USA vs. Costa Rica: Final score 2-0, Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey send Americans to Gold Cup final

When they needed their best performance of the Gold Cup, the United States came up big on Saturday. They turned in by far their best match of the competition, beating Costa Rica 2-0 thanks to Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey.

The Americans nearly got off to a dream start though Jordan Morris. Altidore found him with a through ball, and the speedy forward struck the near post just 16 seconds in.

Throughout the first half, the United States won the possession battle thanks to Altidore’s hold-up play. In the 15th minute, he set up Kellyn Acosta with a cutback, but the Dallas midfielder was caught in an awkward position and couldn’t get his shot on target.

Costa Rica’s best opportunity of the first half came in the 37th minute, off a brilliant run through the middle by Ticos captain Bryan Ruiz. He capped it off with a through ball to Michael Ureña, who had his shot saved by Tim Howard.

While the Americans had the better first half, Costa Rica was the better side for the first 20 minutes of the second half. But Bruce Arena changed the game with a substitution, bringing on Dempsey for Paul Arriola, and he made an instant impact.

Within seconds of coming on, Dempsey set up Acosta for a shot from 20 yards, and he forced Patrick Pemberton to make an excellent stop. But Dempsey didn’t have to wait long to contribute to a goal — he set up Altidore’s strike just two minutes later.

And in the 83rd minute, Dempsey got a goal of his own to seal the victory, on a fantastic free kick. This goal was also a special one for Dempsey — it was his 57th, tying him for the all-time USMNT scoring record.

The Americans will be thrilled to do better than they did in the last Gold Cup, when they surprisingly fell in the semifinal. They now await the winner of Mexico vs. Jamaica, which is a rematch of the 2015 final.