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Just one more win

Published:Monday | February 21, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Jamaica's Andre Lewis (left) holds his own as he tries to make his way out of a tight spot against the Guatemala defence during Saturday's CONCACAF Under-17 game between the two teams at the Montego Bay Stadium. Jamaica won the game 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals stage. - Photo by Adrian Frater

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

With the first round of the 2011 CONCACAF Under-17 Champion-ship now history, host nation, Jamaica, is among the eight surviving teams, who are technically one win away from sealing a place in this summer's prestigious FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico.

Jamaica, the last team to qualify for the tournament's quarter-finals, did so on Saturday afternoon when a Jason Wright strike powered them to a 1-0 win against Guatemala. Jamaica finished jointly atop Group C with Caribbean neighbours Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) but was elevated to the group-winner status after 'drawing lots' with T&T.

"We are naturally quite happy," said Jamaica's coach Wendell Downswell. "I am beginning to see some of what I expect from this team in terms of performance and commitment so we remain confident of winning a World Cup place."

Jamaica will meet Honduras, the second-place finisher in Group D behind group winner Canada, in their crucial quarter-final clash at the Montego Bay Stadium on Wednesday, starting at 3 p.m. Trinidad will battle Canada in the midday curtain-raiser.

While not as flashy as the Canadians, who Jamaica managed to avoid by topping Zone C, the Honduras team should be no pushover as they looked a fairly efficient unit in their 2-1 win against Barbados and their 0-0 draw against Canada. In fact, they finished jointly on four points with Canada but got second by virtue of their inferior goal difference.

Flushed with confidence

T&T, who like Jamaica will be carrying Caribbean pride into the last eight, is also flushed with confidence going into their quarter-final game against Canada, which started the tournament with a bang, whipping Barbados 8-0 but then looked ordinary in a 0-0 draw against Honduras.

"When we left home, a lot of people did not believe in this team because we did not do an extensive preparation like Jamaica, whose team went to Brazil," said T&T coach Shawn Cooper. "However, we came here determined to do well and getting to the quarter-finals is only a first step."

Feature game

Favourites the United States, which topped Group B ahead of Panama, ending with a perfect 100 per cent win record after beating Cuba 3-1 and clipping Panama 1-0, will take on El Salvador in the feature game of tomorrow's quarter-final double-header at the Montego Bay Stadium, starting at 3 o'clock.

El Salvador, which got into the quarter-finals without playing a game after they secured points from Haiti which withdrew after malaria outbreak in their team, looked good in their subsequent game, which they loss 3-2 to Group A winner, Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, which looked quite efficient in their 3-1 win against Haiti and 3-2 effort against El Salvador, should start favourites against Panama in tomorrow's opening game.

For Panama, they might have a mountain to climb but having showed decent form in drawing 0-0 against Cuba and in going down 1-0 to the Americans, they must give themselves at least a fighting chance.