Mexico Remains in Chase for World Cup Spot

Mexico, trying to revive its hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup, rallied to defeat host Jamaica, 2-1, Sunday in Kingston.

Jamaica went ahead in the 11th minute when Mexican defender Heriberto Ramon Morales, trying to clear a loose ball in front of his goal, kicked the ball in his net.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored twice in the second half to hand Jamaica its first home loss since 1994.

Costa Rica (5-1-1) leads the six-nation North and Central American and Caribbean region with 16 points.

The United States (4-2-1), which plays Wednesday at Costa Rica, is second with 13 points, two ahead of Honduras (3-2-2) and three ahead of Mexico (3-3-1).

Jamaica (2-3-2), which made its first World Cup appearance in 1998, is fifth with eight points.

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The Coliseum is like a second home to Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara, the most popular Mexican club soccer team in Los Angeles.

And for 45 minutes Sunday afternoon, Chivas acted the part of gracious host to Club Atletico Penarol of Montevideo, Uruguay, playing to a scoreless tie at the half of their exhibition match.

But Chivas unloaded on their stunned guests in the second half. Chivas’ 3-0 victory sent most of the crowd of about 12,000 home happy from the day-long soccer and music festival at the Coliseum, which featured more bands--six--than goals.

A sea of Chivas’ red and white-striped jersey and flapping Mexican flags permeated the crowd, which was already in a celebratory mood with the Mexican national team’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Jamaica earlier in the day. Chivas, leading its division in the Mexican winter league, scored twice in the first nine minutes of the second half to prolong the party.

During a scrum in front of the net, Chivas midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez fired a shot toward the goal that was deflected by a defender.

Chivas forward Omar Bravo was lurking on the left side and came in unmarked to pick up the ricochet and fire easily past goalkeeper Adrian Berbia. The score from 10 yards gave Chivas a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute. Six minutes later, Chivas midfielder Manuel Sol scored.

Chivas’ final score came in the 90th minute, well after Chivas Coach Oscar Ruggieri started substituting freely.