<
>

Costa Rica draw with Canada to earn spot in Gold Cup quarterfinals

TORONTO -- Esteban made two saves and anchored a stingy defense as Costa Rica tied Canada 0-0 on a rainy Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Costa Rica, the second-place team in Group B with three straight draws, has qualified for the knockout round of the Gold Cup in its last nine appearances.

Esteban bobbled a free kick in the 81st minute. Canada's Andre Hainault won the loose ball in front of the net and redirected it toward goal, but Bryan Ruiz made a goal-line deflection and Roy Miller cleared it away.

Canada was eliminated from the tournament after not scoring in a sixth consecutive Gold Cup match, extending its scoreless streak to 560-plus minutes. Canada had a goal disallowed in the 68th minute after Marcus Haber was whistled for offside on a free kick.

Costa Rica's best scoring chance came when Deyver Vega forced a diving save by Kyriakos Stamatopoulos in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.