Mexico beats Honduras in Santa Clara to face U.S. in Gold Cup final

By JOSH DUBOW SANTA CLARA Calif AP Ra l Jim nez scored in the th minute off an assist from -year-old Gilberto Mora and Mexico advanced to its th CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a - achievement over Honduras on Wednesday night El Tri advanced to play the United States in the final Sunday night in Houston for the eighth meeting in the title battle between the two countries with Mexico owning a - edge Mexico has won nine Gold Cups the U S seven and Canada one Mexico broke through early in the second half on a play started by Alexis Vega with a pass to Mora near the top of the box Mora slid a pass to Jim nez who beat Edrick Menj var with a right-footed shot for his nd career international goal No -ranked Mexico appeared to add to that lead a meager minutes later when Edson lvarez tapped in a goal off a set piece but that was negated when video review ruled he was offside But El Tri managed to hold onto that lead as th-ranked Honduras was unable to generate an equalizer Honduras reached this stage for the first time since despite losing the opener of the tournament - to Canada The Hondurans haven t made the final since the inaugural tournament in when they lost in penalty kicks to the U S Related Articles Diego Luna scores twice as US tops Guatemala - heads to final Mexico travels to Santa Clara for Gold Cup semifinal amid fan fears of deportations Lionel Messi and Inter Miami exit Club World Cup after - loss to PSG in round of San Jose native Beau Leroux bends it like Beckham but Earthquakes tie Galaxy in Bruce Arena s first home Clasico Bruce Arena remembers greatest Cali Clasico matches as he readies for first home Clasico with Earthquakes There were insufficient good chances in the first half with Mexican goalie Luis Malag n making an easy save on Dixon Ram rez s shot from outside the box after not facing any shots on goal the past two games El Tri had two good opportunities late in the half Johan V squez s shot in the box deflected off Honduran defender Denil Maldonado and right into the hands of goalie Menj var Menj var then made a sharp save against Marcel Ru z in the nd minute and Juli n Mart nez cleared the rebound out of danger There was a chippy moment in the th minute when a ball was played into the Mexico bench area Romell Quioto aggressively tried to get the ball for Honduras and Mexican reserve Guillermo Ochoa took exception leading to players on both teams getting heated and a yellow card for Ochoa