FOXBORO, Massachusetts, 18 July 2005 — Honduras and the United States each surged to three-goal leads on the way to convincing victories here Saturday in advancing to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament.
DaMarcus Beasley scored in the 42nd and 83rd minutes to give the US squad a 3-1 victory over Jamaica while Honduras held off Costa Rica 3-2 in an earlier quarterfinal before a crowd of 22,108.
Honduras and the US men will meet in one semifinal Thursday while the foes for the other will be determined in Houston, Texas, when Colombia meet Mexico and Panama face South Africa in the other quarterfinals.
Josh Wolff put the US squad ahead in the sixth minute and Beasley boosted the Americans to a 3-0 lead before Jamaica averted a shutout on Ricardo Fuller’s goal in the 88th minute.
American Ben Olsen was tossed in the 58th minute but the Jamaicans squandered the edge when Jermaine Taylor was ejected in the 66th minute. Honduras leaped ahead 3-0 after Wilmer Velazquez opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Danilo Turcios added a goal in the 27th minute and Tyson Nunez found the net two minutes later. Costa Rica answered on goals by Christian Bolanos in the 38th minute and reserve Byran Ruiz, who entered in the 62nd minute and scored in the 81st.
Madrid Open Tour With Victory Over Chivas
In Chicago, Real Madrid staged a late rally to overcome Mexican side Chivas Guadalajara 3-1 in the opening match of their six-game friendly tour of the United States and Asia on Saturday.
After a lackluster first half, the match burst into life in the 73rd minute when Francisco Palencia gave Chivas a surprise lead, pouncing on Jhonny Garcia’s pass to score from close range.
Madrid’s response was almost immediate and the nine-times European champions equalized four minutes later when David Beckham’s free kick was headed home by Alvaro Meija.
The Spaniards continued to press for a winner and were rewarded in the 87th minute when midfielder Guti found the net with a blistering strike from outside the penalty area.
Roberto Soldado added the third, seconds before the final whistle.
Madrid’s next match is against Los Angeles Galaxy today before they depart the US to continue the tour in Beijing, Tokyo and Bangkok.
