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Beasley leads USA to Gold Cup semis

DaMarcus Beasley is hugged by Chris Armas after scoring the Americans' third goal. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
DaMarcus Beasley is hugged by Chris Armas after scoring the Americans' third goal. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

DaMarcus Beasley provided the offense and the United States moved within two wins of taking its third CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The speedy midfielder scored two goals and added an assist to lead the United States over Jamaica 3-1 Saturday in the quarterfinals in Foxboro, Mass.

“We played well today. This was our best game of the tournament,” U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. “I thought we were sloppy in the second half with dealing with the game, but at the end of the day a 3-1 win is an excellent result.”

The United States plays Honduras on Thursday at East Rutherford, N.J., in the semifinals of the tournament, the championship of soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean region. Honduras beat Costa Rica 3-2 in the opener of the doubleheader.

The U.S. team last won the Gold Cup in 2002 and also won it in 1991, the first year the tournament was played.

In today’s quarterfinals at Houston, defending champion Mexico plays Colombia and Panama meets South Africa. Colombia and South Africa were invited to the tournament as guests.

Josh Wolff gave the Americans a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, deflecting Beasley’s shot into the net for his first goal of the tournament.

Beasley doubled the lead in the 42nd minute. Landon Donovan split the defense with a pass to Beasley, who broke behind two defenders and beat goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts from inside the 6-yard box. Beasley added a goal in the 83rd minute off a pass from Chris Armas.

“We had a lot of chances. It was crazy that we didn’t score more than three goals. We could have had four, five, maybe six goals,” Beasley said.

Real Madrid wins tour debut

Jose Maria Gutierrez got the tiebreaking goal in the 88th minute and Roberto Soldado added a score during injury time to lead nine-time European club champ Real Madrid to a 3-1 victory over Mexican power Chivas Guadalajara before 54,432 fans at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Gutierrez took a header from Roberto Soldado and scored from about 20 yards out to break a 1-1 tie. Later, Raul Bravo passed upfield to Soldado who sent a shot into the left side just before the final horn sounded.

The match was Real’s first on a world tour that includes a match against MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy at Carson, Calif., on Monday. Madrid will then head to Beijing, Tokyo and Bangkok.

Chivas, a 10-time Mexican division champion, scored the game’s first goal when Francisco Palencia converted a Jhonny Garcia’s centering pass from the corner in the 73rd minute.

David Beckham lofted a free kick over four defenders to Alvaro Mejia for a header that tied it in the 77th minute,

Both teams missed chances earlier in the game. Real’s Michael Owen hit the crossbar in the 43rd minute, and Chivas’ Juan Pablo Alfaro missed from 15 yards out in the 58th.