Jamaica slows Mexico to draw
Both teams still have a chance to advance to playoffs.
Jamaica was so determined to keep Mexico from scoring, it sacri- ficed its own offense to get
job done. The game plan worked, and now both teams are in a position to move to the next round if they can take care of business this weekend.
Mexico and Jamaica played to a scoreless draw Thursday night and remained on track to advance to the knockout round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Jamaica faces El Salvador and Mexico plays Curacao at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Sunday. Jamaica and Mexico have four points each in Group C while El Salvador has three points. The top two teams in each of the three groups and the two best third-place teams advance to the quarterfinals.
Neither team could break through on a relatively mild night, although Mexico (1-01) dominated chances. The 49,121 fans, the largest crowd to attend a soccer match at Sports Authority Field, heav- ily favored Mexico. The Mexican team heard some boos after failing to score despite holding a 6-0 advantage in shots on net.
“The fans bought the tickets, they came out to watch a team win and perform well, so we understand their frustration,” Mexico assistant coach Luis Pompilio Paez said.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio served the second of his six-game sideline suspension for berating an official. His team, which beat El Salvador 3-1 in the opener Sunday, did everything but score against Jamaica (1-0-1). It held possession for the majority of the night but never got one past keeper Damian Hyatt.
When Hyatt couldn’t make a save, his teammates came through. The best chance to score came on Mexico’s fourth corner in the 39th minute when Jesus Molina bounced a header off the turf toward an open net. Jamaican defender Jermaine Taylor deflected it off his head over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.
In the first match, El Salvador beat Curacao 2-0 to improve to 1-1 in pool play. Forward Rodolfo Zelaya had a goal and an assist and Gerson Mayen scored the other goal for El Salvador.