PASADENA (California): After Kemar Lawrence ripped an exquisite shot over Mexico’s five-man wall and into the top corner for one of the biggest goals in Jamaican football history, the defender hushed his team-mates and refused to celebrate.

These Reggae Boyz are staying cool, even after a goal that sent them into the CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a chance to make history.

Lawrence scored on a clutch 24-yard free kick in the 88th minute, and Jamaica advanced to the final with a 1-0 upset victory over Mexico on Sunday night.

“I think our guys were hungry,” Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said. “They needed it more than the Mexicans, and we did what we had to do.”

Jamaica will face the United States on Wednesday night at Santa Clara, California. With a victory over the home team, the Reggae Boyz would claim their first championship in football’s North and Central American and Caribbean region.

“The best way I could put it is the Biblical story,” Whitmore said. “David slew Goliath.”

The Reggae Boyz have reached the final for the second straight Gold Cup, but this stunning upset at the Rose Bowl ranks among their biggest international wins. Mexico have won seven Gold Cup titles, the US five and Canada one.

“That’s a cycle we want to break,” Whitmore said. “That’s something we sit and discuss. It’s always Mexico, US. We want to be in that group. We want to be a team, a country that someone can talk about, and that’s what we’re working toward.”

Despite sending most of their best players to Russia for the Confederations Cup, the Mexicans saw the dismal result as a reason for soul-searching and self-examination, acting manager Luis Pompilio Paez said.

“The football of Mexico has to rise from this fall,” he said. “There will be an individual and collective analysis as well as self-criticism.

“We have to make adjustments. We’re determined to give our best. When we do not win, we all have to do self-criticism and reflection. This is a process and we all have to improve.”

Sunday’s match was a poor showcase for CONCACAF’s blue riband tournament, and it was Jamaican Andre Blake who was the busier of the two goalkeepers, pulling off three excellent saves in the first half including a reflex stop from a point-blank Erick Torres header.

While Mexico had more of the ball they lacked the guile and creativity to get past a packed Jamaican rearguard and just as the game looked sure to go to penalties, Lawrence produced a moment of magic.

“We knew we had to be organised and patient defensively and we did that,” said Blake. “We, as a group, believe in each other and we’ve got to stay hungry and keep fighting and hopefully win the whole thing.”

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2017