Jamaica drew 1-1 in a dour match against El Salvador in their final Group C match at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Sunday.
It was the fourth meeting between the two teams in the Gold Cup with Jamaica winning the previous three matches. El Salvador took the early lead, in the 15th minute, when forward Nelson Bonilla got through on the end of a defense splitting pass and slotted into the right hand corner past Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake.
Both sides missed opportunities to score as Blake made some crucial saves to keep his team in the game. The Central Americans went to half-time with their 1-0 lead.
Reggae Boyz equalize through penalty
Jamaica leveled the score in the 64th minute after the Reggae Boyz were awarded a penalty when El Salvador’s Narciso Orellana handled the ball inside the penalty area. Darren Mattocks booted home from the penalty spot and became Jamaica’s leading scorer in the Gold Cup competition. From there the game petered out to a tame draw which sent Jamaica on five points and into the quarter-final round.
CONCACAF kingpins Mexico beat Curacao 2-0 to top the group. El Salvador with five points has also advanced as one the of the two best third place teams.
The quarter finals will be played on Wednesday and Thursday with Costa Rica vs. Panama, The USA tackles El Salvador, Mexico vs. Honduras and Jamaica vs. Canada.
Copyright 2017 – Caribbean National Weekly News
