U.S. will take on Costa Rica
Dempsey one goal from national record
ARLINGTON, Texas — Clint Dempsey is back in his home state of Texas, one goal away from a national scoring record for the United States team that is one win from playing in another CONCACAF Gold Cup final.
The Americans play a semifinal game tonight against Costa Rica in a stadium synonymous with American football — the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, the Cotton Bowl and where the first College Football Playoff championship game was played three seasons ago.
That is only about 180 miles from Dempsey’s hometown of Nacogdoches.
“It’s always great to be home and play in front of family and friends, especially for a big game,” Dempsey said Friday. “I have a lot of great memories of playing in Dallas as a kid, and I’m proud to represent Nacogdoches. Being from there made me who I am today.”
Dempsey, one goal from matching Landon Donovan’s American record of 57 national team goals, wasn’t part of soccer’s only Gold Cup games at the $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium.
In a 2013 semifinal game there when the Americans were on the way to their fifth Gold Cup championship, they beat Honduras 3-1. Donovan scored twice in that game — his 55th and 56th goals for the national team — and assisted on the other goal. About two months later, Donovan scored his final goal in a World Cup qualifier win over Mexico.
Within a week after Costa Rica beat the U.S. team 4-0 in World Cup qualifying last November, Jurgen Klinsmann was out as the U.S. coach and Bruce Arena was rehired to the position he had been fired from a decade earlier.
Costa Rica coach Oscar Ramirez said Friday that Arena has seemingly had a positive impact on the U.S. team.
“They look more relaxed in terms of what they’re doing on the field,” Ramirez said through an interpreter.
This U.S. roster for the Gold Cup knockout rounds also is much different than the one that played in Costa Rica eight months ago — not just the change at coach. Only five players from that game that are set for this semifinal game — Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez and Graham Zusi.
“That’s in the past,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t think about that game. … This is just another game. It’s another opportunity for us to see what we’re made out of.”
Altidore, Dempsey, Bradley, Darlington Nagbe, and goalkeeper Tim Howard were all added to the lineup before a 2-0 win over El Salvador in the quarterfinal on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
MEXICO: With its best players absent, Mexico has been anything but dominant in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Still, “El Tri” is moving on to the tournament’s semifinals.
A goal by Rodolfo Pizarro just over three minutes into the game was all the offense Mexico could muster in a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Honduras on Thursday night.
With its offense bogged down, Mexico survived several near-misses by Honduras in the second half.
“We couldn’t add to the lead, but thank goodness, the most important thing is we scored,” forward Angel Sepulveda said. “They made it tough to get the ball in, but we played a good game. That’s how it went, but we advanced.”
The win in front of 37,404 at University of Phoenix Stadium moved Mexico into a semifinal match against Jamaica in the Rose Bowl on Sunday. It’s a rematch of the championship game of the last Gold Cup, a 3-1 Mexico victory in 2015.
Mexico and Jamaica played to a 0-0 draw this year in the Gold Cup group stage.
Jamaica beat Canada 2-1 in the first game of Thursday night’s doubleheader.