Dempsey, Zardes lead US over Ecuador 2-1, into Copa semis

The USA survived a late onslaught by Ecuador as the hosts held on to win 2-1 and progressed to the semi-finals of the Copa America 2016. Arroyo found the net in the 74th minute and the game lived in the US penalty box for the remainder, bouncing dangerously in front and around the goal.

“I was right there-the fourth official made the decision, not the referee, he didn’t see it”, Klinsmann said.

He nearly got a second four minutes later but his angled-drive was well saved and Alejandro Bedoya should have done better when Dempsey’s pass left him with a shot on goal that Alexander Dominguez got down well to smother. Besler was solid, John Brooks shook off a 33rd-minute elbow injury to play superbly and – despite the 10-on-10 game opening the field and favoring Ecuador – the defense tracked back, doubled and handled Jefferson Montero.

But the victory came at a cost for Klinsmann’s side, as key midfielder Jermaine Jones was sent off early in the second half to earn a suspension which will see him miss the semi-final.

In a thrilling game that left each team with 10 players due to red cards, the US team came away with the win in only the second time the USA has faced Ecuador.

The three absences will be rough on the USA, who have leaned very heavily on all of them in this tournament.

Colombia started strongly with wins over the United States and Paraguay, but a 3-2 loss to Costa Rica in their final group game condemned them to second spot.

“To win is always nice, and it motivates you to go phase by phase, but now we must fully focus on Colombia”. “I thought we played well”.

South American soccer pundit Tim Vickery has long maintained that Peruvian soccer suffers from a lack of ambition – as in, the players tend to be comfortable reaching a certain, domestic-based status and don’t really push to get better.

Whatever role he is asked to play in the semifinals, Nagbe said he’ll be ready. I think it’s safe to say Peru contending for the actual title is not a strong possibility here, but maybe that’s what they want me to think.

But the task of replacing the trio of Jones, Wood and Bedoya doesn’t figure to an easy one for the United States, which will play the victor of Saturday’s quarterfinal between Argentina and Venezuela (7 pm ET, FX, Univision, UDN).

In the first minute of stoppage time, a ball ricocheted off USA defender John Brooks in front of the net that Guzan somehow managed to block and preserve the victory.