Costa Rica edge Jamaica to claim Group C at Gold Cup

Los Angeles (AFP) – Bryan Ruiz’s headed second-half goal was all Costa Rica would need to beat Jamaica 1-0 and claim first place in Group C at the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament on Tuesday at Exploria Stadium in Florida.

Costa Rica, who survived a red card to their goalkeeper Leonel Moreira, needed only a draw to win their group but got the win anyway.

Ruiz scored in the 53rd minute after taking a pass in the box from teammate Ariel Lassiter.

Moreira was sent off in the second half after being called for a handball outside the penalty box, in the match which was delayed for over two hours due to bad weather in the Orlando area. 

The loss of Moreira left Costa Rica with just 10 players on the field for the final 20 minutes of the match.

Elsewhere, Qatar shut out Honduras 2-0 to capture Group D and reach the quarter-finals.

Homam Ahmed and Abdelaziz Hatem both scored for Qatar, who will next face El Salvador in the quarter-finals.

Ahmed struck to give Qatar the lead in the 25th minute of the match. It marked the third straight match in which the champions of Asia opened the scoring.

Hatem capped the scoring with his second of the tournament, five minutes into second-half stoppage time.

Honduras needed just a point to win the group but instead they will now face Group A winner Mexico in the next round.

Suriname beat Guadeloupe 2-1 to record their first ever victory in the Gold Cup event in a game in which both clubs were already eliminated from the knockout round.

Nigel Hasselbaink scored the winner in the 79th minute, dribbling through traffic to make it 2-1.

Neither team had a chance to advance after losing their first two Group C matches.