Deulofeu hits hat-trick as Catalonia smash Reggae Boyz for six
Gerard Deulofeu scored a hat-trick as Catalonia ran rings around a disjointed and disorganized Reggae Boyz outfit in a 6-0 thumping in their Non-FIFA friendly international game at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi in Girona on Wednesday.
In addition to Deulofeu, a seasoned professional, Catalonia also got goals from Marc Bartra, Ferran Jutgla and Javi Puado.
Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic communities in Spain, with its capital and largest city being Barcelona, whose football academy had developed a number of the players who linen up against the Jamaicans on Wednesday.
The hosts went ahead as early as the fourth minute when Deulofeu capitalised on a poor backpass from Ajeanie Talbott which was intended for goalkeeper Dillon Barnes.
The former Barcelona attacker intercepted the pass and rounded goalkeeper Barnes before slotting into an empty net.
He added a second on 29 minutes after picking up a pass on the left-hand side. He relayed inside to Riqui Puig, whose clever pass to Carles Alena, breaking from midfield, opened up the Reggae Boyz defence.
Alena's first touch was heavy and the ball fell to Deulofeu who slammed home from an acute angle at close range,
Bartra made it 3-0 in the 34th minute when he was given the luxury of time and space to run in uncontested to head home a Cristian Tello right-side free-kick from just outside the penalty area.
Deulofeu completed his hat-trick and made it four on the stroke of halftime when he was given the simple task of tapping in at the back post after left wing-back Alex Moreno pulled the ball back from the goal line to Puig.
The diminutive playmaker sliced the Jamaican defence open with a neat pass to Alena, who had darted in behind the static Jamaican defence, and with Barnes in noman’s land, Alena crossed to Deulofeu to finish the job.
Substitute Jutgla made in five in the 74th minute when he slid in to answer fellow substitute Javi Puado’s centre pass and the latter converted a penalty with one minute remaining to complete the rout against substitute Jamaican goalkeeper Corey Addai.
