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Gold Cup 2021: Jamaica, Costa Rica Advance to Quarterfinals After Difficult Wins

Published

5 years ago

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The second match day for Group C took place in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup at Exploria Stadium, pitting Guadeloupe against Jamaica in the early match and Suriname versus Costa Rica in the nightcap. Jamaica stayed unbeaten with a 2-1 win over Guadeloupe in the first game and Costa Rica surviving a stubborn Suriname side.

The underdogs put up a much better fight on the second match day in Group C, but in the end both were eliminated. Costa Rica and Jamaica will play each other next Tuesday for the top of the group.

Jamaica 2, Guadeloupe 1

Guadeloupe wasted no time letting the Jamaicans know they’d be in for a fight. In just the fourth minute, Edwing Malpon sent Dimitri Ramothe down the right in all alone on Andre Blake’s goal. Ramothe took a shot that took a slight deflection off a defender, hit the right post and went in to give Guadeloupe an early 1-0 lead. Concacaf somehow decided that despite defender Amari’i Bell being directly between Ramothe and the goal, that the deflection made it an own goal by Bell rather than Ramothe’s.

It took the Jamaicans 10 minutes to respond but they did so emphatically. Philadelphia Union striker Cory Burke smashed a cannon shot just inside the right post from outside the penalty area to tie the match at 1-1 in the 14th minute.

Leon Bailey thought he gave Jamaica the lead in the 25th minute. After an initial chip attempt was stopped by goalkeeper Yohann Thuram, the ball rebounded back to Bailey. His second chip had more air under it and found the net but the flag came up and replay showed Bailey was well offside on the play.

Minutes later, there was a scary moment when Burke went down after a clash of heads in the penalty area on a set piece but he was able to continue.

Shamar Nicholson nearly gave the Reggae Boyz the lead in the 39th minute with a soft shot back against the grain but Thuram was able to make the save.

The last good chance of the first half fell to Guadeloupe’s Malpon, who sizzled a shot toward goal from the left corner of the box. Blake went up and made a strong fingertip save to keep the game knotted at 1-1.

Jamaica out-shot Guadeloupe 7-5 in the opening half (3-2 on goal) and had more possession (54%-46%). Guadeloupe had more corners (2-1) and was more accurate in passing (85%-83%).

Nicholson should have given Jamaica the lead in the 62nd minute. Burke broke in down the left and no one was covering Nicholson streaking down the right in transition. Burke got a good pass across and Nicholson completely flubbed his lines, sending his shot high into the stands from about 10 yards out in front of goal.

The second half got a bit sloppy from both teams, with Jamaica applying pressure at times but unable to pick out a final pass. Guadeloupe didn’t get forward as much and when it did, things generally unraveled before a shot could be taken.

However, substitute Vikash Tille lashed a strong shot on target in the 81st minute that forced Blake into a good save to preserve the deadlock for Jamaica. It was Guadeloupe’s only shot of the second half and the Gwada Boys didn’t seem particularly interested in going for the win on a late corner kick, sending only three players into the area for the set piece.

Jamaica fashioned the winning goal with a good individual move. Junior Flemmings made a nice move in the box to get down the left side but had very little angle to shoot. He shot anyway and the strike went straight at Thuram but the Guadeloupe keeper let the ball go right through his legs for the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute. It was Thuram’s second howler in as many matches.

Thuram did keep his team in the game in stoppage time, as Andre Gray cut in from left to right and fired a shot in the 93rd minute. Thuram did well to make a diving save to keep Guadeloupe in it but his teammates couldn’t get a good look at goal over the final moments of the match.

Jamaica improved to 2-0-0 in the group with six points and a +3 goal differential. The Reggae Boyz out-shot Guadeloupe 16-6 (6-3 on target) and held more possession (54%-46%). Each team had three corners and Guadeloupe was the more accurate passing team (88%-82%).

