U.S. Advances Past Costa Rica, 2-0, Into Gold Cup Final
ARLINGTON, Texas â€" Quietly, quickly and methodically, Bruce Arena has remade the U.S. national team in his own image.
Eight months into his second term as coach, the dispirited team Arena inherited is now resilient, confident and more than a little bit cocky.
But most of all it is successful, with Saturday's 2-0 win over Costa Rica sending it back to the Gold Cup final it missed two years ago. It will meet the winner of Sunday's Rose Bowl game between Mexico at Jamaica on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif., where it will go for its sixth continental championship.
To get there, it had to overcome a stubborn Costa Rica team that routed the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier last fall, a result that led U.S. Soccer to fire Jurgen Klinsmann and bring Arena back for this second term of national team coach.
The U.S. hasn't lost since.
And it was two veterans â€" Jozy Altidore, who Arena coached in his first professional season, and Clint Dempsey, who got his national team start under Arena â€" who made the difference Saturday.
The two combined to break open a tight defensive game with goals 10 minutes apart in the second half, with Dempsey's score, the 57th of his U.S. career, tying him with Landon Donovan for the national team record.
His assist on Altidore's goal was his 20th. Only three Americans have more.
Dempsey was an interested spectator for the game's first 66 minutes, but he quickly made an impact after Arena sent him on for Paul Arriola. Dempsey threaded his way through the defense deep into the Costa Rica territory before leading Altidore with a perfect through ball.
Altidore sped away from a pair of defenders, then one-timed a left-footed shot past keeper Patrick Pemberton from the left side of the penalty area for the only goal the U.S. would need.
Dempsey made it 2-0 on a free kick from about 25 yards out, directing a low shot through the Costa Rican wall and just inside the near post.
The U.S. attacked at a high tempo through much of the scoreless first half, dominating possession, 61-39 percent. But it clearly missed the kind of midfield playmaking Christian Pulisic provided during the World Cup qualifiers and went into the intermission without a shot on goal.
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