2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup: Costa Rica 1-1 El Salvador – Randall Brenes rescues Los Ticos
Group A contenders for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 Stadium, Arlington. After a rough outing, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Salvadorans were about to embark on the first upset of the cup with a first-half one-goal lead, when Randall Brenes looped a shot right into the net to rescue the Costa Ricans.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rodolfo-c31415 Zelaya gave Los Cuscatlecos a one-goal lead in the last minute of the first half. El Salvador held firm until the fifth minute of the second-half injury time, when Brenes finally scored the equalizer.
The match started in brisk pace with both teams eager to leave their mark in the contest. El Salvador again showed the form they had demonstrated in the last match against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cuba-c2880 – a strong defence. The quartet at the back was powerful
enough to fend off the strong Costa Rican attack.
Los Ticos, on the other hand, showed a sloppy performance in the first half and only half-hearted attempts came from the forward line-up comprising of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Álvaro-Saborío-c5302, and Marco Urena. Saborio in particular,
bullied the Cuscatlecos in the first half but could not make a decisive impact.
La Selecta opened the scoring in the 45th minute, when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Celso-Borges-c8660 dragged Zelaya to the ground just outside the box. The Costa Ricans conceded a free-kick which proved decisive. Zelaya stepped up to take the set-piece,
and curled the ball over the wall into the net past goalkeeper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/El-Salvador-c2891 leading with a slim margin..
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-c9458 Rican forwards in a crowded El Salvadorian defence.
The chemistry between Ruiz, Bolaños and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Allen-Guevara-c5225 was evident but the trio could not convert any of the chances into goals. Saborio finally found the back of the net when he was presented with a rebound in the 69th minute
from a Guevara shot. However, assistant referee found the RSL striker offside and the scoreboard remained unchanged.
Saborio was again in the thick of action in the 79th minute. Ruiz’s cross sent the player one-on-one with the goalkeeper Elías Montes, but he dragged his shot wide of the target. The Ticos’ hard work paid dividends in the
fifth minute of the injury time when substitute Brenes surged into the box slicing the opposing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904. Eluding the goalkeeper, the player slotted the ball in the back of the net to level the score line.
Tags: