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| What: |
CONCACAF Gold Cup International Soccer Tournament |
| When: |
July 21 & 24, 2005 |
| Where: |
Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, New Jersey |
FINALS
USA 3, Panama 1
In the final game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, USA defeated Panama 3-1 in a thrilling shootout to claim their third Gold Cup Title. Neither team was able to score during regulation or during the two fifteen minute overtimes so the match was decided by penalty kicks.
Landon Donovan, Santino Quaranta, and Brad Davis were the three US goal scorers in the shootout and veteran goal keeper Kasey Keller was stellar under pressure. The US team is currently ranked 6th in the world by FIFA and was favored to reach the finals. Panama on the other hand was considered a long shot from the outset and had a tough road to the championship match. USA’s DeMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan tied for the tournament’s top scorers with three goals a piece.
SEMIFINALS
Panama 3, Columbia 2
Ricardo Philips of Panama scored in the 11th and 72nd minutes to help his team to a 3-1 victory over Columbia. In the 25th minute Panama went up 2-0 when Jorge Dely Valdes slotted the ball past Colombian goalkeeper Farid Mondragon. Colombian midfielder Jairo Patino scored in the 62nd minute to tie the game, but Panama recaptured the lead and secured the win with Philips’ second goal of the match.
United States 2, Honduras 1
Honduras took a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute of the game after a goal by Mario Ivan Guerrero slipped past US goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The outlook was bleak for the US until the final six minutes of the game when Landon Donovan assisted a John O’Brien goal to tie the game up in the 86th minute and then assisted Oguchi Onyewu’s game-winning goal in the 92nd minute.
CONCACAF is the governing body that organizes tournaments and structures competition for over 40 member nations. The Gold Cup is the most coveted title on the men’s national stage. This year’s competitors included teams from: Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup takes place every two years. The U.S. team won the inaugural Cup in 1991 by defeating Honduras at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Other venues for this year’s competition included: the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami, Qwest Field in Seattle, The Home Depot Center and Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and Reliant Stadium in Houston.
For a more information, please visit www.concacaf.org.
Last Updated On:
Monday, August 1, 2005 | |
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