 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
Scoreless, but good enough Mexico advances to Gold Cup quarters with 0-0 drawPosted: Friday July 18, 2003 1:03 AMUpdated: Friday July 18, 2003 1:23 AM
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico settled for a scoreless draw against Honduras on Thursday, doing just enough to clinch first-place in Group A and advance to the Gold Cup's quarterfinals. Both sides looked sluggish throughout the contest -- passes weren't crisp, ball-control was unimpressive and defense was sloppy. Neither team managed a shot on-goal in the first 30 minutes and the level of play remained far-from thrilling as the night wore on. Mexico's best-chance to get on the scoreboard came just seconds into injury time when Salvador Carmona used his head to redirect a free-kick from the right side by Pavel Pardo. But Honduran goalkeeper Victor Coello had little trouble getting both hands around the shot. A restless crowd of 15,000 filled mostly the cheaper, upper-bowl seats at the Mexican capital's 105,000-capacity Azteca Stadium. Many fans spent most of the night chanting "Hugo! Hugo!" for Hugo Sanchez, the coach of the Mexican league's Pumas, who many believe should have been chosen to coach of the national team instead of Ricardo Lavolpe, who was hired after last year's World Cup. Mexico outlasted its other first-round opponent in Group A, Brazil, 1-0 on Sunday, but the Brazilians finished second in the group and qualified for round two by beating Honduras 2-1 on Tuesday. Jamaica travels to Mexico to meet the host country at Azteca on Sunday. Brazil will head to Miami for a match against Colombia, on Saturday. Thursday night's tie ensured Honduras remains winless at Azteca. The Hondurans' best scoring opportunity came off a corner kick by Julio Cesar "Rambo" Leon in the 50th minute, when Jaime Rosales out-jumped two defenders to head a centering pass to Milton Palacios. But Mexican goalie Oswaldo Sanchez scampered out of the goal to meet the ball and got both hands around Polacios' close-range blast from the right side. "A goal remained just out of our reach," Honduran coach Edwin Pavon said after the game. "One goal would have won it." Lavolpe said Honduras played conservatively, consistently infuriating Mexico's offensive stars. "It seemed like a tie was glorifying for Honduras," he said. "I don't know how." The Gold Cup's other two quarterfinal matches will be played in Foxboro, Massachusetts where the United States faces Cuba and Costa Rica battles El Salvador. The winners of those matches will move on to the semifinals, which will be played July 23 in Miami and July 24 in Mexico City. The championship match is set for the Mexican capital on July 27. The Gold Cup is the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, but Brazil and Colombia were invited to participate. Mexico, long the region's top soccer power, last won the tournament in 1998. The United States won last year's Gold Cup.
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
