Damion Downs scored in the sixth round of a penalty shootout after three saves by Matt Freese to send the US to the semi-finals of the Concacaf Gold Cup after Sunday night’s match had ended in a 2-2 draw.The US will play Guatemala on Wednesday after they upset Canada in another shootout in the opener of the quarter-final doubleheader in Minneapolis. Mexico play Honduras in the other semi-final on Wednesday. The final is in Houston on 6 July.
“They showed today great character,”USAcoach Mauricio Pochettino said of his team’s efforts.
Freese batted away attempts by Juan Pablo Vargas, Francisco Calvo and Andy Rojas in the shootout, which the US won 4-3.
“Penalties are my thing,” Freese said. “On the plane ride over here to Minnesota I was studying the penalties and I’ve been studying them all week.”
The US have reached the semi-finals in 17 of 18 Gold Cups, including 13 straight since a loss on penalties to Colombia in a 2000 quarter-final.
Diego Luna and Max Arfsten scored in regulation for the US, who faced their toughest opponent of the tournament so far inCosta Ricaafter breezing through the group stage with an 8-1 goal differential.
Alonso Martinez scored the tying goal for Los Ticos in the 71st minute with a left-footed shot after Carlos Mora split Luca de La Torre and Arsten to take a shot on Freese and seize the rebound to set up Martinez.
Concacaf changed the rules for this edition of the tournament, getting rid of extra time except for the final.
John Tolkin had the first chance to win the shootout for the US but Keylor Navas knocked down his attempt in the fifth round of kicks.
Freese then denied Rojas, sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. That set up the winner by the 20-year-old Downs.
The US are playing with a weakened squad for this tournament after several of their best players, including Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Folarin Balogun and Sergiño Dest, withdrew for a variety of reasons, from injuries to rest to Club World Cup commitments.
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Costa Rica played without four key players on Sunday. Forward Manfred Ugalde, who had three goals in the tournament, and midfielder Carlos Mora were suspended for yellow-card accumulation. Defender Ariel Lassiter and forward Warren Madrigal were sidelined by injuries.
Three of Costa Rica’s six goals during the group stage came by penalty kick, and Calvo added another one in the 12th minute after a foul by Arsten. Calvo went low to zip the ball just out of reach of a diving Freese.
Malik Tillman put a 37th-minute penalty off a post and Navas knocked away Arfsten’s attempt off the rebound.
Luna scored his first international goal in the 43rd by rocketing a shot off the chest of defender Alexis Gamboa. Tillman made amends for his miss early in the second half by poking a pass ahead for Arfsten, who surged in from a wing to send the ball into the opposite corner for a 2-1 lead.