Led by two goals and an assist from Alvaro Ortiz, Mexico advanced into the finals of the Pan Am Games with an impressive 4-0 win against the United States Aug. 4 in the semifinals at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex. The loss sends the Americans into the bronze medal match, where they will play host Canada on Aug. 6 at 7:00 p.m. A win would give the United States just its third Pan Am soccer medal. “Friday we are going to try and go out there and win,” said U.S. coach Clive Charles. “It’s going to be very tough for us because Canada has a little bit more experience here than we have. It’s another day, it’s another game, it’s another opportunity for them to impress.” The U.S. nearly went ahead in the sixth minute when a Ryan Futagaki corner kick bounced dangerously in the penalty area but no U.S. player was able to reach it. Mexico controlled the ensuing clearance and two minutes later the Mexicans went ahead through Ortiz. U.S. goalkeeper Adin Brown dove to save Mexico’s first shot of the game, a driven ball from ten yards out. The rebound ended up at Ortiz’s foot and he slotted his seven-yard shot by the recovering Brown. Mexico added a second goal in the 19th minute, again through the foot of Ortiz. Emilio Mora set up the goal, beating U.S. defenders Steve Shak and Dan Califf before turning into the penaly box and laying the ball off to his right to a charging Ortiz. Ortiz’s one-timed shot beat Brown to the goalkeeper’s left post. The United States’ best chance of the first half came in the 24th minute when Dan Califf rose to meet a Ryan Futagaki cross, but Califf’s header was directly at Mexican goalkeeper Christian Martinez. Martinez made five saves in the game. Ortiz turned provider for Mora on Mexico’s third goal in the 44th minute and Mexico’s star striker Jose Mendoza scored his tournament-leading sixth goal in the 85th minute. Mexico proved they are worthy of the tournament’s top seed, outshooting the U.S. 15-5. If not for an eight-save performance from Brown, the final scoreline could have been much worse to the Americans. With the result the Mexicans advances to the finals for the third consecutive time, where they will face Honduras, which defeated host Canada, 2-0, in the other semifinal. Mexico has taken home the silver medal in each of the last two Pan American Games, including a 2-1 overtime loss in the 1991 final in Havana. U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley sat out the game, serving a one-game suspension resulting from a red card Beasley received in the 93rd minute of the USA’s 0-0 draw with Uruguay on July 31. Aug. 4 in Winnipeg, Man. Mexico 4 USA 0. Goals: Ortiz 8, 20, Mora 44, Mendoza 85. Mexico — Martinez, Altamirano, Beltran, Leon, Hierro (Santibanez, 68), Carino (Sanchez, 37), Ortiz, Mora, Rodriguez, Mendez (Mascorro, 83), Mendoza. USA — Brown, Califf, Akwari, Shak, Whitfield (Donovan, 27), Futagaki, Vagenas, Winters, Bocangra, Victorine (Casey, 74), Twellman (Cropley, 74). Att.: n/a.

U.S. Quote Sheet

ADIN BROWN General comments: “We have to take a look at this game, learn from it, come back and do our best against Canada. We need to regroup, come out hard and see what we can do in that game.” On Friday’s bronze-medal game with Canada: “We have to come out and play like we can play. Today, we came out and played pretty well the first couple of minutes. Then, we gave up a goal and it all went bad. We need to come out and stick to our guns.” CLIVE CHARLES General comments: “We started quite brightly in the first 10 minutes. And then we gave away a sloppy goal. But you have to understand, we’re a very young and inexperienced team. We’ve got four high-school kids with us. And the team that they put out there today was their Olympic team. We brought these kids here for them to get an experience and to learn, and we’ve gotten to the medal round, which is quite an achievement for them. There was a time when if we didn’t play our best with our very best, we’d lose games. We’ve come here, and we’ve won two and tied one. So I’m not worried about today’s results.” On which U.S. players have impressed him: “Our goalkeeper has been big time. He’s played very well. But everybody here is a college player, and four of them are in high school. They’ve done very well; we’ve found out a lot. It’s given me a chance to see what the other Olympic teams are like, because most of the countries have brought their full Olympic teams. And for the most part, we’ve done fairly well. It’s just a matter now of bringing our pros in in January and getting them ready for the qualifying.” On Friday’s bronze-medal game with Canada: “The system that we’ve played here is a 4-4-2, which is what we’ve played when we’ve had all our pros together. Some of our players here are kind of unfamiliar with that; they’ve played more of the 3-5-2. And so we didn’t put them into a system that was comfortable for them, but we’ve persevered with that because that’s what we wanted to find out. Friday, we’re going to go out there and try to win, obviously. It’s going to be very tough for us, because Canada probably has a little bit more experience here than we have. It’s another day; it’s another game; it’s another opportunity for them to impress.” On the future of U.S. soccer: “It’s in great hands. We’ve basically brought a mixture of high-school and college kids to an Olympic-caliber tournament and gotten to the medal round. A few years ago, we would have gotten beat 7-nil every game.”