Santiago Giménez scored after an electrifying sprint in the 88th minute, and Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the record ninth time with a 1-0 victory over Panama on Sunday night.
After Edson Álvarez slid to block Iván Anderson’s cross in the Mexico penalty area, Orbelín Pineda dribbled away and made a tremendous pass in the center circle. The 22-year-old Feyenoord forward dribbled past Harold Cummings and outraced Cummings and Fidel Escobar into the penalty area, where he scuffed a bouncing left-foot shot over goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera for his fourth goal in 18 international appearances.
The goal by the Argentina-born Giménez set off a frenzied celebration at SoFi Stadium, which was packed with fans celebrating Mexico’s dramatic revival in this biennial CONCACAF tournament. Several months after Mexico crashed out of the World Cup with its worst performance in nearly half a century, El Tri rebounded with an excellent tournament under interim manager Jaime Lozano, who took over the beleaguered program only a month ago.
