Mexico wins 11th CONCACAF U-20 title.
Ulises Davila scored a goal in each half and led Mexico to its 11th CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Sunday, pacing a 3-1 victory over Costa Rica in the title game.
Davila scored in the 19th minute to equalize after Joseph Mora had given Costa Rica the lead a minute and a half earlier, and then added insurance in the 52nd.
It Mexico's first CONCACAF U-20 crown since 1992 and came after the 2009 team finished last in its group without so much as a victory.
El Tri won all five matches in the championship, outscoring its opponents 18-2.
Sunday's result was the first time that Costa Rica, seeking a second straight title, had allowed more than one goal in its five matches.
Mexico took the initiative from outset, forcing Costa Rican keeper Mauricio Vargas to punch Davila's corner kick away in the ninth minute, Ariel Soto to clear Saul Villalobos' cross through the goal box over his own line in the 13th and Diego De Buen pulling a shot wide of the left post in the 14th.
But Costa Rica took the lead against the run of play in the 17th. Mora traded passes just outside the Mexican penalty area with Juan Golobio, who returned ball down the left side of the box where Mora struck a low rolling ball first time past Mexican keeper Carlos Lopez and inside the far post.
Mexico resumed its dominant possession and equalized when Davila fed Villalobos on the left side. Villalobos created space facing Costa Rican defender Jordan Hakeem Smith, turned inside and sent a short ball to Davila, who volleyed it with his left foot from a step inside the 18 and curled it into the far-side netting.
Carlos Orrantia put Mexico ahead in the 39th, settling an attempted clearance of a corner kick off his chest, letting the ball bounce once and striking it from 30 meters to sail the shot past a diving Vargas.
Mexico continued to press before halftime when Alan Pulido's shot from just past the penalty arc had to be tipped over the bar in the 41st, but it needed until the second half to assure itself of another title.
Villalobos fed Pulido in the area, whose work in tight space enabled Davila to roll the ball with his right foot without being challenged and finish with an easy shot from almost on top of the penalty spot.
It was a team-leading fourth goal of the tournament for the 19-year-old forward, playing his second season with Chivas de Guadalajara.
Costa Rica struggled to create chances and manager Ronald Gonzalez even substituted tournament scoring leader but ineffective Joel Cambpell, who had six goals, in the 65th minute, replacing him with Deyver Vega.
Mexico was content to defend for the second half, removing Pulido, Davila and Taufic Guarch by the 68th minute of a match attended by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who watched with CONCACAF President Jack Warner.
Sunday's match was the closest of any game for Mexico, which didn't win any of its previous matches by fewer than three goals. It won the title without a full roster, choosing not to bring Davila's teammate and Chivas scoring leader Erick Torres for the tournament.
Guatemala outlasts Panama on PKs.
Guatemala outdueled Panama 7-6 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to win third place at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Sunday, claiming the region's last place in the Pan American Games.
Jose Lemus converted the winning kick, sending his shot left while Panamanian keeper Kevin Melgar dived the opposite way. Guatemalan keeper Jose Carlos Garcia set up Lemus for his winning penalty, dropping low to his left to block Jairo Jimenez's last try for Panama.
The victory matched Guatemala's second-best finish at the CONCACAF U-20s. It was runner-up in 1962 and again in 1973 and twice finished third, the last time in 2001.
Panama won its group in 2002, when the tournament was conducted in separate venues, but had never advanced out of the first round in three tries when the event was conducted in a championship format.
The match finished 10-on-10 after Guatemala's Manuel Moreno received two yellow cards in 33 minutes and was sent off with the second for knocking over Josimer Gomez with a shoulder charge in the 86th. Gomez - who already had a yellow from a foul on Marvin Ceballos in the 66th, followed him just as the first extra time period ended.
Gomez drew a straight red from Mexican referee Roberto Garcia for a lunging right leg that brought down Marco Tulio Rivas at midfield.
Both sides were limited to shots from distance for most of the match with Melgar diving to punch away a shot by Kevin Norales less than a minute after the opening kickoff, and also blocking long-range efforts from Kendel Herrarte in the 12th and 40th and a header from Abner Bonilla in the 41st.
Panama, too, tried its luck from distance, with Gabriel Avila being the most active in the first half, but nothing that forced Garcia into the same acrobatics.
The frequency of chances was less in the second half with the best opportunities coming in the 63rd for Guatemala - when Melgar had to quickly race off his line to clear a dangerous through ball with Cristian Lima closing, and in the 81st for Panama, when Cecilio Waterman's cross beat Garcia, but ended up under intended target Jose Diego Alvarez and Guatemala defender Edward Benitez, who fell when their feet tangled.
Alvarez was able to test Garcia in the 97th, running onto a through ball down the middle of the area and flicking a shot from 15 meters that the Guatemalan keeper was able to deflect away. Panama's best chance in the extra period came with three minutes remaining when Waterman was able to create space before getting a shot from 23 meters that Garcia was able to get low to grab.
Guatemala played without Jose del Aguila and Jose Castillo, both suspended for accumulated yellow cards, and Gerson Lima, who scored three goals in the first three games and also missed Friday's semifinal against Costa Rica.
Lima, who had to leave Wednesday's quarterfinal victory over the United States at halftime, reportedly had surgery for an appendicitis Friday morning after initial reports indicated he was being treated for a gall bladder problem.
Panama started the match without Waterman, the team's scoring leader who had four goals in the tournament in addition to his pair in qualifying. Manager Alfredo Poyatos inserted him for Avila to start the second half, enabling Panama to generate chances from the right side.
Guatemala heads to the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara October 14-30 with fellow Central American side Costa Rica, which played Mexico in the final; Cuba, the highest finishing Caribbean side in the tournament, and host Mexico.
SOURCE - CONCACAF.COM
