Courtesy: CONCACAF.com



Late goals earn Ticos draw in futsal opener

Quick notes about the encounters...

* Forward Miguel Lasso scores four times to lead Panama to its victory over the USA
* USA's overall losing streak reaches 12 games
* Forward Humberto Armando Escobar becomes first Guatemalan to notch four goals in a match
* Chapines' William Ramirez becomes fourth-ever goalkeeper to score in a goal in CONCACAF match
* Mexico - Costa Rica play to a draw for the second time in its head-to-head series
* Cuban midfielder Eduardo Morales three goals against St. Kitts & Nevis to move to second on CONCACAF all-time scoring list with 15


GUATEMALA CITY - Edwin Cubillo and Christopher Molina scored less than a minute apart late in the second half to earn Costa Rica a 4-4 draw with Mexico on Monday as the CONCACAF Futsal Championship got underway.

Host Guatemala scored four unanswered goals in the second half to begin defense of its title with a 7-3 victory over Canada, Cuba defeated fellow Caribbean side St. Kitts and Nevis 10-0 and Panama defeated the United States 5-2.

Costa Rica capitalized on Morgan Plata's expulsion with six minutes remaining to score both goals and rally from a 4-2 deficit. The Ticos had won seven straight against the Latin American giants and nine of the previous 11.

Miguel Limon scored two second-half goals and Francisco Cati added another earlier in the second half to put Mexico ahead with just under seven minutes remaining.

Cubillo settled a long ball at the edge of the area, moved around goalkeeper Miguel Estrada who came off his line, and finished into an open net in the 14th minute. Fifty-two seconds later, Molina found space on the right and drove a low ball past Mexico keeper Miguel Estrada off the left post.

Mexico had the better possession and more numerous chances until the final seven minutes. After Plata's expulsion reduced El Tri to three players for two minutes, teammate Angel Rodriguez followed with 2:46 remaining, limiting Mexico again for all but the final seconds.

Costa Rica keeper Jairo Toruno turned away several chances before Plata put Mexico ahead in the eighth minute with a left-footed free kick around a two-man wall inside the near post. But Costa Rica equalized less than a minute later when Estrada blocked Rodriguez's chest-high shot from just outside the area, and let it bounce underneath him into the goal.

Marco Carvajal then put Costa Rica ahead with 2:28 left in the half, getting a left-footed effort under the outstretched leg of Mexican defender Francisco Cati and through a crowd.

Mexico began to capitalize on its chances in the second half when Limon finished a quick counter with Carlos Ramirez in the 30th minute, and Cati side-footed Plata's short rolling ball from close range in the 34th.


Guatemala 7, Canada 3

Humberto Escobar scored twice in each half to rally Guatemala after Canada took a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes on an own-goal by Estuardo De Leon and a penalty by Matthew Rios.

A penalty by Alan Aguilar and Escobar's first 28 seconds apart pulled Guatemala even by the 12th minute. Alvaro Yaques Green restored Canada to the lead with just over four minutes to go in the half, but Escobar scored seven seconds before halftime, and then again 2:12 into the second half to give Guatemala the lead it wouldn't relinquish.

William Ramirez and Pablo Estrada both added goals in the 24th minute for Guatemala, which avenged its only other result against Canada, a 5-3 friendly loss nine years ago.

Canada lost Yaques Green in the 24th minute for a deliberate handball, and won't have him available for its Tuesday match against the United States.



Cuba 10, St. Kitts and Nevis 0

Eduardo Morales scored three goals and Jhonnet Martinez set up four - two to Morales -- to pace four-time World Cup qualifier Cuba against a team making its debut at the CONCACAF championship.

Yulier Oivera scored a pair of goals and Martinez, Fernando Chapman, Carlos Madrigal, Luis Portal and Yampier Rodriguez had one each for Cuba, which led 5-0 by halftime.

Cuba jumped ahead less than four minutes after the opening kickoff. Martinez struck a ball from inside the halfway line to the middle of the penalty area, where Chapman volleyed it inside the right post. Morales scored his first in the sixth minute, tapping in Martinez's cross at the left post.

Olivera scored twice in less than two minutes, and Martinez added his with 46 seconds remaining as Cuba tallied three times in the final three minutes.

Cuba tacked on five additional goals in the second half and hit the post twice more. St. Kitts created a handful of chances, one of its best with just over four minutes remaining in the first half when Alden Nurse's short-range shot was blocked at the right post.



Panama 5, United States 2

Miguel Lasso scored four goals, three in the first half, and Panama ended a three-game winless streak against the United States at the CONCACAF championship.

Lasso converted on two quick counters, followed up a rebound of his own blocked shot to add a third and then finished into an empty net with less than two minutes remaining.

The Americans had a fair amount of possession early, but created only a handful of chances, while the Panamanians exploited their speed to catch the United States out of position.

Lasso finished a 3-on-1 break in the sixth minute, controlling a squared ball a little behind him with one touch and finishing with a right-footed drive from outside the penalty area. He sprinted down the left side eight minutes later and beat U.S. keeper Danny Waltman with a low, left-footed strike inside the far post.

After Bryan Perez volleyed Patrick Healy's diagonal ball to pull the United States within one a minute and a half later, Lasso added his third by corralling Matthew Stewart's block and driving a low, shot from distance past Waltman.

Kraig Chiles pulled the United States within 3-2 midway through the second half, but after the Americans replaced Waltman for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, Lasso and Angelo Rivillo tacked on goals into an empty net.

The result avenged the last encounter, a 7-1 victory by the United States in the 2008 third-place game that sent the Americans to the World Cup.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com