Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz might have let the US off the hook by conceding a late equalizer but head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes his team should respect the point in the 1-1 draw as a positive result, all things considered in the opening game of the 17th CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament on Saturday.
The Jamaicans, two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup finalist, went ahead early in the first half through defender Damion Lowe, only for substitute Brandon Vazquez to claim a very late equalizer to earn his side a share of the spoils at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Upon reflection, Jamaica’s Icelandic coach was philosophical. “We kind of knew it was going to be intense. I think we could have done a lot of things better than we did, but in general, we should be happy and respectful for this point.
“We said before the game we would respect a point from the start and it’s a group so to have a point against the best team in the group, the highest ranked team in the group is always a good start,” he told the media in a pitchside interview.
American Alan Sonora was the first player with a shot on goal, but Jamaica’s goalkeeping captain Andre Blake proved equal to the task. However, it was Jamaica who took a shock lead on 13 minutes when Lowe met debutant Demarai Gray’s swerving freekick with a firm header past US goalkeeper Matt Turner.
The freekick was awarded after Leon Bailey was fouled by Aidan Morris.
The Reggae Boyz had a glorious chance to double their advantage when deep-playing midfielder Kevon Lambert was fouled with Aidan Morris’ high boot under his ribs and Mexican referee Cesar Ramos was left with no choice but to call a penalty in the 27th minute.
However, Bailey muffed the chance as birthday boy Matt Turn threw himself to his left to parry the ball back to Bailey, who incredibly flashed his right-footed effort wide of an empty goal.
In the waning moments of the first half, Jordan Morris was played through on goal to face Blake, but the outstanding Jamaican proved his worth by deflecting behind for a corner.
Blake was called on again in the second half with a kick save as the Americans threw everything into attack as they went in search of an equalizer.
It came two minutes from regulation when Vazquez was perfectly placed to stab home a right-sided cross which deflected off Jamaica’s right wingback Dexter Lembikisa and into his path.
“You don’t need to win the match if you qualify from the group, so I think we are of course not happy with conceding at the end of the game, but considering everything I think we should, even though it’s a little bit hard now, respect the point and at least take it as a positive rather than a negative,” Hallgrimsson said.
“We more or less did what we should, we got a little bit passive as the game went on because we wanted to protect the 1-0, instead of playing on the front foot, and playing on the ground, we looked for the long balls, but when we played it on the ground we played much better than the long balls against the US.
“So we talked about this at halftime but sometimes it happens in football you become passive, you go lower on the pitch and start to defend some positions, but overall we should be happy.”
The Jamaicans will next play Caribbean neighbors Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday at City Park in St Louis, while ST Kitts and Nevis will meet the US on the same day.
On Sunday Trinidad and Tobago went top of Group A after hammering St Kitts and Nevis 3-0 at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Alvin Jones gave them the lead on 43 minutes against the Gold Cup debutantes, before Ajani Fortune doubled the lead in the 65th minute.
The game was made safe on 73 minutes when Levi Garcia’s powerful cross/shot deflected off a defender and into the goal.
