Stuart Holden and Kenny Cooper have both produced goals en route to the Gold Cup semis. (M. Evans/AP)
Those teams competing in Thursday's semifinals at Soldier Field are the same countries holding the first through fourth place slots in the hexagonal World Cup qualifying standings.
Costa Rica, the United States, Honduras and Mexico are semifinalists.
That's the order of the hexagonal table. Costa Rica leads the group with 12 points, two ahead of the Unites States, a team they beat 3-1 at home. Honduras is in third with seven points, one ahead of Mexico with five qualifiers left for each team.
Had qualifying ended today, Honduras, the U.S. and Costa Rica would qualify for the World Cup in South Africa next summer. Mexico would play a two-game playoff against the fifth place finisher in South American qualifying.
Costa Rica would be the group champion. The Ticos have won three straight matches in World Cup qualifying, a 1-0 outing against El Salvador, a 2-0 shutout against Honduras and the U.S. game.
The Ticos only loss in qualifying was a 2-0 result against Mexico at Estadio Azteca where almost every visiting team has a strong disadvantage with an energetic partisan Mexico crowd at hand.
The Costa Rican team competing in the Gold Cup is somewhat different. Some of its senior starters were left off the roster, but coach Rodrigo Kenton insists the team is not much different.
"I think we've used enough players but left some out the Gold Cup thinking in what's next, the hexagonal, while hoping to go from less to more," Kenton said. "Every day we gain more confidence in this strong tournament in which I think we've done well."
The Ticos earned a slot in the semis and a match against Mexico in the night cap of a doubleheader Thursday with a 5-1 rout of Guadeloupe in Arlington, Texas Sunday.
Kenton's squad finished group play second in group A with four points, three behind Canada the group winner. Canada was eliminated by Honduras Saturday.
But Costa Rica's performance in the Gold Cup has left room for criticism based on its results in hexagonal competition. Fans and media, though, want to see similar results.
"I respect the criticism in that aspect but one thing is the hexagonal and the other is completely different," Kenton said. "The Gold Cup is a tournament that is played in a month which starts when the teams are off. The players are coming from days off into the Gold Cup."
There no more days off for the players. The semifinals are creeping fast and the final is three days later at Giants stadium in New York.
Mexico has its eyes on the cup and, perhaps, it is looking ahead to the remainder of its qualifiers. El Tri sits in fourth place with six points and only two wins in five games. Mexico has been under strong criticism for the lack of wins.
Coach Javier Aguirre has repeatedly stated that he has shelved any thoughts on World Cup qualifiers for the remainder of the Gold Cup.
"I've said it many times. I'm not interested in the World Cup right now," Aguirre said with a grin at a news conference last week. "I'm interested in the Gold Cup."
The CONCACAF tournament has brought some success as coach Javier Aguirre's squad is riding a four-game unbeaten streak. Its best performance was a 4-0 win against Haiti Sunday in the last of the quarterfinals.
The second semifinal Thursday will feature two teams that already played each other during Gold Cup group play. The U.S. beat Honduras 2-0; the Hondurans will be looking for revenge.
Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda opted to remain politically correct.
"We're going to have to see how things work out," Rueda said earlier this week through a translator. "Our focus is to continue to prepare since each game is different."
And both teams are different in contrast to their squads during World Cup qualifying. Both brought mostly youngsters to the Gold Cup but they've managed to get through tight and physical matches.
The Americans needed extra time to defeat Panama 2-1 to advance to the semifinals for a fifth consecutive time, while Honduras beat Canada 1-0 to get to the final four for the third time in its history.
Each remaining team has been a Gold Cup finalist. Regardless of which teams reach the final, either squad will have the same objective: to win the tournament. Then all focus shifts to World Cup qualifying.
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