AP, Glendale :
A goal by Rodolfo Pizarro just over three minutes into the game was all the offense Mexico could muster but it was enough for a 1-0 victory over Honduras on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
While its offense bogged down, Mexico survived several near-misses by Honduras in the second half.
The victory in front of 37,404 at University of Phoenix Stadium moved Mexico into a semifinal match against Jamaica in the Rose Bowl on Sunday. It’s a rematch of the championship game of the last Gold Cup, a 3-1 Mexico victory in 2015.
Mexico and Jamaica played to a 0-0 draw this year in the Gold Cup group stage.
The United States plays Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas, in the other semifinal.
The Mexican team was without several top players who had played in the recently completed Confederations Cup in Russia.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said Wednesday that he had planned to bring some of those players to the Gold Cup but was thwarted by “our bosses and their clubs.”
Only one of the 23 players on Mexico’s roster played in the Confederations Cup.
Osorio again was not on the sideliner Thursday night. He was serving the fourth of a six-game FIFA suspension for using “insulting words” to an official during a Confederations Cup match July 2.
Osorio watched from suite high above the field. His suspension would end with the Gold Cup championship game if Mexico wins its semifinal.
Two slick passes inside the penalty area led to Mexico’s goal in the fourth minute of the game.
A goal by Rodolfo Pizarro just over three minutes into the game was all the offense Mexico could muster but it was enough for a 1-0 victory over Honduras on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
While its offense bogged down, Mexico survived several near-misses by Honduras in the second half.
The victory in front of 37,404 at University of Phoenix Stadium moved Mexico into a semifinal match against Jamaica in the Rose Bowl on Sunday. It’s a rematch of the championship game of the last Gold Cup, a 3-1 Mexico victory in 2015.
Mexico and Jamaica played to a 0-0 draw this year in the Gold Cup group stage.
The United States plays Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas, in the other semifinal.
The Mexican team was without several top players who had played in the recently completed Confederations Cup in Russia.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said Wednesday that he had planned to bring some of those players to the Gold Cup but was thwarted by “our bosses and their clubs.”
Only one of the 23 players on Mexico’s roster played in the Confederations Cup.
Osorio again was not on the sideliner Thursday night. He was serving the fourth of a six-game FIFA suspension for using “insulting words” to an official during a Confederations Cup match July 2.
Osorio watched from suite high above the field. His suspension would end with the Gold Cup championship game if Mexico wins its semifinal.
Two slick passes inside the penalty area led to Mexico’s goal in the fourth minute of the game.
