Defending champion Mexico is once again in the Gold Cup semifinals after a commanding performance—but will face a surprise opponent in Honduras, which held its nerve in a penalty shootout against Panama.
The Mexican national team is just two steps away from defending its Gold Cup title. In Glendale, Arizona, El Tri defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0, which was participating for the first time as the host nation in the equivalent of the European Championship for teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Alexis Vega put Mexico on course shortly after the break when he beat goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi with his second attempt after a pass from Raul Jimenez (49′). In his celebration, he held up the jersey of his teammate Luis Chavez (Dynamo Moscow), who had torn his cruciate ligament before the quarter-finals.
Saudi Arabia, which had reached the knockout stage with only four points and a goal difference of 2-2, offered almost nothing offensively throughout the game, but instead the 58th-ranked team in the FIFA world rankings sealed the victory itself when Abdullah Madu unluckily deflected a cross into his own net (81′).
Gilberto Mora was no longer on the pitch at that point: the Club Tijuana midfielder had surprisingly been in the starting line-up and, at 16 years and 219 days, became the youngest debutant in the history of the Mexican national team.
“Perfect” Panama out – Honduras celebrates in penalty shootout
The record Gold Cup winners, who are in the semi-finals for the 17th time, will now face Honduras in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday. Honduras defeated Panama 5-4 on penalties to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013.
Anthony Lozano saved Honduras with his 1-1 equalizer in the 82nd minute, sending the game to a penalty shootout, where he then missed the decisive shot as his team’s fifth taker. However, Eduardo Guerrero’s nerves failed him, while Carlos Pineda kept his cool, and Honduras advanced. For Panama, the only team to have stormed through the group stage with a perfect nine points, the tournament came to an abrupt end.
