CHICAGO Ricardo Lavolpe sat on the bench, quietly watching his team while caressing his bristly mustache.
His expression expressed confusion maybe even disappointment.
Costa Rica's coach had reason to feel that way. He watched his team being torn apart by Mexico on Sunday night at Soldier Field.
Mexico completed a dominating first round at the Gold Cup and embarrassed Lavolpe, its former coach, with a 4-1 win against Costa Rica.
Mexico handed Costa Rica the worst Gold Cup defeat in its history and won Group A with nine points. El Tri moves on to the quarterfinals next Saturday at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. against the third-place team from either Group B or C.
Costa Rica finished second in the group with four points, beating out El Salvador on goal difference. Costa Rica, which also advanced to the next round, finished with a plus-2 difference compared to El Salvador, which finished with a zero goal difference.
El Salvador beat Cuba 6-1 in the first match of a doubleheader. It wasn't enough for La Selecta to get past Costa Rica. El Salvador will wait for results from other groups in hopes of moving to the next round as one of two third-place teams.
What was supposed to be a showdown between two of CONCACAF's best teams turned out to be a lopsided affair early in front of an announced crowd of 62,000 Mexico dominated Costa Rica from the outset, perhaps making a statement to Lavolpe, who coached El Tri from 2002 to 2006.
Some of Lavolpe's former players played against Costa Rica, a team filled with youngsters trying to buy into Lavolpe's style of play.
Lavolpe was asked where this loss ranked in his career. The often very vocal coach answered softly, almost as if he was humbled.
"All loses are ugly. You don't want to lose," Lavolpe said. "You win and you lose in soccer. Today, I lost. But I'll repeat it, this doesn't end here. There is a rematch. The ball keeps on rolling."
Lavolpe said he was surprised his team was not able to adjust to Mexico's tactics but downplayed any speculation that this Mexico team is better than any he's seen before.
"Mexico has been a very competitive team for a long time," Lavolpe said. "This is nothing that's new. The team always plays at a high level with players that can throw you off balance."
Lavolpe led Mexico to the second round of the 2006 World Cup, where it lost to Argentina, Lavolpe's native country.
The often outspoken coach had previously criticized other former Mexico coaches but has remained mostly quiet during this Gold Cup.
He watched quietly on Costa Rica's bench as Mexico controlled the match.
Veteran defender Rafael Márquez opened Mexico's barrage in the 17th minute, running down the middle of the unmarked area to meet Pablo Barrera's corner kick with a powerful header.
Mexico didn't give its loud fans enough time to celebrate the first goal when they scored again two minutes later.
Andrés Guardado volleyed a cross with his left foot from about 17 meters, sending it back across out of the reach of Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas and just inside the far post.
"It was one of those nice goals that you might remember once your career is over," Guardado said. "You get one of those in many chances."
Guardado increased the lead – again with his left foot – to 3-0 in the 26th minute. He ran unmarked through the area from left to right and beat Navas, who couldn't close the angle.
Mexico's speed overwhelmed Costa Rica, which often was stood static along the back line, allowing El Tri to penetrate easily.
"We expected a tougher game," Guardado said. "But I think we did everything right."
Mexico used its speed to create an attack mostly on counterattacks and breakaways. Coach José Manuel de la Torre's team quickly retreated to defend when Costa Rica won possession.
And Los Ticos rarely had the ball, losing it frequently with wayward passes or dispossessed on the dribble.
Mexico was particularly effective attacking Costa Rica's right side.
That led to another score for Mexico in the 38th minute. Carlos Salcido filtered in a pass and Pablo Barrera sent in a left-footed shot past Navas to give El Tri a 4-0 lead, sparking some Costa Ricans to argue amongst themselves.
Mexico, who suspended five players last week because they tested positive for an illegal substance, outshot Costa Rica 14-1 in the first half.
De la Torre said he wasn't surprised his team was able to control the match with such effectiveness, giving Costa Rica credit for not giving up after the 4-0 halftime lead and tightening things up in the second half.
"We faced a great rival and we were able to make them suffer early so we could better manage the circumstances," De la Torre said. "We made things complicated for them and that opened up the way."
El Tri could have had a couple more goals, but Javier "Chicharito" Hernández sent a volley over the crossbar and Navas was able to block the other one-on-one. Navas kept the score in check on several occasions, thwarting Hernández twice, and Aldo De Nigris and Giovani Dos Santos with spectacular efforts.
Costa Rica, whose previous worst defeat in the Gold Cup was 2-0 against the United States (2002) and Mexico (2003), created its first clear chance at goal in the 69thth minute.
Marco Ureña scored for Costa Rica off a pass from team captain Bryan Ruiz. Ureña brought the ball down with his chest, watched it bounce once and blasted a right-footed shot past Mexican goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera into the upper right corner of the net.
Costa Rica's other clean opportunity at goal came when Celso Borges fed Ureña on a filtered pass to beat the defense, leaving Ureña with only Talavera to beat. Ureña couldn't get his shot past Talavera, ending the threat.
"There are very young players on this national team," said Ruiz. "Maybe it's the first time they play in front of a sold out stadium that is against us against a team with players that succeed in Europe.
"I think that was very difficult for many of them in the first half. In the second half, we were able to position ourselves better but it was too late."
ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com
