U.S. Puts Jamaica Out of World Cup Qualifier

Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago all won when they had to Wednesday night and clinched the final three spots in the last round of regional qualifying for soccer’s 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Not so lucky was Jamaica, which was held to a 1-1 tie by the United States in front of 9,088 rain-soaked fans at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and failed to advance to next year’s hexagonal.

The U.S., like Guatemala and Mexico, had earlier secured its place in the last six, and Coach Bruce Arena used the match as a chance to assess new players. Manchester United defender Jonathan Spector, 18, made his national team debut and looked impressive as a second-half substitute, as did midfielder Clint Dempsey, Major League Soccer’s rookie of the year.

The U.S. took the lead in the 15th minute when midfielder Pablo Mastroeni played a through ball down the right to forward Eddie Johnson, who controlled it with his right foot and then struck a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

The FC Dallas striker became only the second U.S. player after Alexander Rae in 1937 to score in each of his first three international matches and the first American to do so in World Cup qualifying.

Jamaica, needing to win to beat out Panama for a place in the final round, tied the score in the 27th minute when Andy Williams scored on a penalty kick after Ramiro Corrales had fouled Ricardo Fuller just to the left of goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s net.

Panama made sure of advancing at Jamaica’s expense by beating El Salvador, 3-0; Costa Rica went through with a 0-0 tie against Honduras; and Trinidad and Tobago was left as the only Caribbean team in the last six when it beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 2-1.

Mexico finished with a perfect record by defeating St. Kitts and Nevis, 8-0. Guatemala fell to Canada, 1-0, but still advanced.

-- Grahame L. Jones

*

Edison Mendez’s goal in the 77th minute at Quito gave host Ecuador a 1-0 upset over Brazil, giving the World Cup champions their first loss in 11 matches in South American qualifying for the 2006 tournament.

Argentina took over first place in the region with a 3-2 victory over Venezuela at Buenos Aires. Argentina has 22 points, Brazil 20.

At Guangzhou, host China beat Hong Kong, 7-0, in Asian qualifying but was eliminated on the fifth tiebreaker. Kuwait, which beat visiting Malaysia, 6-1, tied China with a 5-1 record but won Group 4 because of total goals in the round and advanced to the eight-nation region finals.

*

Racist taunts aimed at England’s black players, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole, whenever they touched the ball spoiled Spain’s 1-0 victory in a friendly at Madrid.

Andrew Caborn, Britain’s sports minister, said that he wanted Spanish soccer officials to condemn the behavior of the fans and that he expected FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, and EUFA, the European governing body, to investigate.

*

Forward Miroslav Klose scored twice, and host Germany, wearing red jerseys to apparently symbolize the team’s aggressiveness under new Coach Juergen Klinsmann, defeated Cameroon, 3-0, in a friendly at Leipzig that cost Cameroon’s German Coach Winfried Schaefer his job.