Gold Cup: USA 2 Mexico 4

Mexico completed a superb comeback to defeat the United States 4-2 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final in California on Saturday.

In front of 93,420 fans at the Rose Bowl, US fans were in raptures after taking a 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes.

But having largely dictated proceedings even despite conceding, Mexico levelled by half-time before second-half strikes to Pablo Barrera and Giovani dos Santos sealed the result.

Michael Bradley, son of US coach Bob, scored the eighth-minute opener when he headed home Landon Donovan’s corner, giving his nation the perfect start.

Mexico impressed despite being able to convert their dominance, but they conceded again when Donovan converted Fulham forward Clint Dempsey’s assist after 23 minutes.

West Ham winger Barrera provided a quick response when Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez set him up for Mexico’s first and, when Jose Andres Guardado netted his third goal of the tournament, the match was again level after 36 minutes.

The tempo of the game did not change after half-time as Mexico continued to dominate, and Barrera claimed his brace after scoring under diving US goalkeeper Tim Howard just five minutes into the second half.

With the deficit at just one goal, there was still hope of the US taking the match to extra-time.

But that faded when dos Santos finished the match with 14 minutes remaining, courtesy of a sublime finish.

After being forced away from goal, the former Tottenham and Barcelona enigma chipped brilliantly, with his strike nestling in the top corner to seal their victory.

The result was just what Jose Manuel de la Torre’s side deserved.

Mexico shrugged off a drugs controversy that saw five of their squad members sent home to play exciting, attacking football in all of their matches, culminating in their sensational final victory.