Jahmari Clarke came off the bench to spare Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz blushes with a last-minute penalty which tied Costa Rica 1-1 in their CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in Honduras on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Reading Football Club forward calmly tucked away his penalty to the right on goalkeeper Bayron Mora after he was fouled inside the penalty area in the 90th+6 minutes.
Doryan Rodriquez had given Costa Rica the lead in the 58th minute via an unmarked header from six yards after Andrey Soto was allowed ample time and space to tee up a teasing left-footed cross inside the Estadio Francisco Morazan.
However, on 74 minutes the Young Reggae Boyz could have pulled level but midfielder Duncan McKenzie looked on in disbelief as Mora threw himself to his left to deny the Jamaica College Manning Cup captain.
The result left Jamaica in joint second place with Costa Rica behind the hosts Honduras who blanked Antigua and Barbuda 3-0 through goals from Aaron Zuniga in the 31st minute; Jefry Marcias in the 71st and Marco Aceituno in the 84th minute.
They lead Group D with three points and will play Jamaica in their next engagement on Monday.
The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the final qualifying phase for the North America region ahead of the Under-20 World Cup slated for Indonesia next year. The four semi-finalists will qualify automatically for the next FIFA Under-20 World Championship, while the two finalists will earn qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Teams P W D L Gf Ga Gd Pts
Honduras 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 3
Costa Rica 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Jamaica 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Antigua & Barbuda 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0
