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After slow start, Mexico routs El Salvador, 5-0, in Gold Cup opener

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It took a while to get started, but once Mexico’s high-octane offense got warmed up it put on quite a show in its Gold Cup opener, scoring four times in a 12-minute span of the second half to swamp a game but ultimately outmanned El Salvador, 5-0, before a crowd of more than 80,000 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Efrain Juarez and Aldo De Nigris scored goals four minutes apart early in the half, and Javier Hernandez scored three times by himself, turning what had been a close match for 45 minutes into the rout that had been anticipated.

“The important thing was our patience looking for that first goal,” said Mexico Coach Jose Manuel de la Torre. “We knew getting one could greatly change the course of the game.

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Juarez opened the scoring with a fortunate goal 10 minutes after intermission when his diving header off a Giovani dos Santos cross was stopped by Salvadoran keeper Miguel Montes. But the rebound struck the prone Juarez on his shoulder and bounced back past Montes and into the net.

De Nigris made it 2-0 just a minute after entering the game, controlling the ball just outside the 18-yard box, turning a Salvadoran defender around and then slipping past him to rifle a shot by the keeper.

After that it was all Hernandez, with the Manchester United striker bouncing a header into the net at the far post in the 60th minute, then taking a long ball from Andres Guardado well behind the defense and tapping it in off the inside of the left post in the 67th minute.

Hernandez completed the hat trick on a penalty kick at the end of stoppage time. It was his first three-goal performance with the national team and the first hat trick by a Mexican player in Gold Cup play since 1993, when Luis Miguel Salvador scored three times against Jamaica in the tournament semifinals.

The first half was vastly different, with El Salvador packing the midfield to deny Mexico’s creative midfielders space to operate. Still, El Tri did have three good scoring chances in the half.

In the opening minutes Hernandez was unable to corral a long ball at the right post, in the 16th minute Pablo Barrera misfired from just outside the goalie box and in the 38th minute Guardado’s left footer sailed well high over an open net.

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In the tournament opener, Marco Urena scored seven minutes into the match, then again in the first two minutes of the second half to spark Costa Rica to a 5-0 rout of Cuba.

Alvaro Saborio, Heiner Mora and Joe Campbell also scored for Costa Rica, which outshot Cuba, 11-0.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

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