Wanchope’s 4 Goals Lead Costa Rica
Costa Rica set up a showdown with the United States for a place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals by thrashing Cuba, 7-2, in Oakland on Wednesday.
Striker Paulo Wanchope scored four goals, Wilmer Lopez added a pair, and Austin Berry also scored as the Costa Ricans ran wild against Cuba.
The United States and Cuba will meet in the final Group 3 match in Oakland on Saturday, and Costa Rica’s superior goal difference means the United States must win to advance; only the group winner qualifies for the semifinal. The United States beat Cuba, 3-0, on Sunday.
Cuba held the Americans scoreless for nearly an hour before losing. It took far less time for Costa Rica to turn its match into a rout.
Berry blasted home a free kick in the third minute, hitting a left-footed shot from about 20 yards high into the far corner. Wanchope got his first goal in the 21st minute when he poked in a corner kick that had been flicked on.
Cuba goalkeeper Alexi Reve got a piece of a shot by Wilmer Lopez, and smothered it before it crossed the line, but Mexican referee Arturo Brizio Carter awarded Costa Rica its third goal.
Wanchope then nailed home a header and Lopez broke through again to score before halftime. The fifth goal came against substitute goalkeeper Lazaro Sanchez, who replaced the shellshocked Reve in the 33rd minute.
Eduardo Cebranco scored for Cuba in the 50th minute but Wanchope tallied twice more to take his total to four before Cebranco scored his second in the final minute.
In Wednesday’s other first-round game, Luis Hernandez and Francisco Palencia scored goals within a two-minute span in the second half as Mexico beat Trinidad and Tobago, 4-2.
Hernandez scored two goals, including the one that broke the tie in the 63rd minute, and Ramon Ramirez also scored for Mexico.
Jerren Nixon scored for Trinidad and Tobago, which also got a score on an own goal.
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CONCACAF
Gold Cup
* Sunday:
Trinidad and Tobago 3, Honduras 1
United States 3, Cuba 0
El Salvador 0, Guatemala 0
* Tuesday: Brazil 0, Jamaica 0
* Wednesday: Costa Rica 7, Cuba 2; Mexico 4, Trinidad and Tobago 2
* Today: Brazil vs. Guatemala, 4:30 p.m. (Orange Bowl, Miami).
* Friday: El Salvador vs. Jamaica, 8 p.m. (Los Angeles Coliseum).
* Saturday: Costa Rica vs. United States, 2 p.m.; Honduras vs. Mexico, 4 p.m. (Oakland Coliseum).
* Sunday: Guatemala vs. Jamaica, 2 p.m.; Brazil vs. El Salvador, 4 p.m. (Los Angeles Coliseum).
* Tuesday: Semifinal, 8 p.m. (Los Angeles Coliseum).
* Feb. 12: Semifinal, 7 p.m. (Los Angeles Coliseum).
* Feb. 15: Third-place game, 3 p.m. and final, 5 p.m. (Los Angeles Coliseum).
* All times Pacific.
