ATLANTA: Jamaica’s “Reggae Boyz” stunned defending champion United States 2-1 Wednesday in a Gold Cup semi-final, becoming the first Caribbean squad to reach the final by shocking the heavily favoured hosts.
Darren Mattocks headed in the first goal in the 31st minute and Giles Barnes netted a free kick in the 36th minute to put Jamaica ahead 2-0 and signal an epic upset was in the making at the sold-out Georgia Dome.
The Americans, after all, were 13-1 with eight drawn in prior matches against the Jamaicans, their only loss in that span coming by 2-1 at Kingston in 2012.
US captain Michael Bradley answered for the Americans in the 48th minute off a rebound and the US kept pressing the attack but never found the equaliser to avoid a humbling defeat.
Jamaica will face the winner of a later semi-final between Mexico and Panama in Sunday’s final of the biennial North American regional football championship.
The US team had been trying to match Mexico’s all-time record of six Gold Cup crowns. The Americans had won their past five Gold Cup semi-finals in a row while the “Reggae Boyz” had matched their best runs to the last four in 1993 and 1998 just making the semi-final. They were the first Caribbean semi-finalist since Guadeloupe in 2007.
Jamaica jumped ahead 2-0 by striking twice in five minutes after denying and disrupting US attacks over the first half hour.
A long throw from the left side found forward Mattocks, who outleaped two defenders and headed the ball in off the far post.
Spectators had barely calmed down before the “Reggae Boyz” doubled their margin when Barnes curved a free kick from just outside the penalty area over the wall and into the upper right corner of the goal.
But the Americans were far from finished, striking quickly in the second half. In the 48th minute, Aron Johannsson blasted a shot that Jamaican goalkeeper Ryan Thompson stopped but couldn’t keep in his grasp. Clint Dempsey followed and spilled over prone Thompson as the ball came loose and an onrushing Bradley buried it into the back of the net.
Just three minutes later, the US squad nearly equalized as Johannsson fired a free kick that Thompson could not fully grip and the rebound was headed over the crossbar by Johannsson.
In the 57th minute, Bradley fired a hard outside shot that bounced off Thompson’s chest and deflected off the goalpost to his right and out of danger.
John Brooks headed a long thrown in from the heart of the penalty box in the 71st minute but Thompson went low to make the save as the tension mounted. Time and again, the US squad attacked but never mustered another solid threat.
Gyasi Zardes curled a centering pass into the area in the dying seconds of stoppage time but it went beyond the backline.
Jamaican defenders frustrated US attacks from the start, Dempsey denied a shot chance by Kemar Lawrence in the 21st minute and Michael Hector deflecting away a Johannsson bid from 10 meters seconds later.
Thompson blundered and nearly surrendered a goal in the 27th minute, pulling back a kick attempt that an onrushing Johannsson deflected into the side of the net.--AFP