Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes netted minutes apart to give Jamaica a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute, and the United States men’s national team is 45 minutes away from losing its Gold Cup title bid, and putting its Confederations Cup hopes into jeopardy.
The U.S. controlled possession off the kickoff and quickly won a corner that came to nothing.
The next real chance came when Kyle Beckerman made a needless sliding foul on Rodolph Austin about 20 yards out from goal, but a Wes Morgan foul short-circuited the Jamaican chance.
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Je-Vaughn Watson had a rip from distance after the U.S. had trouble clearing an 11th minute corner kick, but it moved wide of the far post.
The USMNT found a bit of good fortune when a shaky Ale Bedoya troubled his touch during a solid build-up, but that allowed Fabian Johnson to bomb forward, pick up the ball in the 18 and win a corner. That beget another corner, which Jamaica sent to midfield.
Johannsson and Bradley worked well to provide Zardes a chance outside the 18 in the 24th minute, but the L.A. Galaxy youngster blasted over goal.
The AZ striker took a ball off Ryan Thompson’s foot on the doorstep, but poked the loose ball wide. Moments later, Thompson danced into the box before his shot forced Johnston into a diving save.
Then, Guzan was victimized by Mattocks. The Jamaican leapt in front of Brooks and flicked a header over the U.S. keeper to make it 1-0 in the 32nd minute.
Guzan gifted Giles Barnes a free kick on the edge of the 18 when he carried his distribution just past the line, and the linesman whistled it. Barnes buried it past Guzan to make it 2-0.
At the other end, Thompson kept it clean with a sliding stop of Clint Dempsey just before halftime.
LINEUP
USMNT: Guzan; Evans, Alvarado, Brooks, Johnson; Bradley, Beckerman; Zardes, Dempsey, Bedoya; Johannsson