U.S. and Jamaica Tie, 0-0, in World Cup Qualifying

Jamaica and the United States both said they expected to do better in a return soccer match set for August after their teams tied, 0-0, Sunday in a World Cup qualifying match.

U.S. Coach Lothar Osiander said it was a tough game and blamed the American failure to score on the heat and hardness of the field.

“Jamaica played well,” he said. “They had much more confidence with the turf and the heat didn’t affect them as much as it did us. My players lost confidence once the ball started bouncing because of the hardness of the ground and they were timid in making runs because of the temperature and the humidity.

“But it will be a different match in St. Louis,” he said.

Before Sunday’s match, Osiander said he believed in the home-field advantage and that he would be happy if it ended with a tie.

Jamaican Coach Geoffrey Maxwell said his team would do well in Missouri.

“It’s a reasonable game to go to the U.S. with because a nil-all draw is good. If we go down there and score one, we will have gone two,” he said.

Maxwell blamed his team’s showing in part on his midfielders, saying they “played an extremely poor game.

“They held on to the ball too long in the final third of the game and it made all the difference between scoring and drawing the game.”

Although the Jamaican team appeared to dominate the early play, it was kept under control by a strong U.S. defense.

Both teams missed several opportunities to score.

The Americans lost at least two chances in the first half when Brian Bliss just missed in the 23rd minute and Jamaican goalkeeper Paul Campbell blocked a low shot from Frank Klopas in the 34th minute.

In the second half, Chico Borja nearly scored with only 10 minutes left.

Jamaica’s Lennie Dennis and Ramon Christian both missed two shots at the goal and Alton Sterling missed one.

Jamaican right fullback Barrington Gaynor was the home team’s best player, tackling, passing the ball and moving well throughout the game. Midfielder Paul Newman, captain Anthony Corbett, who played defense, and goalkeeper Campbell also got good marks from their coach.

For the Americans, Bliss, Peter Vermes and captain Rick Davis stood out.

Davis, 29, a midfielder who now plays for the Tacoma Stars, got the only yellow card of the match late in the second half for rough play.

The match began the first leg of the second round of the Confederation of Central American and Caribbean Football Assn.’s 1990 World Cup elimination games. It was Jamaica’s second match in the elimination series--it beat Puerto Rico, 1-0, here and, 2-1, in Puerto Rico--while the United States was making its first appearance.