The US blanked Honduras 2-0 while Mexico squeezed past Costa Rica on penalties on Thursday night at Soldier Field.

In the opening game Clarence Goodson and Kenny Cooper scored for the United States to give them a spot in their third straight Gold Cup final.

It was the US team's third win over Honduras in less than seven weeks and their second at this Gold Cup by the same score.

In the second encounter the game finished 1-1 after extra-time after two goals in the closing minutes of regulation time, before Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa pulled off a vital save in the shootout and Carlos Vela converted the winning penalty.

trip to the final

It will be Mexico's sixth trip to the Gold Cup final with their only loss coming two years ago at the hands of the Americans.

"We're very happy as a team. This was a struggle against a very good team but now we are through to the final," Ochoa said.

Mexico blew several chances to put the game away in the second half and in the first period of extra time. But El Tri were faultless in the shootout, converting all their spotkicks while Ochoa pulled off his key block.

The decisive penalty came on Costa Rica's third shot. Froylan Ledezma, whose goal in the 93rd minute sent the game into extra-time, put his shot on target but Ochoa dived to his left and knocked the ball away with his hands.

Tomorrow's final is sure to be highly charged, as all games between the United States and Mexico are. That the two have a World Cup qualifier August 12 at Azteca - where the Americans have never won - only adds to the drama.

"We're not focusing on that right now, we're focusing on our next match," Ochoa said. "What's important is the match coming now, and we need to play well against them before we can start looking forward to (August 12)."

coach return

At least Mexico will have their coach back. Javier Aguirre's three-game suspension for his altercation with Panama's Ricardo Phillips during group play ended with Thursday night's game.

Though Mexico had few of their regular starters - like the United States in the first semi-final - any victory these days is big. El Tri has had a succession of coaches, bad losses and a surprisingly slow start to World Cup qualifying. Mexico are fourth in the CONCACAF region right now, with only the top three teams getting automatic spots in South Africa next year.

Mexico had a chance to go ahead in the 56th minute when a penalty was awarded for handball against Costa Rica captain Freddy Fernandez. But Miguel Sabah's shot was low and easily stopped by Ticos goalkeeper Keilor Navas.

Mexico finally broke through in the 88th minute when Guillermo Franco scored from the edge of the 6-yard box. Navas swatted at the ball but it bounced backward and over the goal line.

Mexico's celebrations were shortlived. Three minutes into stoppage time and seconds from the final whistle, Alvaro Saborio headed the ball forward and Ledezma beat Juan Carlos Valenzuela for it. Ochoa had no chance to stop the fierce shot from 10 yards, and the game went to extra time.

In the US-Honduras game, Goodson scored just before halftime, heading in Stuart Holden's corner for his first international goal.

Honduras threatened to level in the 85th but U.S. goalkeeper Troy Perkins made an excellent save on a shot by Carlo Costly, then Jay Heaps made a sliding block to clear the rebound and end the threat.

nice exchange

Cooper then sealed the victory five minutes later after a nice exchange by Brian Ching and Holden. Ching flicked the ball to Holden off his back heel, and Holden crossed to Cooper, who one-timed it past Honduras keeper Donis Escobar.

The US stunned the football world last month by upsetting European champions Spain before falling to Brazil in the Confedera-tions Cup final. The Gold Cup doesn't have quite the same buzz but this run was impressive in its own right.

US coach Bob Bradley did a complete makeover of his squad after the Confederations Cup, letting most of his top players return to their MLS teams or take time off ahead of the European season.

In their place, he brought in a bunch of youngsters, many making their first appearances with the senior team, which was undefeated.