U.S., Costa Rica reach Gold Cup final

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The United States finally solved Lars Hirschfeld with a series of penalty kicks and advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a victory over Canada on Wednesday night.

Team USA advanced to Saturday's final and will face Costa Rica, a 3-1 winner over Korea in the early semifinal.

Hirschfeld was simply outstanding throughout the run of play, making a spectacular series of saves early in the second half and stopping a pair of sure goals in sudden-death overtime.

But, the Canadians could not solve Kasey Keller, who made two saves during the penalty phase. Meanwhile, the Americans put four past Hirschfeld, whose nerves finally gave way.

The U.S. was all over Canada from the start. Driving down the field at will, the Americans exploited the tremendous amount of space the Canadians conceded.

The Americans did everything right -- they ran well off the ball, they made chances, they created space. But they could not score as Hirschfeld made save after save.

No matter where the Yanks shot, Hirschfeld seemed to be there. It was a remarkable performance for a goal keeper that has been dogged with a shaky reputation.

Hirschfeld forced penalty kicks onto the Americans by saving a point-blank rocket in the 110th minute from Brian West and a blistering shot by Clint Mathis in the 117th.

Hirschfeld also made the plays of the game by standing up Josh Wolff and Brian McBride three times in 30 seconds. Wolff hit a shot just off the crossbar in the 54th that fell right to McBride, who scored three times in the last game, McBride teed it up, but somehow Hirschfeld made the save. The rebound went back to Wolff, and Hirschfeld saved again. The ball fell once again to McBride, and once more Hirschfeld managed to stop it.

The Canadians made few forays at goal, defending and biding their time. Playing with only one forward -- converted center Kevin McKenna -- on the back, the Canadians tried to control the pace of the game by playing kick-and-run.

Their lone chance came when Jason de Vos forced Keller to make a one-handed save in injury time in the first half.

Where McBride left off, teen phenom Landon Donovan picked up as the dynamo driving Team USA's offense. Donovan looked extremely sharp in midfield, was involved in every attack and had many

chances.

In the opener, Paolo Wanchope's two goals advanced Costa Rica, which earned a chance to become the first Central American nation to win the biennial tourney.

Korea will play Canada in the third-place game. It completed a dismal run in the Gold Cup, going 328 minutes without scoring until getting a fluke goal in garbage time. This one was all Costa Rica, who made more chances and finished them when it had

to.

The first chance for the Ticos came in the 39th minute. Wanchope garnered a clear penalty call when Choi Sung-Yong was called for a hand ball. But Hernan Medford, in an inexcusable miss for a

veteran, skied the ball over the bar from the spot.

Just before halftime, however, Harold Wallace collected the ball on the right wing and sent it into the penalty area. Medford one-timed it past two defenders, giving Gomez a golden opportunity directly in front. He gave it a professional finish for a 1-0 lead.

Wanchope added insurance in the 77th minute. He collected a lovely cross from Wilmer Lopez into the corner of the keeper's box and out it right over Kim Byung-Il.

Wanchope, a star in last year's Copa America, tallied again off a restart in the 82nd minute, driving right down the field to blast the ball past a stunned Byung-Il.

Korea's Choi Jin-Cheul converted from about a foot away from the net after nearly falling over the ball.