Gold Cup Soccer : Argota Leads Rosario Central to 3-1 Win Over Dundee United

Forward Pedro Argota scored a goal and had an assist to lead Rosario Central of Argentina past Dundee United of Scotland, 3-1, in the first of two quarterfinal games of the Los Angeles Gold Cup soccer tournament Wednesday at the Coliseum.

After the teams had played defensively for the first 15 minutes, Hugo Galloni took the ball at midfield and passed it to Norberto Lanzzidie, who quickly dished the ball off to Argota. Argota then beat Dundee United goalkeeper Billy Thomson to give Rosario the lead.

Dundee United tied it 22 minutes into the first half when forward Ian Ferguson scored off a pass from Paul Sturrock. Rosario, in control throughout the second half, got goals from forwards Omar Palma and Norberto Candela to advance to the semifinals Saturday against A. S. Roma of Italy.

In the second quarterfinal game, Roma played Brazil’s Vasco da Gama to a lackluster 0-0 draw. The only scoring opportunity came 1:27 into the first half when Roma’s Stefano Desideri kicked the ball out of bounds on one-on-one situation with the Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Acacio.

The tie benefited Vasco da Gama, which advances on more goals scored, to Saturday’s semifinal against Mexico’s Club Guadalajara.