PHILADELPHIA: The US overcame a battling display from El Salvador to advance to a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal showdown with Costa Rica here Wednesday.
First-half goals from defenders Omar Gonzalez and Eric Lichaj secured a hard-fought quarterfinal win for the hosts, who are chasing their first Gold Cup title since 2013.
However, Bruce Arena’s side were made to work all the way by El Salvador, and only some superb saves from Tim Howard kept the Central American side at bay at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
“They pressed us well and we weren’t good enough with the ball to break their press,” Howard said afterwards. “We got the two goals before half-time and that was obviously good for us. But we knew they were going to cause us problems.
“It’s good to get the win. We can work on a few things, but that’s what this tournament’s about.”
An unconvincing start saw the hosts given a let-off early on when Lichaj under-hit a back pass to Howard.
Rodolfo Zelaya latched onto the loose ball and darted clear only to be denied by a desperate late block from Howard, who had spotted the danger and advanced swiftly to snuff out the chance.
The remainder of the first half was dominated by a series of niggly fouls as El Salvador frustrated American efforts to impose themselves on the contest.
The Americans were unlucky to be denied an opening goal midway through the half when Clint Dempsey released Gyasi Zardes who lifted his finish above Derby Carrillo, only to be flagged for offside.
Replays later showed the Los Angeles Galaxy forward was onside.
As tempers flared Lichaj was lucky to escape a caution when he flattened Dennis Pineda near the halfway line.
Four minutes before halftime however, the US broke the deadlock when Gonzalez leaped to glance in Michael Bradley’s teasing free-kick to make it 1-0.
Deep into first half stoppage time, Lichaj made it 2-0 with a goal that owed everything to the guile of Bradley.
The veteran striker left Henry Romero for dead with a brilliant turn and then slipped a pass into the feet of Lichaj, who controlled to shoot beneath Carrillo for his maiden international goal.
The Americans now face 2014 World Cup quarterfinalists Costa Rica in Saturday’s semifinals.
The match represents an opportunity for the US to avenge their humiliating 4-0 loss to Costa Rica during 2018 World Cup qualifiers last year.
Howard, however, insisted score-settling would not be on the agenda.
“It’s not about what happened in the past,” he said. “It’s about winning on Saturday night and getting to a final.”
Los Ticos advanced to the last four after Panama defender Anibal Godoy headed agonizingly into his own net to give Costa Rica a 1-0 victory in Wednesday’s earlier quarterfinal.
The Central American rivals were deadlocked in the second half when Costa Rica’s David Guzman swung a long free kick toward the Panamanian goal.
Panama’s Godoy leapt to try to head the ball away but instead it spun back into the Panamanian net in the 77th minute.
US battles into Gold Cup semifinals
US battles into Gold Cup semifinals
Smylie wins on LIV Golf debut, leads Ripper GC to team title in Riyadh
- Jon Rahm and Torque GC finish second in the individual and team competitions respectively
RIYADH: Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith believes his new teammate Elvis Smylie can one day become the best golfer in the world. After the 23-year-old Australian produced four sizzling rounds to win on his LIV Golf debut, the rest of the league may very well share the same sentiment.
Smylie capped off an impressive first week under the lights at Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh, shooting a final-round bogey-free 8-under 64 on Saturday to hold off a hard-charging Jon Rahm by one stroke. He also led the Rippers to the team title, as the Aussies swept both trophies going into their biggest tournament of the season at LIV Golf Adelaide next week.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Smylie, who officially joined the team last month. “I really didn’t know what to expect this week. Playing at night is obviously a whole different ballgame out here. I wanted to come out here and make a statement. I wanted to prove that I’m one of the best out here, and I feel like I’ve done that. It’s only up from here.”
Smith agreed. “The crazy thing is I still think he’s got a lot of improving to go, which is pretty scary, really, for the rest of us, because he waxed us this week. I genuinely think he can be the best golfer in the world. He’s got all the tools of the trade. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and knuckle down.”
With the win, Smylie earns the projected points allotted by the Official World Golf Ranking to the winner of this week’s LIV Golf tournament. The OWGR announced earlier this week that points will be awarded for LIV Golf tournaments this season to the top 10 and ties. Smylie entered the week ranked 134th and is expected to move up significantly with the victory.
Smylie’s winning score of 24 under is the lowest in league history, a byproduct perhaps of the league’s adjusted format from 54 to 72 holes. He also beat the biggest field in LIV Golf history after an increase from 54 to 57 players this season.
But more impressive than the raw numbers was Smylie’s sublime play, especially with a new blade putter. “Everything looked like a bucket for me, which is nice,” said Smylie, who ranked third in the field in strokes gained putting.
He needed a hot putter down the stretch to create some separation from the field, then withstand the last-ditch rally by Rahm, the Legion XIII captain and two-time LIV Golf individual champion.
Rahm started the day two shots behind co-leaders Smylie and Peter Uihlein and was three strokes behind when Smylie birdied the par-4 12th. But the Spaniard closed fast with birdies on five of his last six holes, including the last four.
He drove the green at the 396-yard par-4 18th but could not convert the eagle putt. Still, his final birdie put the finishing touches on a 9-under bogey-free 63, the lowest round of the week, and reduced Smylie’s lead to one.
Smylie, however, was not aware of the slim margin until hitting his approach shot at the 18th that left him on the edge of the green.
“I actually didn’t know that I had to two-putt the last green,” he said. “I thought I would have had a two-shot lead going into 18. But as soon as I was walking up the green, I saw that I only had one, so I’m like, I’ve got to clutch up here and make sure to get this up-and-down.”
Rahm, who shot a final-round 11-under 60 in his last regular-season LIV Golf tournament in Indianapolis last year to clinch his second consecutive season-long title, pointed to his failure to make birdie at the par-5 sixth and a poor approach shot at the par-4 11th as missed opportunities. Even so, he was pleased with making a run to earn his fifth runner-up finish and 25th top-10 result in 27 regular-season LIV Golf appearances.
“It was a fantastic round of golf, shot 9-under,” he said. “Elvis had a great day and a two-shot lead. If anything, if there’s one or two shots to look at, I’ve got to go to earlier in the week.”
RangeGoats GC’s Uihlein finished third after shooting a 67 for 21 under, while Fireballs GC’s David Puig and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters shot 65s to share fourth place with Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer.
The team competition turned into a battle between Ripper and Torque. The Australians started off fast, with Marc Leishman beginning his round with four straight birdies; the team collectively was 11 under through their first six holes.
Torque responded with Ancer, making his first start for his new team after four years with Fireballs GC, and Sebastian Munoz each shooting 66.
But the 64s by Smylie and Lucas Herbert were supported by Smith’s 65 and Leishman’s 69 to produce a fourth-round team score of 26 under, the third-best single round team score in league history. Ripper’s tournament total of 69 under is a league record as they won their fifth regular-season team title by three shots.
