Gold Cup 2013: USA will meet Honduras in the semifinals

The first 30 minutes of the match was slow, as both teams tried to find their footing and struggled to create clear chances. Around the half-hour mark, things picked up considerably. Jorge Claros went close with a shot in the 31st minute and Costa Rica had a shot blocked on the other end just a second later. Honduras turned right around and attacked quickly, with Alexander Lopez forcing a save out of Patrick Pemberton.

Costa Rica had all of the possession in the final 30 minutes as Honduras started to play more defensively, only committing men forward on the counter. While the Ticos had all of the possession, they struggled to do much with it between Saborio’s dangerous spell and the dying minutes of the match, when they got desperate.

Things could have been even worse for El Salvador, who were never really in the match despite some goalkeeping heroics from Dagoberto Portillo and a sell-out crowd of 71,000, most of whom were clad in blue and white. The U.S. was simply sensational, dominating the midfield and creating chance after chance to put them in front before pouring it on late with three goals in the last 30 minutes,

14 seconds after coming in as a substitute in the 60th minute, Johnson skied above the El Salvador defense to head home the Americans’ third goal and all was well for the U.S.

El Salvador’s lineups have yet to be announced, but they’ll be edited into this post when they’re announced.

Kickoff is at 4 p.m. ET from M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. You can catch the game on FOX or Univision in the United States.

Honduras have made one change to their squad from the group stage, bringing in Erick Norales for Johnny Palacios. Costa Rica have opted to make no changes to their team for the knockout stage.

Match date/time: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET

Who Jurgen Klinsmann starts is anyone’s guess. He said that he would play his best team against Costa Rica, but opted to make some unexpected changes and give a rest to a few of his starters. Besler and Johnson have established themselves as regulars for the main U.S. squad and probably have a better shot at starting than Gordon does. Gordon has a knack for scoring or assisting late in matches when brought off the bench and he’s probably been called into the team to fill that role.

Match date/time: Sunday, 4 p.m. ET