Costa Rica confirmed their appearance at this summer's Gold Cup by thumping Guatemala 3-1 in Tegucigalpa. Both teams missed chances to take the lead midway through the first half when Costa Rica's Andy Hurtado shot a penalty high over the bar and Guatemala's Marco Pappa saw his penalty saved by Ricardo González. Guatemala were reduced to ten men when Carlos Gallardo received his second yellow card, and that act coupled with a tactical error by the Guatemalan coach, changed the game.
Alvaro Sánchez made a great individual effort to put Costa Rica in the lead, but Guatemala equalized through Campollo's header six minutes into the second half. Costa Rica regained the lead five minutes later through Pablo Herrera's effort on the second attempt, and extended it a couple of minutes later when Roberto Segura's shot was deflected by Guatemala's Jaime Vídes into his own net. Those two goals finished off the contest, and the only event of significance was Guatemala being reduced to nine men when Carlos Castillo saw a straight red for a harsh challenge on Sánchez.
Guatemala have a second chance to qualify for the Gold Cup when they play Panama on Tuesday night. Group A will conclude tomorrow night when Honduras face El Salvador and Nicaragua play Belize.
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