Jamaica beats Honduras to win Gold Cup Group B

Posted Tuesday, June 14, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

HARRISON, New Jersey (AP)—Ryan Johnson scored a lucky first-half goal that bounced off the goalkeeper’s head as Jamaica defeated Honduras 1-0 on Monday to top Group B en route to the Gold Cup quarterfinals.

The 58th-ranked Jamaica won all three of its group matches and will now play the second-place finisher in Group C—possibly the United States—on Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Honduras, which also advances as the group’s second-placed team, plays Costa Rica on Saturday.

Both teams were assured of quarterfinals berths before the kickoff.

“We came here wanting at least the semifinals,” Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said. “But we treat every one of our games as a final because we know they’re all going to be tough.”

Guatemala also advanced to the quarters earlier as the third-place team from Group B, defeating Grenada 4-0. It will learn its opponent after Group C wraps up play on Tuesday.

Johnson got the winner in the 36th minute after cutting across the middle of the Honduran defense. He fired a shot off the crossbar from roughly 28 yards (meters) and the ball bounced down and struck the back of Noel Valladares’ head and went into the net.

“It’s one of the strangest goals, but it’s a goal,” said Johnson, who plays for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes. “The best thing was getting the clean sheet. We haven’t been scored on so far and I’m really happy about that.”

Valladares, keeper at the World Cup, got a measure of revenge in the 72nd minute when he made a diving stop on a penalty kick by Johnson. Play was delayed for a couple of minutes before the attempt because angry Honduran fans in the sellout crowd of 25,000 at Red Bull Arena littered the field with glass and plastic bottles after referee Joel Aguilar of El Salvador awarded the penalty.

Honduras, which is ranked No. 43, only had four of its 11 starters from last year’s World Cup. It lost forward Carlo Costly early with a rib injury. He had three goals in a win against Grenada earlier in the tournament.