PHILADELPHIA: Mexico spoiled Jamaica’s first trip to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final with a dominant 3-1 triumph on Sunday that gave El Tri a record seventh title.

Jamaica had become the first Caribbean team to reach the final, but El Tri stole the storyline at the Lincoln Financial Field by winning their third Cup championship from the last four played.

Despite a fast and inspired start by the Jamaicans, Mexico quickly turned the tide and got goals from captain Andres Guardado, Jesus Corona and Oribe Peralta in the victory.

Mexico will now play the United States on Oct 9 in a playoff for the region’s berth in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

“We’re very happy,” Mexico manager Miguel Herrera said. “We dominated the ball. We got the rhythm we wanted and controlled the play. It’s a great satisfaction for all of us.”

Against Jamaica, Mexico weathered an early attack and took control in the 31st minute where Guardado took a cross and finished with a beautiful left-footed volley into the upper right corner.

It was his sixth goal of the tournament, one less than Clint Dempsey of the United States, who took the tournament’s Golden Boot Award. Guardado won the tournament’s Golden Ball Award as the top player.

Any chance of a Jamaica comeback quickly evaporated after half-time as defensive miscues by Michael Hector led to the next two goals from Mexico.

In the 47th minute, Corona took the ball from Hector and finished it himself. The 22-year-old forward — selected top young player of the tournament — slid his left-footed shot from the edge of the area under the legs of Wes Morgan.

In the 61st minute, Hector whiffed on an attempted clearance in front of the goal, and the ball went right to Peralta for an easy goal from point blank range.

Darren Mattocks scored Jamaica’s only goal in the 80th minute, scoring for his second successive game as they settled for a runner-up finish after becoming the first Caribbean squad to reach the Gold Cup final, thanks to a 2-1 upset of the United States in the semi-finals.

The best prior “Reggae Boyz” showing in the biennial North American regional football tournament was a share of third in 1993.

A magical tournament over in defeat, Jamaica coach Winfried Schaefer proudly held out the medal hanging around his neck. “For me, this is not the silver, this is gold,” he said. “Nobody gave us a shot.”

Schaefer took a dig at West Indies cricket dominating attention in Jamaica while his team made its historic run, players giving up their entire club off-seasons to play in Copa America and the Gold Cup.

“I want to send a message to the people who don’t understand what our players are doing for their country,” Schaefer said. “I don’t want to hear about ‘bowlers’.”

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015

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