Young Reggae Boyz close to U20 quarterfinal berth

Jamaica’s Under-20 Reggae Boyz could virtually seal a place in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf U20 Championship with a win over Panama in their second Group C game at the Estadio Universitario BUAP in Puebla, Mexico, today at 2 p.m.

Jamaica and Canada, who both won their opening matches, have three points each, while Panama and Honduras are yet to get off the mark.

With the top two assured a place in the next round of the competition, the Jamaicans would put themselves in a very favourable position with a win over the Central Americans.

The young Reggae Boyz scored a dramatic 2-1 win over Honduras through Brandon Bent’s added-time strike on Sunday.

Bent scored in the fifth minute of added time after Honduras had equalised with 15 minutes remaining.

Jahmarie Nolan gave the Reggae Boyz the lead in the 22nd minute.

Despite the thrill of that nail-biting win, goalscorer Bent said they will not get complacent, as the job is not yet done.

“We’re just looking forward to the next round. We’re not going to get hung over on this (win). We have two more games against two very good teams, so we’re just going to keep pushing,” he said.

“We’re just going to come out with the same intensity. I think we shook off all the rust, shook off all the nerves and now that we’re getting going, hopefully we can build on this momentum and just keep pushing.”

The top two teams and the two best third-place teams will progress to the quarterfinals, with the winners to advance to the semifinals.

The four semifinalists will also secure automatic berth to the 2027 U20 World Cup in Azerbaijan.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com