Alexis Vega helps Mexico beat Saudi Arabia, advance to Gold Cup semifinals
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Alexis Vega snapped a 19-match scoreless streak in international play with a goal in the 49th minute and defending champion Mexico beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals on Saturday night.
Mexico will face Honduras in the semifinals on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California. Honduras beat Panama in a penalty shootout earlier Saturday after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation.
The 27-year-old Vega scored after finding some room to work following a nice pass from Raúl Jimenez. His first shot bounced off goalkeeper Nawaf Alaquidi, but the forward quickly corralled the rebound and sent it through Alaquidi's legs and into the net.
Vega was initially ruled offside but after review, the goal was allowed and Mexico had a 1-0 lead.
Vega's goal snapped a scoreless streak in international play that dates back to 2022. It also ended a dry spell for Mexico, which scored for the first time in 166 minutes of play.
El Tri's final match in group play ended with a scoreless draw against Costa Rica.
Mexico pushed ahead 2-0 in the 81st minute on an own goal by Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Madu. Mexico's Mateo Chavez sent a crossing pass to Roberto Alvarado, who never made contact with the ball. Instead, it caromed off a defending Madu and into the net.
Saudi Arabia stifled Mexico's offense for much of a scoreless, physical first half. The tension escalated just before the halftime break — Saudi Arabia's Ali Majrashi and Mexico's Jesús Gallardo were both being shown yellow cards after the two exchanged shoves.
Gallardo will be suspended for the semifinal round because he has too many yellow cards in the tournament.
Gilberto Mora — a 16-year-old midfielder — made his international debut for Mexico and played well over 72 minutes. He's the youngest player to ever play for El Tri.
Mexico is in the knockout stage of the Gold Cup for the 18th consecutive time. Saudi Arabia is playing in its first Gold Cup as an invited guest and advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Haiti, losing to the U.S. and playing to a draw with Trinidad and Tobago.
El Tri is two wins away from a 10th Gold Cup championship, which would be the most in the tournament's history. The United States has won seven times while Canada won once.
Saudi Arabia has never beaten Mexico in international play, with six losses and a draw.
Carlos Pineda scored the decisive goal as Honduras beat Panama 5-4 on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals on Saturday night.
Honduras advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California, where it will face defending champion Mexico. It's the first time Honduras has made the Gold Cup semis since 2013.
Honduras struggled to generate many scoring opportunities until coming alive late in the second half. Los Catrachos evened the scored in the 82nd minute when Anthony Lozano deflected a shot from Carlos Pineda into the corner of the net following a corner kick.
Both teams made four out of five shots in the initial round of kicks. Honduras had a chance to win with its fifth attempt, but Orlando Mosquera made a diving stop on Lozano's shot.
Panama's Eduardo Guerrero sailed the next penalty kick over the net, giving Honduras another chance to win. This time, Pineda took advantage, burying his shot into the bottom left corner to give Honduras the shootout win.
Panama dominated possession in the first half, but couldn't break through until Cristian Martínez was fouled by Honduras' Edwin Rodríguez in the 44th minute just inside the penalty area. Ismael Díaz took the shot and calmly scored his Gold Cup-leading sixth goal, finding the bottom left corner of the net to give Panama a 1-0 lead.
Panama scored 10 goals in the three games during the group stage, including eight in the first half. With his sixth goal, Díaz passed Gabriel Torres as the Panamanian player with the most goals in a single Gold Cup.
Panama is a three-time Gold Cup runner-up, losing twice in the championship game to the U.S. (2005, 2013) and once to Mexico in 2023. Honduras was runner-up in the inaugural tournament in 1991, losing to the U.S.
Brandt writes for the Associated Press.
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