The United States will head into the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals without its perfect record and without its most experienced defender, too.
Frankie Hejduk picked up a yellow card for taking a dive in the final minutes of a 0-0 tie against Costa Rica at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on Tuesday night, a move that will keep him out of the quarterfinals that the U.S. team had already qualified for.
The Americans will play against a third-place team to be determined when the round-robin is completed Wednesday.
“Frankie needs to be a little bit smarter,” coach Bruce Arena said. “I don’t know how much he’s going to learn at this point in his career, but (it was) not smart to take a card there.”
The U.S. was 18-0-0 in first-round Gold Cup play, but the tie was still good enough to give the Americans first place in their round-robin group.
The Americans and Costa Ricans finished the round-robin 2-0-1, but the U.S. team gets the easier quarterfinal matchup for scoring six goals and allowing just one; Costa Rica scored four goals against one allowed.
Costa Rica will play Saturday at Gillette Stadium against Honduras, which beat Panama 1-0 on Tuesday to win its group.
In other Gold Cup action third-place Colombia, which defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 ,earned a quarterfinal-round berth when Canada beat Cuba 2-1 in a late Group B game.
The Cubans were without forward Maikel Galindo and backup goalkeeper Odelin Molina in the game, and a Spanish-language television station reported that they did not arrive at the stadium with the team. Neither played and could not be seen on the Cuban team’s bench.
Asked if the players had defected, CONCACAF spokesman Steve Torres issued a statement saying, “This is a matter for U.S. immigration and the Cuban federation.”
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle, where the Cubans played their first two games, said Tuesday night that one member of the Cuban national soccer team was possibly “out of status.”
Wilt heading north
A new soccer franchise in Milwaukee will be announced Wednesday with Peter Wilt, the Fire’s general manager, expected to play a role, according to a league source. Wilt was on borrowed time with the Fire after ownership brought in John Guppy as team president and CEO in April.
