Jurien Gaari belted a thunderous equalizer in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, and Curacao advanced to their first ever Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals with a dramatic 1-1 draw against wasteful Jamaica at Banc of California Stadium on Tuesday night.
Gaari's 28-yard leveler canceled out Shamar Nicholson's 14th-minute strike for Jamaica, which still advanced out of Group C with the draw in both teams' group finale. Curacao pulled even on points with El Salvador, who were eliminated later Tuesday on goal difference following a 4-0 loss to border rivals Honduras.
Curacao would've been sent home with better finishing from the Reggae Boyz, who outshot their Caribbean colleagues 17-11 and missed three clear scoring opportunities, according to Opta.
Jamaica will face the loser of the US national team's Group D finale against Panama on Wednesday, with Curacao to face the winner. The US would also win the group and face Curacao with a draw Wednesday.
Goals
Three Things
MOMENT OF THE MATCH:
Best just to watch Gaari's cracker rather than to try and explain it.
Up Next
- JAM: Sunday, June 30 vs. USA/Panama, Gold Cup quarterfinals (5:30/8 pm ET | FS1, Univision, UDN)
- CUW: Sunday, June 30 vs. USA/Panama, Gold Cup quarterfinals (5:30/8 pm ET | FS1, Univision, UDN)