Americans suffer 1st first-round blemish

The United States will head into the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals without its perfect record and without its most experienced defender, too.

Frankie Hejduk picked up a yellow card for taking a dive in the final minutes of a 0-0 tie against Costa Rica on Tuesday night in Foxboro, Mass., a move that will keep him out of the quarterfinals for which the U.S. team had already qualified. The Americans will play against a third-place team to be determined when the round-robin is completed today.

The United States had been 18-0-0 in first-round Gold Cup play, but the lackluster tie was still good enough to give the Americans first place in their round-robin group.

Honduras 1, Panama 0: At Miami, Samuel Caballeros scored with 10 minutes remaining in regulation to give Honduras a victory over Panama in another first-round match.

The victory assures Honduras a first-place finish in Group A and a berth in Saturday’s quarterfinals against Costa Rica.

Colombia 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0: At Miami, Abel Aguilar and Hector Hurtado scored in a 3-minute span in the second half, giving Colombia a first-round victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

Colombia, which lost its first two tournament games, needed a victory to stay in contention for a quarterfinal berth as a third-place finisher in Group A.

Canada 2, Cuba 1: At Foxboro, Mass., Atiba Hutchinson and Ali Gerba scored second-half goals to lead Canada past Cuba, but the Canadians were all but eliminated in the first round of the tournament for the second straight time.

The Canadians needed to beat Cuba by three goals for a realistic chance to reach the quarterfinals.