WCQ- Jamaica vs Honduras

Reggae Toyz???

Staring World Cup Qualifier elimination down the throat,

Reggae Toyz???

Staring World Cup Qualifier elimination down the throat,

Jamaica cemented it place at the bottom of the hexagonal pile as they suffered another 0-2 loss to Honduras at the Tiburcio Carias Olympic Stadium in Tegucigalpa last night.

In a game which the Reggae Boyz had to win to keep any realistic hopes of a second appearance in a FIFA World Cup Finals, they went behind through a 10th minute opener from Oscar Garcia, and two minutes from the end sloppy defending gifted striker Roger Rojas the simple task of rounding goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to make the game safe.

The defeat was Jamaica’s fourth in a row and it left the Caribbean island on two points, eight off leaders the United States of America, who slammed Panama 2-0 at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. Costa Rica, who held hosts Mexico 0-0 at the Azteca for their fourth goalless result in the round, share second place on eight points, with Honduras next with seven points and Panama in fifth place on six points.

The game, played before a capacity crowd of white and blue clad patriotic spectators was barely five minutes old when Alvas Powell cleared a ball off the goal line from a right-sided corner, as the hosts raided the Jamaica goal.

They found the opening in the 10th minute from another corner from the left which was hit to the back post but headed back into the danger area for Garcia to stab home from close range.

Jamaica countered and from one of their few efforts on goal, striker Ryan Johnson side-footed straight into the waiting arms of goalkeeper and captain Noel Valladores from a Rodolph Austin free kick to the back post.

In one of their worst performances thus far in the final phase of qualification, the Boyz created very little openings and too often they were guilty of sloppy passing which resulted in the team giving away possession cheaply.

At the other end Ricketts was a busy man as he proved hard to beat, going low to save his team on a few occasions. The most spectacular was on 75 minutes when he threw himself to his right to palm away a goal bound header from a corner.

Two minutes later Ricketts picked up a yellow card for protesting Mexican referee Marco Rodriquez’s decision to eject Mariappa on the insistence of assistant referee one Marvin Torrentera, for a lunging challenge for the ball.

Theo Robinson came close for Jamaica in the last 10 minutes, shaving the post from close range after the ball surprisingly broke to him. It was Jamaica’s second and last shot on target throughout the entire game.

The Jamaicans surrendered any chance of a comeback two minutes before the end of regulation time, when defender Daniel Gordon underplayed a backpass to Ricketts, effectively playing in Rojas, who completed the easy task of beating a hopeless Ricketts, and putting the ball into the net.

It was an unfair end to the night for Ricketts, who up to that point had kept the Jamaicans in the game with a string of remarkable saves.