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Guardado keeps calm from the spot to send Mexico into Gold Cup final
Guardado keeps calm from the spot to send Mexico into Gold Cup final
(about 4 hours later)
Andres Guardado scored two goals on penalty kicks, including the tiebreaker in extra time, and six-time champion Mexico beat short-handed and angered Panama 2-1 in the Gold Cup semifinals Wednesday night.
Mexico rallied for a 2-1 victory over Panama thanks to two late penalty kicks by Andrés Guardado.
Panama’s Roman Torres scored on a header early in the second half, and the 1-0 lead held until Guardado’s penalty kick in stoppage time. The penalty kick, which followed a 10-minute delay as tempers flared, set up the extra time.
After Román Torres headed one in off a corner early in the second half, Panama nearly pulled off the second upset of Wednesday night, despite playing a man down most of the game. Luis Tejada was sent off with a red card after he appeared to strike Francisco Rodriguez with his arm and hand in the face while challenging for the ball.
Mexico will play Jamaica in the final Sunday in Philadelphia. Jamaica upset defending champion United States 2-1 in the first semifinal and will be appearing in its first final.
When the American referee Mark Geiger signalled a penalty kick for Mexico with the clock winding down in the second half, ruling Torres touched the ball with his hand in front of the goal while falling to the turf contesting a loose ball, the Panamanians erupted in protest.
Panama played at a disadvantage after forward Luis Tejada drew a red card and was ejected for his contact with Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez about 25 minutes into the match.
Related: USA 1-2 Jamaica | Gold Cup semi-final match report
Tensions erupted again after the match as Panama’s players charged the officials, who had to be escorted off the field by security.
As fans showered the field with cups and trash, the two teams nearly came to blows between their benches. The match was halted for nearly 15 minutes before Guardado finally converted the penalty.
Guardado, a midfielder, also scored the decisive goal on a penalty kick in Mexico’s 1-0 quarter-final win over Costa Rica.
Mexico won it after Geiger awarded another kick for Harold Cummings’ taking down Javier Orozco in the penalty area, setting up Guardado’s winning goal in the 105th. The weary Panamanians could not come back from that, but they did muster the energy to go after Geiger at the final whistle. Security officers raced onto the field to escort the referee and his crew to the safety of the locker room.
In the 98th minute, a penalty was called on Torres for touching the ball in the penalty area. Panama players protested and fans began to throw debris onto the field for the second time in the match. Chaos broke out on the sideline as players from both teams argued and appeared to be on the verge of an all-out melee before slowly being separated.
“I ask myself why did this happen?” said Panama coach Hernán Darío Gómez . “We were doing everything well. It is very sad. We are people of football, and I still can’t believe this happened. I wonder if this really happened.”
Following the delay, Guardado’s left-footed penalty kick found the right corner of the net for the tying goal.
Panama will take on USA in the third-place game on Saturday.
Panama was denied its second straight final. It lost to the US in the 2013 final after beating Mexico in the semi-finals.
A win by Panama’s win would have been an upset, but not on the level of Jamaica’s shocker over the US. Mexico is No 40 in the world rankings and has appeared in seven of 12 finals in the Concacaf tournament. Panama is 62nd.
A header by Torres early in the second half broke the scoreless tie. Torres was in position to intercept a corner kick from Erick Davis in front of the goal, and his header to the ground bounced past goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Torres jumped in glee, his fists clinched, as Panama took its fifth straight 1-0 lead in the tournament. In each of its first four games, Panama took 1-0 leads only to allow the equalizer. This time, its defense held firm.
In the 25th minute, Tejada jumped to attempt a header when he hit Rodriguez with his arm and hand, knocking the defender to the ground. Tejada protested and had to be restrained by his teammates when the red card was pulled.
There was tension from both teams as Mexico players pushed Panama’s players away from Rodriguez, who remained on the ground. Tejada was very slow to leave the field, stopping and circling back as fans hurled cups and plastic bottles in his direction. Tejada’s teammate Adolfo Machado attempted to serve as an escort off the field but finally gave up when Tejada continued to linger.
Finally, Tejada departed into the tunnel, leaving Panama with the difficult task of taking on Mexico with 10 players.
Mexico’s Miguel Layun cleared the debris from the field, picking up the cups and bottles, so play could resume.
