Lozano’s Two Goals Lead Mexico Over Costa Rica
Jaime Lozano scored two goals in the first nine minutes and Mexico began the final round of World Cup qualifying with an important 2-1 road victory over Costa Rica at San Juan on Wednesday night.
Lozano, a midfielder, was part of an bold attacking plan put forth by Mexico Coach Ricardo Lavolpe.
Lavolpe and Mexico were rewarded when Lozano scored in the eighth and ninth minutes to send Costa Rica reeling. Lozano increased his goal total in qualifiers to 10.
Mexico, which is tied with the United States atop the six-team group that encompasses North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), had not won in Costa Rica since 1961.
Paulo Wanchope scored Costa Rica’s lone goal in the 38th minute.
Panama 0, Guatemala 0 -- Panama failed to capitalize on its home-field advantage and had to settle for a tie with Guatemala in a CONCACAF qualifying game at Panama City.
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In European qualifying matches: Raul Gonzalez scored his 41st international goal to help Spain cruise to a 5-0 victory over San Marino at Almeria, Spain. Spain moved into a tie for second place in Group 7 with Lithuania, two points behind leader Serbia and Montenegro.... Andriy Rusol and Andriy Gusin scored goals to lead visiting Ukraine to a 2-0 victory over Albania at Tirana. Ukraine is in first place in Group 2 with 14 points.... Theo Zagorakis scored midway through the first half and Angelos Basinas added a penalty kick to give Greece a 2-1 victory over Denmark at Piraeus, Greece. Greece moved past Denmark into second place in the Group 2 standings with eight points.... Visiting Andorra battled Macedonia to a 0-0 tie in a Group 1 game at Skopje.
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In Asian qualifying matches: Midfielder Lee Young-pyo scored a late goal to seal South Korea’s 2-0 win over Kuwait in a Group A opener at Seoul.... Anvarjon Soliyev scored two minutes into second-half injury time as host Uzbekistan rallied for a 1-1 tie against Saudi Arabia in a Group A game at Tashkent.... Substitute Masashi Oguro scored in second-half injury time to lift host Japan to a 2-1 win over North Korea in a Group B game at Saitama.... Host Bahrain and Iran played to a 0-0 tie in a Group B match at Isa Town.... In an African qualifying match: Jaouad Zairi scored three goals and had two assists to lead host Morocco to a 5-1 victory over Kenya at Rabat. Morocco is in first place in Group Five, a point ahead of Guinea.
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In selected international friendlies: Striker Hernan Crespo, playing in his first game for Argentina since last June, scored two goals to rally his team to a 2-2 tie against host Germany at Duesseldorf.... David Trezeguet scored his 30th international goal to help France to a 1-1 tie against visiting Sweden at Saint-Denis. Fredrik Ljunberg scored for Sweden.... Striker Ricardo Oliveira scored two goals as reigning World Cup champion Brazil displayed finesse and raw power to trounce host Hong Kong, 7-1.... Shaun Wright-Phillips missed two easy chances and Dirk Kuyt hit the post as England and the Netherlands played to a 0-0 tie at Birmingham, England.... Second-half substitutes Alberto Gilardino and Simone Barone scored goals to lead Italy to a 2-0 victory over Russia at Cagliari, Sardinia.... Imad Metab scored twice to lead Egypt to a 4-0 rout of visiting Belgium at Cairo.... Andy O’Brien scored his first international goal to lead host Ireland to a 1-0 victory over Euro 2004 runner-up Portugal at Dublin.... Oliver Occean scored on a header off a free kick by Jim Brennan in the 32nd minute to lead Canada to a 1-0 upset over host Northern Ireland at Belfast. Canada played the last 68 minutes a man down after Gabriel Gervais was sent off for getting his second yellow card.... Substitute Omer Golan scored in the 83rd minute to rally Israel to a 3-3 tie against visiting Croatia at Jerusalem.