Costa Rica 2, Suriname 1

For the first time in the tournament, a Group C match did not feature a goal inside the first 10 minutes. Suriname held possession well for the opening 20 minutes but didn’t do much with it. Even when the Natio got into good positions, they tried playing safe and turned down shooting opportunities in favor of back passing, looking for the perfect shot to present itself.

Costa Rica took advantage by trying to strike on the counter, with Luis Diaz firing over the bar from a promising attack in the 16th minute.

Much of the first half was played between the two penalty areas but Suriname fashioned the first excellent scoring chance in the 40th minute when Sheraldo Becker got down the left side, cut in and fired a shot toward the far post. Esteban Alvarado, the Costa Rican goalkeeper, did well to get a hand to the shot and the Ticos were able to clear the danger. Ignore the caption, the save was for Costa Rica to deny Suriname.

Marc Jozefzoon fired a free kick just wide of Alvarado’s goal from a free kick in first-half stoppage time and that was the last good opportunity of the opening period. The teams went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.

Suriname led in shot attempts (5-4), shots on target (4-2), and possession (57%-43%), with Costa Rica holding an advantage in corners (2-0) and passing accuracy (91%-82%).

The second half began and a tight match opened up considerably. Suriname struck first when Geofilo Vlijter sent a spinning shot past Alvarado and into the far side of the net in the 52nd.

It was a deserved lead for Suriname, which had been the better side to that point in the match, but that was about to change.

Costa Rica struck back in the 58th minute when a cross in from Ronald Matarrita on the left found Joel Campbell, who got across his defender and headed in to make it 1-1.

A minute later, the Ticos were ahead. A bad pass out of the back ignited the Costa Rica break and Campbell took a shot after getting in behind. Warner Hahn got a hand to the shot but left a rebound out in front of the net. Celso Borges was first to the loose ball and smashed it home to make it 2-1 to Costa Rica in the 59th minute.

Suriname had a chance to equalize in the 63rd minute. Substitute Nigel Hasselbaink got down the left side and crossed in past Alvarado. Kelvin Leerdam just needed to touch it home and he made contact with the ball but sent the shot wide of the post.

DIon Malone nodded over the bar on a set piece in the 73rd as Suriname continued to chase the game.

Two minutes later, Costa Rica should have salted the match away. A great cross through the box by Ariel Lassiter found Borges all alone on the right side of goal but the Costa Rican captain hit his shot wide of the far post, leaving Suriname with a chance.

Ivenzo Comvalius split two defenders on the right in the 83rd minute and fired, forcing a diving clearance by the Costa Rica defense that led to a corner. On the ensuing set piece, Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo hit Ryan Donk in the face. After video review, Calvo was sent off and even though the foul was in the area, the ball hadn’t yet been put in play so it wasn’t a penalty.

Calvo will miss the Jamaica match on Tuesday and so will his replacement, Kendall Waston, who subbed on but entered the pitch without getting waved on by the referee and picked up a silly second yellow in the tournament as a result.

Comvalius nearly became a national hero for Suriname in stoppage time, cutting in and smashing a shot that hit the right post. Costa Rica withstood a late corner and held on to win the match and advance to the quarterfinals. Suriname was eliminated in cruel fashion, as the upstarts in their first ever Gold Cup were the better side for much of the game.

Each team fired 11 shot attempts, with Suriname getting more on target (7-5). Suriname held more possession (53%-47%) and won more corners (3-2). Costa Rica held the advantage in passing accuracy (89%-84%).

Group C action will conclude on Tuesday. Jamaica and Costa Rica will meet in the early match at Exploria Stadium, while Guadeloupe and Suriname will square off in Houston at BBVA Stadium. Panama and Grenada from Group D will be the late match at Exploria Stadium on Tuesday. The reason for the venue switches is that all of the final match day games in each group have to be played at the same time.

Group C Standings

Costa Rica:  2-0-0, 6 points, +3 GD

Jamaica: 2-0-0, 6 points, +3 GD

Guadeloupe:  0-2-0, 0 points, -3 GD

Suriname:  0-2-0, 0 points, -3 GD

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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