Costa Rica and the U.S.A. scored crucial 1-0 and 2-1 wins over Jamaica and Canada respectively, as action continued in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium last night.
Jamaica suffered their second defeat of the campaign and remain pointless, and will need a small miracle if they are to advance from the group. They also lost 0-3 on Saturday to Canada.
Costa Rica went atop the standings on seven points from three games while the U.S.A. are second on six points from two games. Canada remain on four points but from three games and will be looking forward to their clash against Trinidad and Tobago.
In the feature game, the Reggae Boyz came out with a mission, took control early in terms of possession and were looking good although the Costa Ricans got the more clear-cut chances.
The half ended 0-0, but things were looking much better for Jamaica than in the first game and suddenly the Office was behind the Boyz again as they pushed for their first win.
Caught out of position
The second half was the same with the Boyz maintaining their dominance but still could not find the crucial goal, and more worrying was that Costa Rica looked capable of scoring on the counter attack, and that they did.
Once too often Jamaica's backline was caught out of position and when Esteban Luna was sent through by Jorge Castro he made no mistake. The tall midfielder unleashed a powerful shot that flew pass the hapless Oneil Wilson in goal in the 66th minute.
As in the first game, the young Boyz went behind and into tatters and were lucky not to concede more goals.
In the first encounter, the U.S.A. got a dream start after William Schular converted in the 10th minute before Mykell Bates doubled the lead in the 23rd minute as the Americans were looking impressive and composed.
But Cederic Carrie pulled one back for Canada in the 53rd minute to set up an intriguing finish. They pressed forward but could not penetrate the U.S. defence that was well marshalled by captain Mykell Bates, Thomas Meyer and Sheanan Williams.
In the end the Americans secured their third straight victory over Canada and three valuable points.
Today Jamaica will tackle the U.S. while Canada take on Trinidad and Tobago.
