Miami, FL - 18,057
Grenada: 1 (Clive Murray 18') Honduras: 7 (Jerry Bengtson 26'/36', Carlo Costly 28'/67'/71', Walter Martinez 88', Alfredo Mejiya 90+3') FIU Stadium, Miami, FL - 18,057
Group CTuesday June 7Panama: 3 (Blas Perez 28', Luis Tejada 31', Gabriel Gomez (p) 56') Guadeloupe: 2 (Brice Jovial 64'/78' - red card: Mickael Tacalfred 37') Ford Field, Detroit, MI - 28,209
USA: 2 (Jozy Altidore 15', Clint Dempsey 62') Canada: 0 Ford Field, Detroit, MI - 28,209
Saturday June 11Canada: 1 (Dwayne De Rosario (p) 50') Guadeloupe: 0 (red card: Jean Luc Lombarde 2') Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL - 27,731
USA: 1 (Clarence Goodson 66') Panama: 2 (Luis Tejada 19', Gabriel Gomez (p) 35') Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL - 27,731
