Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz kick-started their Concacaf Under-20 Championships in Mexico with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Honduras in Group C at the Estadio Universitario BUAP, in Puebla, Mexico, on Sunday.
Midfielder Jahmarie Nolan, who is also a key member of the under-17 team that secured qualification to the U-17 World Cup earlier this year, continued his rich international goalscoring form with the opening goal for the young Reggae Boyz after 22 minutes.
The Jamaicans then had to defend stoutly as the Hondurans came hunting for the equaliser, and the Central Americans eventually breached the Jamaican defence when Victor Salazar came up on the end of a neat through ball and slotted home with 15 minutes to spare.
The Hondurans then had wave after wave of attacks as they searched for the winning goal, and they had a few close moments that they failed to capitalise on.
However, in the fifth minute of added time, Brandon Bent picked up the loose ball from a corner, shrugged off a defender before stabbing an unorthodox shot past the Honduras goalkeeper for the winning goal.
“I mean, it feels amazing you know. All the work my teammates put in. All the work, all the preparation from the coaches, battling through all the adversity and getting something from it,” said Bent.
Honduras put the young Reggae Boyz through their paces, and according to Bent, the effort is what allowed the last-minute winner.
“It’s definitely a tough shift, but, I mean, looking around, seeing my teammates dying on the pitch really just gave me the extra push I needed, and honestly it’s all thanks to my team, and so we’re just looking forward to the next round. We’re not going to get hung over on this.”
While an opening-round victory puts the young Reggae Boyz in a good space, Bent is all too aware that the job is far from over.
“We have two more games against two very good teams, so we’re just going to keep pushing,” he said.
“I think we’re just going to come out here with the same intensity. I think we shook off all the rush, shook off all the nerves, and now that we’re getting going, hopefully we can build on this momentum and just keep pushing.”
Jamaica and Canada lead the group on three points each, with Canada holding the superior goal difference after their 3-0 win over Panama, Jamaica’s next opponent.
The young Jamaicans will play Panama tomorrow at the same venue at 7 p.m.
The top two teams from the three groups and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
The four quarter-final winners will secure their places in the semi-finals, as well as automatic qualification to the 2027 Under-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan.
Syndicated from Jamaica Gleaner · originally published .
