U.S., Costa Rica Advance with Saturday’s Wins

Costa Rica and the U.S. became the first two teams to advance to the semifinals of the 2010 Women’s World Cup qualifiers with their wins Saturday night in Cancún. And it was the night of the Roridriguezes as Amy Rodriguez scored a hat trick for the U.S. and Raquel Rodríguez Cedeno celebrated her 17th birthday with two goals in Costa Rica’s 3-0 win over Haiti. Cedeno, who turned 17 on Oct. 28, was part of the Costa Rica U-20 side that competed in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup this past summer in Germany and the U-17 team that played in the U-17 WWC in New Zealand. Midfielder Shirley Cruz Traña scored Costa Rica’s other goal.

The U.S. dominated from the start in the nightcap of the Group B doubleheader Saturday in Cancún. In addition to Amy Rodriguez’s three goals, Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe added two apiece, and Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan scored one each in the 9-0 win. The U.S. plays Costa Rica Nov. 1 to decide the winner of Group B.

In Group A action today, Canada faces Guyana and Mexico takes on Trinidad and Tobago. Wins for Canada and Mexico send both teams to the semifinal round.