ST. LOUIS — Diego Luna scored two quick goals, and the United States beat Guatemala 2-1 on Wednesday night. This win helped the U.S. reach the Concacaf Gold Cup final for the first time since 2021.
Luna scored his first goal in the 4th minute with his left foot. He scored again in the 15th minute with his right foot. This means Luna has scored three goals in the last two games.
In the 80th minute, Olger Escobar scored for Guatemala, making the score 2-1. Escobar is only 18 years old and was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He moved inside the box and slid the ball past U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese and into the corner of the goal. This was Escobar’s second goal in the tournament.
In the second minute of extra time, Freese stopped a shot from José Morales by pushing the ball away toward the far post.
The United States will now play in the Gold Cup final on Sunday in Houston. They will play against either Mexico (the defending champion) or Honduras. This will be the last important game for the U.S. before they start playing in the World Cup next June. Mexico has won the Gold Cup nine times, the U.S. has won it seven times, and Canada has won it once.
The U.S. is ranked 16th in the world and has now reached the Gold Cup final 13 times. They have lost in the final five times, and every time, they lost to Mexico.
Guatemala, ranked 106th, has never reached the final. In the last 30 minutes of the first half, Guatemala took 13 shots, while the U.S. only took one.
For Luna’s first goal, Alex Freeman crossed the ball to Malik Tillman, who passed it to Luca de la Torre. De la Torre took a shot, and the Guatemalan goalkeeper, Kenderson Navarro, could not catch it. Luna quickly got the ball, switched it from his right foot to his left, and shot it into the goal over the goalkeeper’s hand.
For his second goal, 11 minutes later, Luna received a long pass from Tillman when he was about 40 yards from the goal. He dribbled forward, used a stepover to get past a defender, and shot the ball inside the near post from the edge of the penalty box.
Guatemala’s team included two players who used to play for the United States. Rubio Rubin, a 29-year-old forward, played seven games for the U.S. from 2014 to 2018 before switching to Guatemala in 2022. Aaron Herrera, a 28-year-old defender, played one game for the U.S. in 2021 before switching to Guatemala in 2023.
Rubin scored a goal in the 29th minute, but it was not counted because he was offside. In the 34th minute, Freese made a good save with his foot on another shot by Rubin.
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