Goals by Christine Latham and Aysha Jamani led Canada to a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica on Monday in women's Olympic soccer qualifying, late Monday in Costa Rica. 

Canada will now face Mexico in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament semi-final on Wednesday while Costa Rica will face the United States, winner of the other group. The winners of those games will go to Athens. 

Canada, which finished fourth at the 2003 World Cup, pressed hard at the start of the match at Costa Rica's National Stadium. Latham struck six minutes into the match. Jamani added a second goal at 20 minutes with a shot that went through the legs of defender Monica Salazar, confusing goalkeeper Alejandra Alvarez. 

Shirley Cruz scored for Costa Rica in the 63rd minute. 

In the evening's first game, Raiza Gutierrez scored two goals for Panama in a 3-0 victory over Jamaica. 

Gutierrez broke a scoreless tie with a penalty kick at 60 minutes and added a second goal at 81 minutes. Maritzenia Bedoya scored four minutes later. 

files from AP

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Ottawa, Ontario – Canada's Women's World Cup Team defeated host, Costa Rica, 2-1 late last night to advance to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Canada finished first in Group A and will now face Mexico who ranked second in Group B play. The winner will earn one of two CONCACAF spots at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Canada has won 10 straight games against Mexico and will attempt to make it 11 on Wednesday, March 3 at, Estadio Nacional in San Jose.

“Canada's first 30 minutes of the game represented our best performance so far in this tournament,” said head coach Even Pellerud. “Fortunately we were able to capitalize on great offensive pressures thanks to clinical finishes by Christine Latham and Aysha Jamani.”

Latham opened the scoring in the 7th minute followed by a goal by Jamani in the 21st minute. Jamani has now scored five goals during this tournament which ties her for first in goal scoring with Patricia Perez from Mexico.

Shirley Cruz scored Costa Rica's lone goal in the 60th minute.

“The number of yellow cards our team received seemed to affect our performance in the second half,” continued Pellerud. Since Canada was handed five yellow cards, Pellerud opted to sub players who received a caution. “We survived with a win, which makes us play Mexico on Wednesday. Fortunately, all players except Tanya Dennis seem available to play. The players' ability to recover will be a key to win this crucial game,” concluded Pellerud.

In other semi-final action, USA will take on Costa Rica on Wednesday, March 3.

March 1, 2004 – CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
Eladio Rosabal Cordero
Herédia, Costa Rica
Canada 2 (2)
Costa Rica 1 (0) 
Referee: Maria Cecibel ORTEGA (SLV)
Goals: Canada – Christine Latham (7), Aysha Jamani (21); Costa Rica – Shirley Cruz (60)
Cautions: Canada – Melissa Tancredi (24), Aysha Jamani (29), Charmaine Hooper (54), Sharolta Nonen (57), Carmelino Moscato (67); Costa Rica - Arguedas (28), Castro (65)CAN: 1-Karina LeBlanc – 2-Christine Latham, 5-Andrea Neil, 6-Sharolta Nonen, 8-Marie-Eve Nault, 10-Charmaine Hooper-C (3-Carmelino Moscato, 58), 11-Randee Hermus, 12-Christine Sinclair, 13-Diana Matheson, 14-Aysha Jamani (46: 15-Kara Lang), 17-Melissa Tancredi (7-Isabelle Morneau, 46). Head Coach: Even Pellerud
Costa Rica: 1-Alejandra Alvarez – 3-Gabriela Trujillo-C, 4-Karol Segura Arguedas, 5-Monica Salazar, 7-Emila Solano (56: 8-Ana Gabriel Campos), 9-Erica Castro, 10-Shirley Cruz, 11-Megen Chavez (40: 17-Jacqueline Alvarez), 15-Yahaira Aguilar, 16-Cindy Rodriguez, 19-Marian Montes (46: 6-E. Xiomara Briceno).