Mexico, Costa Rica win Gold Cup openers

Posted Monday, June 06, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

ARLINGTON, Texas (AFP) - Javier Hernandez scored three goals for Mexico in a 5-0 rout of El Salvador while Costa Rica blanked Cuba by the same score in the openers of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.

The Mexicans and Salvadorans on Sunday were scoreless in their Group A round-robin match until Efrain Juarez found the net in the 54th minute.

Aldo De Nigri followed three minutes later and "Chircharito" Hernandez followed with goals in the 60th and 66th minutes plus two minutes into stoppage time to complete the Group A round-robin rout.

Costa Rica had two goals each from Marcos Urena and Alvaro Saborio in dispatching their Caribbean island foes.

Urena opened the scoring in the sixth minute off a left wing centering pass from Christian Bolanos and Saborio scored in the 40th minute to put the Ticos on top 2-0 at half-time.

Urena scored again in the first minute of the second half and Saborio found the net for the second time in the 47th minute. Joel Campbell finished the scoring in the 71st minute.

The tournament, whose winner qualifies for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, continues Monday at Los Angeles with the first Group B matches, Jamaica against Grenada and Honduras against Guatemala.

Group A matches resume Thursday when Mexico will play Cuba and Costa Rica will face El Salvador at Charlotte, North Carolina.