Mexico all but booked their ticket to the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF U20 Championship after defeating Costa Rica by a 2-0 score. Mexico overcame going down to 10 players to get a victory that place them at 6 points, basically guaranteeing them to be at worst one of the two best third placed teams and thus the ticket to the Quarterfinals. Mexico will look to win the group against Guatemala on Thursday while Costa Rica faces off against Antigua and Barbuda earlier that day.
The 1st half started with Mexico coming out with most of the starting 11 from their opener against Antigua and Barbuda. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was almost deflected in by Gabriel Sibaja, as Costa Rica had the first chance of the match. Off a counter, Kionell Estrada got off a right footed shot in the area that went wide. A right footed shot from outside the area from Hugo Camberos went well wide. Both teams traded possession as the match became very even. A bad clearance allowed Matias Cordero to get the ball in the area but his shot was well saved by Mexico's goalkeeper, Juan Liceaga. After a harsh foul, there was a short scuffle between teams that ended with David Carro getting a Yellow card. The match continued to be extremely chippy as Mexico couldn't get going against Costa Rica's physical play. From outside the area, Samir Inda got off a great left footed shot that was deflected off the post. Mexico started to dominate possession as Costa Rica sat back and waited to counter. After a cross into the area was won by Santiago Sandoval, he would get brought down in the area by Adrian Espinoza and a Penalty Kick was given to Mexico. Hugo Camberos stepped up to take the PK and got off a thunderous right footed shot that went past Costa Rica's goalkeeper, Ian O'Rourke to score and give Mexico the 1-o lead. From outside the area, Juan Echivelstre got off a great right footed shot that forced O'Rourke to make a great save. Emmanuel Hernandez answered with a right footed shot from outside the area that Liceaga made a great save on it. The halftime whistle blew and after a slow start to the match, Mexico ended the half being the better team.
The 2nd half started with Mexico subbing out Carlos Hernandez for Yohan Orozco. Strangely three minutes into the half, Mexico subbed out Aldahir Valenzuela (possibly because of an injury) for Diego Reyes. A bad clearance from Liceaga ended up with him clearing the ball and kicking Sibaja in the face which earned him a straight red card. It was a terrible mistake from the goalkeeper that now placed the match in extreme danger with only 10 players. Mexico would sub out Juan Sigala for Cristo Navarrate, which because of the strange substitution of Valenzuela, meant that Mexico only had one window for subs for the rest of the match. Off a counter, Inda would make a great pass to Santiago Sandoval, whose left footed shot would be deflected by Emmanuel Brenes past O'Rourk and into the net to score and give Mexico the surprising 2-0 l
The 1st half started with Mexico coming out with most of the starting 11 from their opener against Antigua and Barbuda. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was almost deflected in by Gabriel Sibaja, as Costa Rica had the first chance of the match. Off a counter, Kionell Estrada got off a right footed shot in the area that went wide. A right footed shot from outside the area from Hugo Camberos went well wide. Both teams traded possession as the match became very even. A bad clearance allowed Matias Cordero to get the ball in the area but his shot was well saved by Mexico's goalkeeper, Juan Liceaga. After a harsh foul, there was a short scuffle between teams that ended with David Carro getting a Yellow card. The match continued to be extremely chippy as Mexico couldn't get going against Costa Rica's physical play. From outside the area, Samir Inda got off a great left footed shot that was deflected off the post. Mexico started to dominate possession as Costa Rica sat back and waited to counter. After a cross into the area was won by Santiago Sandoval, he would get brought down in the area by Adrian Espinoza and a Penalty Kick was given to Mexico. Hugo Camberos stepped up to take the PK and got off a thunderous right footed shot that went past Costa Rica's goalkeeper, Ian O'Rourke to score and give Mexico the 1-o lead. From outside the area, Juan Echivelstre got off a great right footed shot that forced O'Rourke to make a great save. Emmanuel Hernandez answered with a right footed shot from outside the area that Liceaga made a great save on it. The halftime whistle blew and after a slow start to the match, Mexico ended the half being the better team.
The 2nd half started with Mexico subbing out Carlos Hernandez for Yohan Orozco. Strangely three minutes into the half, Mexico subbed out Aldahir Valenzuela (possibly because of an injury) for Diego Reyes. A bad clearance from Liceaga ended up with him clearing the ball and kicking Sibaja in the face which earned him a straight red card. It was a terrible mistake from the goalkeeper that now placed the match in extreme danger with only 10 players. Mexico would sub out Juan Sigala for Cristo Navarrate, which because of the strange substitution of Valenzuela, meant that Mexico only had one window for subs for the rest of the match. Off a counter, Inda would make a great pass to Santiago Sandoval, whose left footed shot would be deflected by Emmanuel Brenes past O'Rourk and into the net to score and give Mexico the surprising 2-0 l
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