Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
REUTERS
Andrew Williams (left) is congratulated by teammate Luton Shelton after scoring Jamaica's third goal against Guatemala during their Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup match against Guatemala on Friday night. Jamaica won 4-3.
LOS ANGELES, California: JAMAICA'S REGGAE Boyz, playing with a man short from the 15th minute, turned in a gutsy display to thwart a hat-trick performance from Carlos Ruiz and beat Guatemala 4-3 in a seven-goal CONCACAF Gold Cup thriller at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, California, on Friday night.
"It was a hard-fought game. Full credit to the players," the team's head coach, Wendell Downswell, said. "We were down to 10 players and I think tactically, we did well."
Central defender Damion Stewart said: "It was difficult but the coach told us to keep our shape. It was just guts and determination."
Luton Shelton (third), Ricardo Fuller (fifth), Andy Williams (45th penalty) and Jermaine Hue (57th) scored for Jamaica, while Ruiz netted in the ninth, 45th (penalty) and 87th minutes.
HIGH, LONG PASSES
Jamaica, favouring themselves for a much-needed victory to finish among the top two and automatically advance to the quarter-finals from the competitive Group C after beating this team twice in the past five months, got off to a dream start with two goals in the first five minutes, capitalising on both occasions with the high, long passes that troubled the Guatemalan defence all night.
Stewart opened the door for his Harbour View teammate Shelton in the third minute with a pass from the back on the right side of the field. The striker put his body between the defender and the ball and let fly a firm grounder from about 10 yards out that sailed across goalie Luis Pedro Molina into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Before the celebrations had subsided, the Reggae Boyz scored again when Jermaine Hue's searching pass to Fuller from just over the half line on the left, induced an error from the advancing Molina, as the Jamaican striker pulled out of the challenge.
The ball deflected off the goalie who had a mix-up with his own central defender and Fuller calmly guided it from outside the penalty box on the left, all the way into the open goal.
KEPT PRESSING
Despite being 2-0 down that early, Guatemala, who had been the more aggressive attackers from the start, kept pressing and got a goal from a penalty. It resulted from a short corner on which the Central Americans got a second chance off a half clearance.
The ball was played back in along the ground and Stewart lunged to challenge Ruiz and took away his legs. The cheeky striker, who found innovative ways to draw fouls, got up and scored the penalty himself to reduce the deficit. However, he got a yellow card for kicking the ball into the net again after he had scored.
Six minutes later though, he led important central defender Claude Davis into a straight red card for a retaliatory offence. Both challenged for a header and as Ruiz hit the ground, he stuck his boot into Davis' body. As he rose from the ground, Davis appeared to 'box' Ruiz in the back of the neck. The forward's theatrical reaction was most convincing and United States referee Brian Hall was swift to show Davis the way off the field.
Things looked gloomy for the Boyz but they were not ready to give up the fight. Armed with skill and pace, the feisty Jamaicans went to work with Fuller, Shelton, Hue and Williams mainly holding up the ball well with some good dribbles that pushed Guatemala on to the back foot.
More importantly though, their confident play settled the team in a way that negated the one-man deficiency while giving Jamaica huge prominence on the pitch. To fortify that, Jamaica, as they did throughout the match, continued making chances as Shelton, who was substituted early into the second half after picking up an injury, went close to scoring twice, followed by a long-range effort from Hue.
The third goal finally came, albeit from a penalty when Fuller, who had a monstrous game terrifying the defenders with slick dribbles, was brought down just inside the box. Captain Williams took the spot kick and successfully conceded a grounder that brushed Molina's fingers on its way into the net for a 3-1 scoreline at the 45th minute. Like Ruiz, Fuller got a yellow card for kicking the ball against the net after it had already been scored.
A two-goal advantage seemed secure for half time but Jamaica suffered from a set piece again from the right side, when Ruiz headed home the ball squared from a short corner to net his second goal in time added.
As disappointing as that injury time concession was for the Boyz, they never allowed Guatemala to gather any momentum at the restart, even though the Central Americans hit two tries at goal from outside the box.
Fuller went close to adding a fourth when turning two defenders to free himself on goal but Jermaine Hue made up seconds later with his third goal against Guatemala in their last three confrontations a magnificent strike from a very acute angle at 15 yards inside the penalty box, that burnt its way into Molina's far post. The opportunity came off Khari Stephenson's miscued shot.
At 4-2, the Boyz got more than ample opportunities to close out the match but missed two easy chances through sub Damani Ralph. It kept Guatemala floating and they got stronger when Hue and Williams, who got hard knocks but were still helping to compose Jamaica, were replaced.
"We were down to 10 players and we had to keep the defenders in there," Downswell explained. "I feel they (Guatemala) were more dominant in midfield so we believed that if we'd gotten some fresh legs in there, we'd have been able to nullify them."
