The dreams and hopes of lifting the Gold Cup went up in smoke for Jamaica when the Reggae Boyz crashed 0-1 to the United States in their Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final match at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night.
The dangerous frontman, FC Schalke’s Matthew Hoppe, got the all-important goal in the 83rd minute.
It was the second-consecutive tournament that the USA were eliminating Jamaica, having done so in 2019 at the semi-final stage.
Sunday night’s elimination will be seen as a massive underachievement for Jamaica, who have made the semi-finals of the previous three editions of the biennial tournament.
Hopes were high that this was the Boyz’ year to lift the trophy, but Matthew Hoppe’s brilliant goal shattered that dream.
In the other match, Canada blanked Costa Rica 2-0 to advance to the semi-finals where they will face Mexico in Austin on Thursday.
The USA will face guest team Qatar in the other semi-final match-up.
Overall, it was not a bad performance by Jamaica as they played to their strengths against a Strong USA team that has been steadily building from the back to transition into the final third.
But it was Jamaica who were quickest on the attacking front when, in only the first minute, an attempted clearance by a USA defender crashed into Blair Turgott and rolled for Bobby Reid, but the off-side flag went up.
In the minute 14th, the Boyz were again on the move when Cory Burke held up the ball well before drifting across the face of the goal and then passing for Alvas Powell, but the latter went for a side-footed effort from just inside the 18-yard box which was easily gathered by goalkeeper Matt Turner.
The USA got their first sniff of the Jamaican goal in the 16th minute.
Goalscorer and hero of the night Hoppe lofted a ball in from the left-side for Shaq Moore arriving down the right channel, but Boyz attacker Junior Flemmings tracked back to block the shot.
Three minutes later, Jamaica, threatened again when Devon Williams floated a ball to the left side for Flemmings, who created space for himself to unleash, but his shot was marginally wide from the edge of the box.
Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake was tested for the first time in minute 22, with a shot from Hoppe but the Blake turned it behind for a corner.
Jamaica came close to breaking the deadlock in minute 78 when a sliding substitute Shamar Nicholson got within a few inches of a free-kick floated into the box.
The USA went ahead in the 83rd minute when hatchet man Hoppe greeted a Cristian Roldan right-side cross after out-jumping the Jamaican defence to head home to close the show on an evening that the hosts claimed to be theirs.
