Above: the Reggae Boyz in action (File photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz played Panama to a 1-1 tie Friday night at Kingston’s Independence Park in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifying match.
Marvin Elliott got things started for Jamaica, scoring on a header in the 22nd minute.
Panama did not notch a goal until Luis Henriquez put one past Donovan Ricketts in the 65th minute, but that evened the score, and that’s the way it remained.
Jamaicans, Demar Phillips, Jermaine Beckford and Omar Daley received yellow cards. Panama’s Gabriel Gomez, Marcos Sanchez and Alberto Quintero also received yellow cards.
Coming into the match, Jamaica was ranked 54th in the world, second in the Caribbean to Haiti, while Panama was ranked 41st in the world, according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings.
Hector Rodriguez was the lead referee.