Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido earned his 15th appearance with the Mexico Men's National Team on Thursday, converting a penalty as El Tri prevailed over Costa Rica 5-4 in penalties after a scoreless draw in regulation.
Pulido, 30, entered the match in the 58th minute and stepped up to the penalty spot in the fourth of a five-round shootout to convert his attempt past Leonel Moreira.
Mexico, No. 11 in the FIFA rankings, now advances to the Concacaf Nations League Final to face the United States at 8 p.m.. CT on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. The highly-anticipated match will be broadcast live in English on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ with Spanish telecasts available on Univision and TUDN.
The Concacaf powerhouses have not met since Sept. 6, 2019 and will renew their storied rivalry ahead of participation in the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer, followed by the start of World Cup qualifying in September.
Pulido is part of a 23-player roster for Mexico selected by head coach Gerardo Martino. The World Cup veteran has five career goals for his national team and is currently in fantastic form having scored an MLS-best five goals during the month of May for Sporting Kansas City.
The 2021 Concacaf Nations League Final will crown a champion for the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League, which kicked off in September 2019 with group stage play. The inaugural edition of the competition involved the men's national teams of all 41 member associations of Concacaf and the winner will be awarded the Concacaf Nations League Trophy unveiled last week.
