(Reuters) — Clint Dempsey recorded his first hat-trick for the United States in a dominant 6-0 win over Cuba on Saturday (Sunday PHT) that put the Americans into a CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final against Jamaica.
Dempsey opened the scoring with a header in the fourth minute and the defending champions built a 4-0 lead by half-time at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
Dempsey added two more in the second half to give him a tournament-leading six goals.
“That’s always great to do but you can’t do it without your team mates,” Dempsey told reporters of his hat-trick.
“Today we came out and played well and finished our chances. As a team we’re getting better as it goes along.”
The Americans had delivered patchy performances in their three group matches, where they recorded two wins and a draw, but they were ruthless against a Cuba side that had scored just one goal in three games.
Gyasi Zardes, Aron Johannsson and Omar Gonzalez also scored for the United States, who next face Jamaica for a place in their sixth straight Gold Cup final.
Jamaica overcame the absence of suspended forwards Darren Mattocks and Je-Vaughn Watson to advance to the semi-finals with a 1-0 win over Haiti also on Saturday, Giles Barnes scoring the winner in the seventh minute.
