A dream dies
Reggae Boyz World Cup campaign over after 1-0 loss to Costa Rica
Published:Thursday | February 3, 2022 | 12:12 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
THE REGGAE Boyz’ slim hopes of advancing to this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament disappeared last evening after they were beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica in their Concacaf qualifier at the National Stadium.
Veteran Joel Campbell netted the lone goal of the game for the Costa Ricans in the 62nd minute.
Following the defeat, the Jamaicans remain seventh in the standings on seven points from 11 matches, with three games remaining in the qualifying competition.
The Costa Ricans, who are in fifth place, are on 16 points.
The Reggae Boyz dominated possession in the first half but were unable to break down the Costa Rican defensive unit led by experienced Keilor Navas.
In fact, Navas, who plies his trade for Paris Saint-Germain in France’s League 1, kept Costa Rica in the game in the first half with a number of excellent saves to deny Ravel Morrison, Andre Gra, and Michail Antonio.
Morrison came close to opening the scoring for the Jamaicans in the 25th minute, but his central 20-yard drive was punched away by the well-placed Navas.
Navas then reacted very swiftly to turn away Gray’s follow-up effort from 12-yards.
MISSED SHOT
Gray also had clear sight on goal in the 43rd minute, however, he swung and missed from 10 yards.
Antonio, who is the Reggae Boyz leading scorer in the qualifiers with three goals, came close to adding to his tally on the stroke of half time but fired his point-blank effort straight into the hands of Navas.
However, the Costa Ricans came out looking much the better team in the second stanza and were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute after second-half substitute Kevin Stewart brought down Campbell inside the 18-yard box.
But that was not the death knell for the Jamaicans as Celso Borges’ penalty was excellently saved by Reggae Boyz custodian and captain Andre Blake.
Campbell then made up for his teammate’s miss two minutes later, picking up a crossfield ball before cutting inside two Jamaican defenders to place a left-footed effort just inside the far post.
Gray should have scored the equaliser for the Reggae Boyz 10 minutes later, but with Navas at his mercy, shot wide of the target.