Mexico, USMNT showdown must wait until Concacaf Gold Cup final as both top group

New York Times

6 days ago

Santi Gimenez had a dramatic, acrobatic strike in the final moments of stoppage time controversially ruled out, but it did not prevent Mexico from clinching a point against Costa Rica to secure top spot in Group A of the Concacaf Gold Cup.
Giminez's ultimately meaningless flying volley aside, the 0-0 result produced little in the way of thrills, though it did remove the tantalizing possibility of a quarterfinal between Mexico and the United States, an outcome that would have arisen had Costa Rica clinched victory.
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As things stand, the USMNT will now take on Costa Rica in the quarters next weekend, Mexico will meet Saudi Arabia, and Concacaf's biggest foes can only face one another if both make it to the final on July 6.
After El Tri and Costa Rica had both won their opening two games against the Dominican Republic and Suriname, it was Javier Aguirre's Mexico who held the edge, on account of having a marginally superior goal difference.
Neither side was able to make the breakthrough, though Raul Jimenez went close for Mexico midway through the first half, forcing goalkeeper Keylor Navas into two reflex saves within the space of a minute.
Chances were hard to come by at the other end, with Costa Rica forward Manfred Ugalde's frustrating night compounded by receiving his second yellow card of the group stage, which will rule him out of his team's clash with Mauricio Pochettino's U.S.
Gimenez looked to have made the telling contribution as entered its final moments, but his fine effort was dismissed after a VAR review caught an offside infraction.
Earlier, Costa Rica head coach Miguel Herrera greeted Mexico's players and staff warmly before kickoff, having led the team between 2013-15.
Herrera will now turn his attention to trying to knock out the Americans. While the U.S., with a depleted squad missing the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Anthony Robinson and Tim Weah, would have been a sizable underdog against a mostly full-strength Mexico, it also faces a challenge in historic rival Costa Rica, currently positioned 54th in the FIFA rankings.