MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — José Morales sent Guatemala to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with the clincher over Canada in a 6-5 penalty-kick decision after a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Rubio Rubín scored the tying goal with a header in the 69th minute for Guatemala, which is 106th in the FIFA rankings and reached the semifinals for the first time since 1996. Guatemala will meet the United States in St. Louis on Wednesday, while Mexico plays Honduras in the other semifinal in Santa Clara, California. The championship is in Houston on July 6.
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Canada forward Jacob Shaffelburg walks off the field after receiving a red card during the first half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match against Guatemala, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (1) gives up a goal to Guatemala forward Rubio Mendez (9) during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Guatemala midfielder Oscar Santis, right, celebrates near Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (1) after scoring during a penalty kick shootout of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Guatemala defender Nicolás Samayoa (3) celebrates with teammates after defeating Canada in penalty kicks during a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The seven-round shootout was a fitting end to a fast-paced and feisty contest that went down as one of the best of this biennial tournament for North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The blue-and-white-clad fans of Guatemala flocked to U.S. Bank Stadium and made the announced crowd of 32,289 sound almost like a sold-out NFL game inside the home of the Minnesota Vikings with the translucent roof.
Jonathan David scored on a penalty kick in the 30th minute for 30th-ranked Canada, which won its group with two wins and one draw but had to play the second half with 10 men. Canada has been bounced from the quarterfinals in four of the last five Gold Cup tournaments.
Canada forward Jacob Sheffelburg was ejected in first-half stoppage time for a second yellow card, after lowering his elbow during a mid-air collision for the ball that knocked Guatemala defender Stheven Robles to the ground.
Dayne St. Clair, an MLS All-Star who plays just a few miles away for Minnesota United, made two saves for the Reds in regulation against a consistent if erratic attack as Guatemala had an 11-5 edge in shot attempts and a 58% possession rate.
Oscar Santis had a shot for Guatemala from just outside the box off a high-bouncing ball that he booted over the top of the net in the 53rd minute, but he set up Rubín's header with a textbook cross from the left sideline.
Guatemala, which finished second in its group with two wins and one loss, went second during the penalty-kick thriller and nearly blew it when José Pinto sailed his shot over the net after Kenderson Navarro stopped Cyle Larin's attempt to start the sixth round.
After Luc Rollet's shot for Canada bounced off the crossbar, the defender pulled his shirt up over his face in frustration. Then Morales won it by going dead center as St. Clair dived left.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Canada forward Jacob Shaffelburg walks off the field after receiving a red card during the first half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match against Guatemala, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (1) gives up a goal to Guatemala forward Rubio Mendez (9) during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Guatemala midfielder Oscar Santis, right, celebrates near Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (1) after scoring during a penalty kick shootout of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Guatemala defender Nicolás Samayoa (3) celebrates with teammates after defeating Canada in penalty kicks during a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
